In the opening round: …………………………………………………… The 4th-seeded Langley Walnut Grove Gators whacked the 13th-seeded Queen Charlotte Saints 80-56 after leading 16-9, 35-25 and 60-42 at the quarters. “We were just excited coming in,” Walnut Grove point guard Jadon Cohee told the Vancouver Province. “Considering they were the underdog team of the tournament, we just wanted a piece of them. They came out strong, and we had to match that. But we just wore them down with our run-and-gun style.” Saints coach Desi Collinson told the Province that “today was just a glimpse of how we can play. We love to run, hit the transition three, hit short jumpers, and then get fired up. When we got to within three, I was sure we were going to win the game. I was waiting, and waiting, and waiting for the moment to happen. It didn’t. It should have happened. It’s a disappointment that with everything that led up to this moment that we didn’t live up to our potential.” Jadon Cohee paced the Gators with 22 points and 12 boards. Bryce Derton added 21, along with 11 boards, Lucas Hodgson 13, Andrew Mckay 7, Tom Guingab 6, Tamir Alatrash 4, along with 11 boards, Wei Chung 3, Varun Kumar 2 and Tyler Anderson 2, while Hamish McKay, Wesley Rogerson, Zephan McMillan, Adrian Peter and Trevor Siemiatkowski were scoreless. The Gators hit 27-56 (.480) from the floor, 4-24 (.170) from the arc and 14-19 (.740) from the line, while garnering 62 boards, including 17 on the offensive glass, 21 fouls, 14 assists, 17 turnovers, 2 blocks and 12 steals. Nathan Vogstad paced the Saints with 25. Duncan Rumak added 8, Brandon Gibbard 8, Jesse Barnes 8, Nolan O’Brien 4 and Grant Moody 3, along with 13 boards, while Kostan Levirs, Elijah Borrowman, Jaylund Russ, Ken Li Peerless, Preston Sloan and Damen Fladmark were scoreless. The Saints hit 15-54 (.280) from the floor, 5-20 from the arc and 11-17 (.650) from the line, while garnering 53 boards, including 16 on the offensive glass, 16 fouls, 10 assists, 22 turnovers, 3 blocks and 6 steals. …………………………………………………… The 7th-seeded Sardis Falcons clipped the 10th-seeded Kelowna Owls 92-81. The Owls led 17-12 after one quarter. The Falcons led 36-33 at the half and 61-56 after three quarters. Hayden Lejeune paced the Falcons with 28 points and 14 boards. Eric Rogers scored 27, Colin Kellington 21, Grayden Nothey 15, all on treys, Evan Kellington 2 and Brayden Sparks-Chinda 2, while John Nagayo, Thijs Duineveld, Garrett Johnson, Peter Saint Louie, Cam Servatius, Jonathan Wendt and Santana McKay were scoreless. The Falcons hit 29-60 (.480) from the floor, 8-14 (.570) from the arc and 10-21 (.480) from the line, while garnering 59 boards, including 26 on the offensive glass, 20 fouls, 11 assists, 23 turnovers, 3 blocks and 6 steals. Buster Truss, who’d broken his left tibia and fibula in January of 2013 while playing at a Vancouver tournament and required reconstructive surgery, a plate and 10 screws, paced the Owls with 32 points and 10 boards. Elijah Cato added 16, Nav Sandhu 15, Parker Simson 10, Cooper Simson 5 and Dylan Hare 3, while Davide Cianico, Jordan White, Vinayak Pendharkar, Liam Duncan, Anibal Moises Blandon Chavarria, Connor Mitchell and Rashaun Roulhac were scoreless. The Owls hit 23-48 (.480) from the floor, 5-29 (.170) from the arc and 20-25 (.800) from the line, while garnering 43 boards, including 21 on the offensive glass, 24 fouls, 9 assists, 17 turnovers, 1 block and 13 steals. The Owls (coached by Harry Parmar) also included Navtejv Sandhu and Jordan White. …………………………………………………… The 6th-seeded Surrey Holy Cross Crusaders whacked the 11th-seeded Duncan Cowichan Thunderbirds 91-56 after leading 16-12, 42-25 and 68-44 at the quarters. Jonathan Kongbo paced the Crusaders with 24. Jauquin Bennett-Boire added 19, Taylor Browne 19, Bright Dododza 10, along with 15 boards, Alex Asperin 9, Henry Maduabeueke 4, Brent Gatlabayan 2, Stanley Maduabueke 2 and Anton Cvitkovich 2, while Brandon Pereira, Samuel Garzitto and Adam Canete were scoreless. The Crusaders hit 29-53 (.550) from the floor, 7-19 (.370) from the arc and 12-26 (.460) from the line, while garnering 57 boards, including 25 on the offensive glass, 21 fouls, 21 assists, 17 turnovers, 5 blocks and 11 steals. Joshua Charles led the Thunderbirds with 22 points and 12 boards. Travis McDonald added 14, Jordy Frost 7, Gurjyotpal Grewal 3, Kain Melchoir 3, Noah Charles 3, Tyler Hudson 2 and Sean Barrett 2, while Graham McKinnon, Jacob Berry-McKenzie, Braydon Aumen, Alucious Gray and Connor Hayer were scoreless. The Thunderbirds hit 21-54 (.390) from the floor, 1-12 (.080) from the arc and 11-22 from the line, while garnering 48 boards, including 23 on the offensive glass, 20 fouls, 5 assists, 19 turnovers, 3 blocks and 10 steals. The Thunderbirds (coached by Sandeep Heer) also included Jared Champoux and Corwin Trent. …………………………………………………… The 3rd-seeded Vancouver College Fighting Irish clipped the 14th-seeded Pitt Meadows Air Force 74-68. The Marauders led 21-14 after one quarter. The Fighting Irish led 38-37 at the half. The score was knotted at 54 after three quarters. The game was tied six times and featured eight lead changes. The Irish held the Marauders scoreless in the final two minutes and forward Jordan Lum-Tong disrupted Pitt Meadows’ offence with his quickness. “He’s been like that the whole year,” Irish coach Lloyd Scrubb told the Vancouver Province. “He always gets the over-matched match-up, but he always comes through. He has really been a star.” Elijah Campbell-Axson added that “what we did today starts in practice. We put in a lot of hard hours and sweat and it goes from there.” Elijah Campbell-Axson paced the Fighting Irish with 29. Jordan Lum-Ton added 22, Jack Coady 9, Chris McAlpine 5, McCoy Lum 4, Cameron Beers 3 and Zachery San Felipe 2, while Kelly Chow, John Rysen, Matthew Narvaez, Jay Cruz, Josh Lem, Samuel Bailey and Pierre Agrapart were scoreless. The Fighting Irish hit 23-45 (.510) from the floor, 4-16 from the arc and 16-22 (.730) from the line, while garnering 34 boards, including 11 on the offensive glass, 17 fouls, 7 assists, 5 turnovers, 1 block and 8 steals. Graham Smith paced the Marauders with 29 points and 12 boards. Zach Villanueve added 13, Jordan Murley 13, Hakeem Wewala 10 and Douglas Cruz 3, while Chris McCarten, Mark Ashmalla, Zach Hetherington, Fynn Nickig, Enzo Tadeo, Elijah Lapurga, Sanj Toor, Tyler Anderson, Anthony Emmott and Jordan Da Silva were scoreless. The Marauders (coached by Rich Goulet) hit 22-45 (.490) from the floor, 5-13 (.380) from the arc and 9-15 (.600) from the line, while garnering 42 boards, including 14 on the offensive glass, 16 fouls, 18 assists, 13 turnovers, 4 blocks and 1 steal. …………………………………………………… The 2nd-seeded Coquitlam Gleneagle Talons stomped the 15th-seeded Prince George Polars 97-34 after leading 27-10, 46-18 and 77-28 at the quarters. Grant Galbraith paced the Talons with 24 points and 20 boards. Denver Sparks-Guest added 16, along with 10 boards, Brenden Bailey 14, Tarik Scott 14, Mathew Goroza 12, Cordell Parker 6, Kayvean Tabrizi 5, Jake Stuart 4 and Mohamed Habob 2, while Jason Tade was scoreless. The Talons hit 37-66 (.560) from the floor, 4-18 (.220) from the arc and 11-21 (.520) from the line, while garnering 66 boards, including 29 on the offensive glass, 13 fouls, 21 assists, 8 turnovers, 3 blocks and 13 steals. Tyrell Laing paced the Polars with 22. Inderpal Bassi added 9, Amandeep Seehra 2 and Johnny Tatla 1, while Manraj Buttar, Ryan Risher, Simarjot Bill, Tajinderpal Gill, Karan Gill, Trevor Foster and Sukhbir Jhander were scoreless. The Polars hit 13-37 (.350) from the floor, 1-20 (.050) from the arc and 5-6 (.830) from the line, while garnering 31 boards, including 7 on the offensive glass, 16 fouls, 3 assists, 20 turnovers, 2 blocks and 3 steals. …………………………………………………… The 5th-seeded Vancouver Sir Winston Churchill Bulldogs dumped the 12th-seeded West Vancouver Highlanders 87-78 after leading 21-16, 42-40 and 67-58 at the quarters. “There is no doubt that they outworked us on the boards, they passed the ball well, and they ran a lot of good stuff,” Bulldogs coach Rick Lopez told the Vancouver Province. “If we want to continue in this tournament, then we have to play some defence. We gave up way too much easy stuff and the help-side (defence) was not there. It’s pretty simple, if we play well, we have a chance to win. If we don’t, we lose.” Mindy Minhas paced the Bulldogs with 32 points and 24 boards. Jason Claur added 17, Karn Virk 13, Harry Liu 13, Izaiah Ugoalah 8, Gary Minhas 2 and Reegan O’Gorman 2, while Arnel Santiago Jr. Jerwin Ibit, Patrick Garces, Carlo Latonio, Amit Sekhon, Lambert Pajayon, Marvin Yiu, Simon Marriott, Justin Li, Benson Yu and Jatin Sarpal were scoreless. The Bulldogs hit 26-57 (.460) from the floor, 8-22 (.360) from the arc and 11-17 (.650) from the line, while garnering 54 boards, including 22 on the offensive glass, 15 fouls, 18 assists, 16 turnovers, 1 block and 11 steals. Matt Fedak led the Highlanders with 24. Luke Ryan added 14, Alec Kvarnstrom 15, Carson Batt 10, Philip Jesic 8, Liam Mahon 4 and Alex Yoon 2, while Matin Rostamabadi, Kalen Jamal, Luke Chun, Devon Copeland, Sterling Clery and Grady Huskisson were scoreless. The Highlanders hit 30-56 (.540) from the floor, 4-15 (.270) from the arc and 6-12 from the line, while garnering 41 boards, including 12 on the offensive glass, 13 fouls, 15 assists, 19 turnovers, 4 blocks and 10 steals. …………………………………………………… The 9th-seeded Burnaby South Rebels bombed the 8th-seeded Victoria Claremont Spartans 81-58. The Spartans led 4-0 after one quarter. The Rebels led 10-4 at the half and 51-37 after three quarters. “We had a really good team game,” Rebels coach David Smith told the Vancouver Province. “We played downhill, like I am trying to teach them to do. At times it has been like this, this year. But not always. … You play so many games in January and February, and you can get off track a bit. So that off week, if you use it correctly, you can re-invent yourself. Not that we’re re-inventing anything, but we went back and touched on some of the things we did better earlier in the year, and the kids have started to buy in. I am going into the room to talk to them now, and my biggest statement to these guys is that our best basketball is still in front of us.” Jermaine Haley paced the Rebels with 29. Tyus Batiste added 12, Nicholas Trninic 11, Taylor Smith 9, Djordie Obradovic 9, Martin Bogajev 6, Roshan Bhatti 2, E.J. Mabone 2 and William He 1, while J.C. Pineda and Milos Savic were scoreless. The Rebels hit 27-39 from the floor, 6-18 (.333) from the arc and 9-18 from the line, while garnering 38 boards, including 14 on the offensive glass, 18 assists, 16 fouls, 16 turnovers and 7 steals. Luke Collombin paced the Spartans with 15. Alex Jordache added 14, Taylor Montgomery-Stinson 14, Jaamel Slack 11, Zach Christianson 2 and Hakeem Jefferson 2, while Harper Gill, Antonin Ngongo and Amrit Sekhon were scoreless. The Spartans hit 20-38 from the floor, 2-19 (.105) from the arc and 12-18 from the line, while garnering 29 boards, including 13 on the offensive glass, 7 assists, 15 fouls, 10 turnovers and 9 steals. The Spartans also included Harm Dhillon, Ankit Jayant, Marshal King, Connor Leies, Xavery Mulholland, Jamal Nasim, Jonny Sandoval, Brad Schulz, Monty Virk and Karsten Waters. …………………………………………………… The top-seeded Surrey Tamanawis Wildcats obliterated the 16th-seeded Cranbrook Mt. Baker Wild 105-29 after leading 37-10, 68-16 and 89-23 at the quarters. Sukhjot Bains paced the Wildcats with 20 points and 10 boards. Harjot Grewal added 16, Sikhman Sandhu 15, Sukhraj Biring 11, David Alexander 9, Tarnvir Kainth 9, Parm Bains 6, Harbinder Munday 6, Mantej Sandhu 6, Harnoor Sangha 5 and Prince Gill 2, while Aminder Basra, Randy Johal, Sagar Dulay, Amrit Atwal, Gary Sahota, Miguel Argueta Tomley and Jelani Morris were scoreless. The Wildcats hit 30-60 from the floor, 11-34 (.320) from the arc and 12-21 (.570) from the line, while garnering 64 boards, including 32 on the offensive glass, 11 fouls, 17 assists, 12 turnovers, 5 blocks and 21 steals. Jeremy Stewart and Brett Rae each scored 7 to pace the Wild. Andrew Lamb added 6, Nick Singer 5 and Mike Daprocida 4, while Dylan Aston, Riley Morey, Ben Stropky, Jordan Broadhead, Jacob Kress and Wyatt McCullough were scoreless. The Wild hit 11-33 (.330) from the floor, 1-3 from the arc and 4-8 from the line, while garnering 34 boards, including 9 on the offensive glass, 15 fouls, 4 assists, 30 turnovers and 2 steals. The Wild also included Devon Maisonneuve, Keegan Sheddan, Andrew Lafreniere and Zach Baxter.
In the quarterfinals, the 5th-seeded Vancouver Sir Winston Churchill Bulldogs edged the 4th-seeded Langley Walnut Grove Gators 75-70 after leading 31-10, 43-34 and 63-53 at the quarters. “We were two totally different teams,” in comparison with the opening round match, Bulldogs coach Rick Lopez told the Vancouver Province. “Plus, Walnut Grove knocked us out last year and they are the defending champs. Kids want incentive.” Walnut Grove’s Bryce Derton had completed a three-point play to draw the Gators within 71-69 after rallying from a 19-point first quarter deficit. But grade 11 forward Mindy Minhas notched a critical layup against an expiring shot clock with 1:40 to play to settle the Bulldog nerves. “I thought we dug ourselves out of the hole, but we didn’t sustain it,” said Walnut Grove coach George Bergen told the Province. “We made it a game. The game of basketball works like this, you dig your way back, but then you have to capitalize on your opportunities and the other team’s mistakes.” Bergen later told the Langley Times that “what happened was (Churchill) came out very energetic, very lively, moving everywhere on offence and defence. (And) we were slow. We had our opportunities in the end. We showed some signs of life but we didn’t take advantage of our opportunities. … Our goal was to control the defensive glass and their transition and we lost on both ends.” Mindy Minhas paced the Bulldogs with 28 points and 16 boards. Izaiah Ugoalah added 18, Gary Minhas 14, Karn Virk 4, Harry Liu 3, Reegan O’Gorman 3, Jason Claur 3 and Lambert Pajayon 2, while Arnel Santiago Jr., Jerwin Ibit, Patrick Garces, Carlo Latonio, Amit Sekhon, Marvin Yiu, Simon Marriott, Justin Li, Benson Yu and Jatin Sarpal were scoreless. The Bulldogs hit 29-53 (.550) from the floor, 2-15 (.130) from the arc and 11-26 (.420) from the line, while garnering 57 boards, including 26 on the offensive glass, 21 fouls, 8 assists, 12 turnovers, 4 blocks and 6 steals. Seattle University-bound Jadon Cohee paced the Gators with 21 points and 11 boards. Andrew McKay added 17, Bryce Derton 11, Tyler Anderson 10, Wei Chung 7 and Tom Gunigab 4, while Hamish McKay, Lucas Hodgson, Wesley Rogerson, Zephan McMillan, Adrian Peter, Tamir Alatrash, Varun Senthikumar and Trevor Siemiatkowski were scoreless. The Gators hit 18-48 (.380) from the floor, 5-17 (.290) from the arc and 19-29 (.660) from the line, while garnering 47 boards, including 21 on the offensive glass, 9 assists, 9 turnovers, 2 blocks and 6 steals.
The top-seeded Surrey Tamanawis Wildcats dusted the 9th-seeded Burnaby South Rebels 74-60 after leading 27-14, 46-30 and 60-49 at the quarters. Sukhjot Bains paced the Wildcats with 22 points and 18 boards. Sukhraj Biring added 17, Harjot Grewal 13, Sukhman Sandhu 7, David Alexander 6, Parm Bains 6 and Harnoor Sangha 3, while Prince Gill, Aminder Basra, Harbinder Munday, Randy Johal, Sagar Dulay, Amrit Atwal, Gary Sahota, Mantej Sandhu, Tarnvir Kainth, Migel Argueta Tomley and Jelani Morris were scoreless. The Wildcats hit 10-29 (.340) from the floor, 13-31 (.420) from the arc and 15-23 (.650) from the line, while garnering 55 boards, including 16 on the offensive glass, 23 fouls, 13 assists, 15 turnovers, 3 blocks and 1 steal. Martin Bogajev led the Rebels with 22. Jermaine Haley added 11, along with 11 boards, Djordje Obradovic 9, Tyus Batiste 6, Taylor Smith 3, Roshan Bhatti 3, Nick Trninic 2, E.J. Mabone 2 and J.C. Pineda 2, while Saeed Habib, Steven Oropel, Sean San Juan, Milos Savic, Vincent Oropel, Paul Sosa, William He, Igor Mahajlovic and Aleks Stankovic were scoreless. The Rebels hit 14-36 (.390) from the floor, 4-30 (.130) from the arc and 20-31 (.650) from the line, while garnering 49 boards, including 20 on the offensive glass, 21 fouls, 9 assists, 10 turnovers, 2 blocks and 11 steals. The Rebels also included Ahmad Nizammani.
The 6th-seeded Surrey Holy Cross Crusaders whipped the 3rd-seeded Vancouver College Fighting Irish 77-60. The Fighting Irish led 26-14 after one quarter and 36-34 at the half. The Crusaders led 54-50 after three quarters. “The first quarter we couldn’t guard,” Holy Cross coach Matt LeChasseur told the Vancouver Province. “But at the end of the day it comes down to rebounding and defence, and the rest takes care of itself.” Jauquin Bennett-Boire paced the Crusaders with 22. Taylor Browne added 18, along with 10 boards, Bright Dododza 16, along with 15 boards, Jonathan Kongbo 15, Henry Maduabueke 4 and Alex Asperin 2, while Brandon Pereira, Brent Gatlabayan, Samuel Garzitto, Stanley Maduabueke, Adam Canete and Anton Cvitkovich were scoreless. The Crusaders hit 29-59 (.490) from the floor, 0-7 from the arc and 19-26 (.730) from the line, while garnering 55 boards, including 27 on the offensive glass, 15 fouls, 10 assists, 15 turnovers, 5 blocks and 9 steals. Elijah Campbell-Axson paced the Fighting Irish with 18. Jack Coady added 17, Chris McAlpine 15, Jordan Lum-Tong 4, Kelly Chow 3 and Zachery San Felipe 3, while McCoy Lum, Cameron Beers, John Rysen, Matthew Navarez, Jay Cruz, Josh Lem, Samuel Bailey and Pierre Agrapart were scoreless. The Fighting Irish hit 14-30 (.470) from the floor, 7-26 (.270) from the arc and 11-13 (.850) from the line, while garnering 26 boards, including 9 on the offensive glass, 22 fouls, 9 assists, 15 turnovers and 6 steals. The Fighting Irish also included Joseph Anthony, Rysen John and Manvir Kuhn Kuhn.
In the last quarterfinal, the 7th-seeded Sardis Falcons stunned the 2nd-seeded Coquitlam Gleneagle Talons 81-63 after leading 20-18, 42-33 and 57-44 at the quarters. “For the last two years, other coaches have come up to me and have said ‘Oh, you’re from Sardis, whereabouts in Abbotsford is that,” Falcons coach Kyle Graves told the Vancouver Province. “That drove our team up the wall. We had a pep rally the other day and I told the school ‘Our boys have put the City of Sardis on the map. … In the last minute I was just standing there, out of body,” said Graves. For the last two years they have had the talent, but not always the attitude and intensity. Tonight, they wanted it, and tonight they went out and got it.” Talons coach Tony Scott told Tri-Cities Now that “we didn’t match [Sardis in] anything, we definitely didn’t match their execution, and they were hungry. After we beat them [in January] they had something to come after. We just didn’t respond the right way.” Eric Rogers paced the Falcons with 21. Colin Kellington added 18, Hayden Lejeune 18, Grayden Nothey 10, Cam Servatius 10, Evan Kellington 2 and Brayden Sparks-Chinda 2, while John Nagayo, Thijs Duineveld, Garrett Johnson, Peter Saint Louie, Johnathan Wendt and Satana McKay were scoreless. The Falcons hit 26-50 (.520) from the floor, 3-7 (.430) from the arc and 20-28 (.710) from the line, while garnering 45 boards, including 14 on the offensive glass, 20 fouls, 13 assists, 12 turnovers, 6 blocks and 5 steals. Denver Sparks-Guest and Cordell Parker each scored 16 to pace the Talons. Brenden Bailey added 10, Tarik Scott 10, Grant Galbraith 3, Jake Stuart 3 and Mathew Goroza 2, while Jason Tade, Mohamed Habob and Kayvean Tabrizi were scoreless. The Talons (coached by Tony Scott) hit 18-52 (.350) from the floor, 5-18 (.280) from the arc and 12-13 (.920) from the line, while garnering 40 boards, including 18 on the offensive glass, 23 fouls, 14 assists, 15 turnovers, 1 block and 6 steals.
In the semis, the 5th-seeded Vancouver Sir Winston Churchill Bulldogs stunned the top-seeded Surrey Tamanawis Wildcats 68-66 in overtime. The Wildcats led 21-13 after one quarter. The score was tied at 31 at the half. The Bulldogs led 42-41 after three quarters. The score was knotted at 60 after regulation. Tamanawis opened the game by hitting five treys; including a pair by Sukh Bains as they took a 21-11 lead. But the Bulldogs stiffened their perimeter defence and gave the Wildcats nothing inside. “This is unbelievable,” Bulldogs coach Rick Lopez told the Vancouver Province. “Those kids played so hard, I love ‘em so much, man. Just all heart and determination and never giving up. They listened and they responded.” Harry Liu noted that “I just knew that at the start of the season there would be Grade 11s and 12s stronger and bigger than me, but I wanted that challenge. But I wanted that challenge, to come out and play against those guys. Right now, there are just no words for this feeling.” Tamanawis coach Mike McKay told the Province that “we were taking good shots, and getting good open looks. But because we thought we were shooting it so well, we started taking contested looks instead of the drive-and-kick looks we were getting earlier in the game.” Bains fouled out with 1:15 remaining in regulation and his team leading 59-58 after Bulldog point guard Jason Claur raced down the floor and took a charge. Mindas hit one of two free throws with 13.9 seconds to play to force overtime. “It’s part of the game,” McKay said of Bains’ fifth foul. “But it’s really tough to take right now. With how many hours we have put in, what we have been through the last two-and-a-half years, to have a game end like that is tough. But that is part of basketball.” Lopez told the Vancouver Sun that his squad kept the Wildcats off the arc. “They always do that. You watch them and they hit threes all day long. We talked about not really helping off the guys that much and, you know, if they are going to beat us, let them two us to death. … We talked about being aggressive That team plays good defence and if you go soft you can’t get to the rim. He started taking it aggressive, challenging them. That’s what it is all about, challenging them. They have been No. 1 all year, we had an opportunity to knock them off and we did.” Harry Liu told the Sun “in the first half I was a little bit off but my teammate Gary (Minhas) at halftime coming out he said, ‘I want the Churchill Harry back, I want the one who hits all those threes, goes to the rack and gets all those points. I listened to his words and came out and shot the ball. This is the greatest feeling in the world.” Mindy Minhas paced the Bulldogs with 28 on 7-23 from the floor, 2-9 from the arc, 8-15 from the line, 16 boards, 3 assists and 5 steals. Harry Liu added 15 on 3-7 from the floor, 3-6 from the arc and 10 boards. Gary Minhas notched 13 on 2-10 from the floor, 1-4 from the arc, 6-10 from the line, 7 boards, 2 assists and 2 steals. Karn Virk added 4 on 2-6 from the floor, 7 boards and 2 steals. Reegan O’Gorman notched 4 on 2-5 from the floor and 4 boards. Jason Claur added 2 on 1-5 from the floor and 2 boards. Izaiah Ugoalah added 2, while Arnel Santiago Jr., Jerwin Ibit, Patrick Garces, Carlo Latonio, Amit Sekhon, Lambert Pajayon, Marvin Yiu, Simon Marriott, Justin Li, Benson Yu and Jatin Sarpal were scoreless. The Bulldogs hit 17-57 (.300) from the floor, 6-21 (.290) from the arc and 16-29 (.550) from the line, while garnering 63 boards, including 25 on the offensive glass, 12 fouls, 8 assists, 10 turnovers, 4 blocks and 9 steals.
Sukhjot Bains paced the Wildcats with 24 on 5-8 from the floor, 3-9 from the arc, 5-7 from the line, 13 boards and 4 assists. Sukhman Sandhu added 14 on 7-12 from the floor, 0-2 from the arc, 16 boards and 3 blocks. Parm Bains added 9 on 3-10 from the floor, 1-6 from the arc, 4 boards and 4 assists. Harjot Grewal added 9 on 0-6 from the floor, 3-14 from the arc and 8 boards. Sukhraj Biring added 4 on 2-3 from the floor, 0-4 from the arc, 3 boards and 2 steals. David Alexander notched 4 on 2-4 from the floor and 3 boards. Harnoor Sangha added 2, along with 3 boards, while Prince Gill, Aminder Basra, Harbinder Munday, Randy Johal, Sagar Dulay, Amrit Atwal, Gary Sahota, Mantej Sandhu, Tarnvir Kainth, Miguel Argueta Tomley and Jelani Morris were scoreless. The Wildcats hit 20-44 (.450) from the floor, 7-36 (.190) from the arc and 5-7 (.710) from the line, while garnering 61 boards, including 17 on the offensive glass, 17 fouls, 11 assists, 19 turnovers, 5 blocks and 5 steals.
In the other semi, the 6th-seeded Surrey Holy Cross Crusaders edged the 7th-seeded Sardis Falcons 73-68 after leading 22-7, 33-29 and 53-41 at the quarters. Although they missed 12 of their last 14 free throws, the Crusaders held on for the win. “This night is huge for our school and huge for our program,” said Holy Cross assistant coach Anthony Pezzente. “Last year we lost in the Double-A semifinals, but we made the commitment to come up to Quad, and now we’re in the finals.” The Crusaders built a 22-7 lead by physically dominating the Falcons. But Sardis rallied to within four at the half. Holy Cross opened the second half with a 12-0 run and appeared to be in command before they began missing free throws and allowed the Falcons to rally down the stretch. “With this team this year, nothing was easy,” said Pezzente. “We always like making things difficult for ourselves, but we have always been tough enough to follow through and see things out at the very end.” Holy Cross was stepping up from the Double-A ranks, where they’d lost in the semis in 2012-13. Sardis coach Kyle Graves told the Chilliwack Progress that the team’s goal at the start of the season was to have a top four finish. “Make it to that semi-final game and see what happens once we get there. It goes back to my old UFV coach when we were making national finals all the time. His approach was just to make the finals, give yourselves a chance and let the cards play out.” Graves said the Falcons had difficulty containing Jonathan Kongo and dug themselves an early hole. “I think it was a tiny case of nerves. I only played a couple games in my career in front of crowds like this. For our 16 and 17-year-old kids, they didn’t air-ball too many shots, which some kids do. We had a lot of missed layups that they normally put in.” But they rallied with a 16-2 run to draw within four. “I think it just clicked in their head that they weren’t facing NBA players. They were just regular high school boys that could be out-worked. We used our skill and teamwork to get back into the game. In the first three minutes of both halves they worked hard and we didn’t come prepared to withstand the work ethic they brought. I’m going to tell a lot of people I thought we out-played them for 35 minutes of the game, and that just happens sometimes in basketball. You can out-play a team, but they make the shots, get the steals and the turnovers. … If this had been a 42-minute game, we might have been able to catch them. But time ran out.” Jonathan Kongbo paced the Crusaders with 19 on 8-14 from the floor, 3-6 from the line, 11 boards and 2 steals. Jauquin Bennett-Boire added 17 on 5-8 from the floor, 0-4 from the arc, 7-9 from the line, 9 boards, 8 assists and 3 steals. Bright Dododza notched 13 on 5-8 from the floor, 3-7 from the line and 9 boards. Taylor Browne scored 12 on 5-8 from the floor, 0-4 from the arc, 2-2 from the line, 5 boards, 3 assists and 3 steals. Henry Maduabueke added 5 on 2-4 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 1-2 from the line, 5 boards and 2 blocks. Stanley Maduabueke added 4 on 2-2 from the floor and 2 boards. Brandon Pereira added 2, along with 4 boards, while Alex Aspiring, Brent Gatlabayan, Samuel Garzitto, Adam Canete and Anton Cvitkovich were scoreless. The Crusaders hit 27-46 (.590) from the floor, 1-12 (.080) from the arc and 16-30 (.530) from the line, while garnering 54 boards, including 21 on the offensive glass, 19 fouls, 12 assists, 18 turnovers, 3 blocks and 11 steals. Eric Rogers paced the Falcons with 21 on 7-13 from the floor, 1-3 from the arc, 4-10 from the line, 9 boards, 3 assists and 4 steals. Cam Servatius added 18 on 5-11 from the floor, 1-4 from the arc, 5-8 from the line, 13 boards, 3 assists and 2 steals. Hayden Lejeune notched 15 on 6-14 from the floor, 0-2 from the arc, 3-4 from the line, 10 boards and 2 steals. Grayden Nothey added 6 on 0-1 from the floor, 2-8 from the arc, 3 boards and 2 assists. Colin Kellington added 5 on 1-2 from the floor, 1-8 from the arc, 3 boards, 3 assists and 2 steals. Evan Kellington added 3 on 1-3 from the arc, while John Naayo, Thijs Duinveld, Garrett Johnson, Peter Saint Louie, Brayden Sparks-Chinda, Jonathan Wendt and Santana McKay were scoreless. The Falcons hit 19-41 (.460) from the floor, 6-28 (.210) from the arc and 12-22 (.550) from the line, while garnering 44 boards, including 21 on the offensive glass, 20 fouls, 13 assists, 16 turnovers, 2 blocks and 12 steals.
In the bronze medal match, the top-seeded Surrey Tamanawis Wildcats dumped the 7th-seeded Sardis Falcons 70-56 after leading 18-8, 33-21 and 48-41 at the quarters. Sukhjot Bains paced the Wildcats with 28 on 7-14 from the floor, 1-7 from the arc, 11-12 from the line, 11 boards, 3 assists and 2 steals. Sukhman Sandhu added 19 on 6-13 from the floor, 2-4 from the arc, 1-4 from the line, 20 boards, 5 blocks and 2 steals. Sukhraj Biring added 14 on 3-3 from the floor, 2-10 from the arc, 2-2 from the line and 3 boards. Parm Bains added 5 on 2-8 from the floor, 0-3 from the arc, 1-2 from the line, 3 boards, 2 assists and 4 steals. David Alexander added 2 on 1-4 from the floor, 0-3 from the arc and 4 boards. Harjot Grewal added 2 on 1-4 from the floor, 0-6 from the arc and 4 boards, while Prince Gill, Aminder Basra, Harbinder Munday, Randy Johal, Sagar Dulay, Amrit Atwal, Gary Sahota, Harnoor Sangha, Mantej Sandhu, Tarnvir Kainth, Miguel Argueta Tomley and Jelani Morris were scoreless. The Wildcats hit 20-49 (.410) from the floor, 5-33 (.150) from the arc and 15-20 from the line, while garnering 60 boards, including 27 on the offensive glass, 12 fouls, 8 assists, 7 turnovers, 5 blocks and 9 steals. Hayden Lejeune paced the Falcons with 16 on 7-12 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 2-2 from the line, 5 boards, 3 assists and 3 blocks. Grayden Nothey added 11 on 1-1 from the floor, 3-4 from the arc and 6 boards. Cam Servatius notched 10 on 4-9 from the floor, 0-2 from the arc, 2-6 from the line, 3 boards, 3 blocks and 3 steals. Eric Rogers added 10 on 5-15 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 0-1 from the line, 6 boards and 5 assists. Colin Kellington added 7 on 2-3 from the floor, 1-7 from the arc and 2 boards. Brayden Sparks-Chinda added 2, while Evan Kellington, John Nagayo, Thijs Duineveld, Garrett Johnson, Peter Saint Louie, Jonathan Wendt and Santana McKay were scoreless. The Falcons hit 20-43 (.470) from the floor, 4-17 (.240) from the arc and 4-9 (.440) from the line, while garnering 43 boards, including 8 on the offensive glass, 19 fouls, 14 assists, 15 turnovers, 6 blocks and 6 steals. The Falcons (coached by Kyle Graves) also included Peter Fehr, Scott Fitzsimmons and Michael Kim.
In the final, the 5th-seeded Vancouver Sir Winston Churchill Bulldogs edged the 6th-seeded Surrey Holy Cross Crusaders 67-64 after leading 19-17, 34-31 and 52-49 at the quarters. “We just started saying ‘Stay in the moment and the next five seconds’, that was our theme and the kids did it,” Churchill coach Rick Lopez told the Vancouver Province. “And the rest of the guys stepped up and kept us with a lead when Mindy [Minhas] was on the bench. We don’t know who is going to step up, somebody does and we did it again tonight.” After Holy Cross’ Taylor Browne hit a layup to draw the Crusaders within 65-61 with 1:34 remaining, Minhas drained a trey from the top of the arc with 1:03 on the clock. “In the moment you don’t know how big the shot is,” said Minhas. “But I practice those kinds of shots at the end of practice, game winners. This was something I have imagined in my head before, so it was nice to see it happen.” Minhas later made a steal and a coast-to-coast drive, getting fouled and sinking free throw to make it 66-61. Crusader Brandon Pereira answered with a trey with 32.7 seconds left to make it 66-64. “I guess you narrow it down to a few tough possessions,” Holy Cross coach Matt LeChasseur told the Province. “We talked a lot about shot selection before the game and that was something we didn’t execute. It was a tough game. The kids battled hard and I want to give credit to Churchill. They played a whale of a game and it just wasn’t our night.” Lopez said that “our coaches and I talked and said ‘Let’s do our best, we have four [grade] 10s and what a learning experience and maturity process it was for them. They got to learn under one of the best in the province in Mindy. His leadership and being able to hit the big shots in the big game is unreal.” Minhas told the Province there was no added pressure though it was the provincial final. “It’s basketball, and in basketball you never have pressure when you are doing what you love and when you do what you love, you have fun. And the pressure? That’s what you practice for. It’s what makes you a better player.” Lopez told the Vancouver Sun that “I’ve been at the school for 13 years and when I started, we could barely get seven guys out to practice. We didn’t win many games. But I just put in the time and the kids put in the time and we got here. I’m just blessed to have a group of kids like this, not only them but the whole school community. The parents, the assistant coaches, everyone contributed to this.” Becoming the first public school from Vancouver since 1961 to win the provincial crown is “unbelievable,” he added. “I didn’t know that. I tried to stay away from the history because I didn’t want to overwhelm the kids. We just talked about staying in the moment and the next five seconds. That was our theme the whole night and the kids did it. I’m so proud of them. It’s been the most amazing experience. They’ve taken me on an amazing run. I’m so lucky to have them.” Minhas told the Sun “it was one of the biggest games of my life, for sure. I didn’t play at all the entire second quarter and I wanted to come out and make an impact and help our team win. My teammates found me and, if it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t have been able to hit those shots. This is a huge deal for our school. Our coach has put in a lot of time and effort and now it’s paid off. It’s a joy. I’m so happy. I don’t know how to explain it.” Holy Cross coach Matthew LeChasseur said “we turned the ball over at the wrong time and our shot selection wasn’t what we talked about before the game but hats off to Churchill, they played a whale of a game. We’re really proud of our program. It’s a major feat for a school of our size to make it to this point. We’re really proud of how hard our kids played and we’re looking forward to building on this momentum.” Mindy Minhas paced the Bulldogs with 30 on 7-11 from the floor, 4-8 from the arc, 4-8 from the line, 5 boards and 4 steals. Karn Virk added 9 on 4-10 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 1-4 from the line and 10 boards. Gary Minhas notched 9 on 2-7 from the floor, 1-6 from the arc, 2-2 from the line, 4 boards and 4 assists. Jason Claur, who was later chosen defensive player of the tournament, scored 5 on 1-2 from the floor, 3-8 from the line, 3 boards and 3 assists. Harry Liu added 5 on 1-1 from the floor, 1-5 from the arc, 0-4 from the line and 3 boards. Reegan O’Gorman added 5 on 2-5 from the floor, 1-2 from the line and 6 boards. Lambert Panjayon added 2 and Izaiah Ugoalah 2, along with 2 boards, while Arnel Santiago Jr. Jerwin Ibit, Patrick Garces, Carlo Latonio, Amit Sekhon, Marvin Yiu, Simon Marriott, Justin Li, Benson Yu and Jatin Sarpal were scoreless. The Bulldogs hit 19-43 (.440) from the floor, 6-20 (.300) from the arc and 11-31 (.350) from the line, while garnering 53 boards, including 30 on the offensive glass, 16 fouls, 11 assists, 11 turnovers, 1 block and 8 steals. Jauquin Bennett-Boire paced the Crusaders with 21 on 6-16 from the floor, 1-6 from the arc, 6-9 from the line, 11 boards and 7 assists. Jonathan Kongbo added 20 on 7-12 from the floor, 1-1 from the arc, 3-4 from the line, 12 boards, 4 assists and 2 steals. Taylor Browne added 8 on 1-3 from the floor, 2-4 from the arc, 3 boards and 6 assists. Brandon Pereira added 8 on 1-2 from the floor, 2-8 from the arc, 6 boards and 2 steals. Henry Maduabueke added 5 on 2-4 from the floor, 0-3 from the arc, 1-4 from the line and 6 boards. Bright Dododza added 2, along with 3 blocks, while Alex Aspiring, Brent Gatlabayan, Samuel Garzitto, Stanley Maduabueke, Adam Canete and Anton Cvitokovich were scoreless. The Crusaders hit 18-38 (.470) from the floor, 6-24 from the arc and 10-17 (.590) from the line, while garnering 50 boards, including 22 on the offensive glass, 22 fouls, 19 assists, 15 turnovers, 4 blocks and 6 steals.
The bronze medalist Surrey Tamanawis Wildcats: Amritpal Atwal; Parmvir Bains; Sukhjot Bains; Sukhraj Biring; David Dinbandho; Parvinder Gill; Harjot Grewal; Tanvir Kainth; Harbinder Munday; Mantej Sandhu; Sukhman Sandhu; Harmoor Sangha; coach Mike McKay
The silver medalist Surrey Holy Cross Crusaders: Alex Asperin; Jauquin Bennett-Boire; Taylor Browne; Adam Canete; Anton Cvitkovich; Bright Dododza; Samuel Garizotto; Brent Gatlabayan; Joshua Jeyamancharan; Jonny Sandoval; Jon Kongbo; Henry Maduabeueke; Stanley Maduabueke; Brandon Pereira; Jerome Santiago; coach Matt LeChausseur; assistant Anthony Pezzente
The gold medalist Vancouver Sir Winston Churchill Bulldogs: Jason Claur; Arnel Santiago; Jerwin Ibit; Patrick Garces; Justin Li; Carlo Latonio; Kerby Llamas; Lambert Pajayon; Mindy Minhas; Marvin Yiu; Izaiah Ugoalah; Simon Marriott; Karn Virk; Jatin Sarpal; Gurinder Minhas; Harry Liu; Amit Sekhon; Benson Yu; Reegan O’Gorman; coach Rick Lopez