In the opening round, held in Kamloops for the third consecutive year: …………………………………………………… The 14th-seeded Summerland Rockets crushed the 3rd-seeded Richmond Hugh McRoberts Strikers 84-53 as Grade 12 guard Logan Cripps scored 24, Steve DeFehr 18, Josh Hood 15 and Graham Manders 14, along with 14 boards. Sinan Aboud and Devon Huang led McRoberts (coached by Chris Kennedy) with 13 apiece. “I thought it was going to be a close game, maybe 8-10 points but I guess we just pulled away,” Cripps told the Vancouver Province. “Everything went right.” The Rockets led 34-28 at the half and took command early in the second when Cripps and guard Steve DeFehr each drained treys. They stretched their margin to 64-41 after three quarters and romped. …………………………………………………… The Saltspring Gulf Island Scorpions defeated the Golden Eagles 83-73 as 6-7 forward Al Lemay scored 32 on 16-28 from the floor, and grabbed 21 boards. Jon Leier added 16, including 4-4 from the arc. Curtis Webster and Jari Deutsch each scored 18 for Golden. …………………………………………………… The Vanderhoof Nechako Valley Vikings whipped the Surrey Fraser Valley Christian Falcons 97-68 as Brad Van Dolah scored 31 and Aaron Gwilliam 18. Steve Rogalsky paced the Falcons with 21 (also reported as 14). Luke Kreuger added 18 (also reported as 19), David Bron 15. The Falcons also included Kyle Kooger. …………………………………………………… The Prince George Duchess Park Condors crushed the 12th-seeded Seychelt Chatelech Eagles 67-45 as 5-9 guard Jordan Yu hit seven three-pointers en route to a game-high 39 points. Dave Pasman led Chatelech with 14. …………………………………………………… The Ladysmith 49ers prevailed 98-91 over the Mission Roadrunners as Luke Robinson scored 26, Louis Edgar 21 and Joe Moro 21. John Steiffich led Mission with 30. Rocky Sharma added 27 and Ashok Sharma 24. The Roadrunners led 54-53 at the half. …………………………………………………… The 6th-seeded Kamloops Westsyde Whundas dumped the Abbotsford Christian Knights 67-34 as Sean Garvey scored 21, Corey Semeniuk 11 and David Armstrong 9 before spraining an ankle in the first quarter. Brian Dieleman led Abby Christian with 10. The Whundas opened with a 17-0 run and romped. “We really want to come out and work hard. It was a crucial game and I think our work won it for us,” Garvey told Kamloops This Week. “We had a couple of bad, sloppy turnovers at the end of the first half but we really tightened up. They weren’t crucial errors and we made up for them.” …………………………………………………… The Armstrong Pleasant Valley Saints dumped the Victoria Lambrick Park Lions 74-65 as Jay Finstad scored 18. Steve Moore paced Lambrick Park with 65. The Lions also included Keenan Cross. …………………………………………………… The top-ranked Prince Rupert Rainmakers defeated the Kamloops Brocklehurst Broncs 78-47 as Jason Alsop scored 22 and Evan Ludwick 21. Devin Andrew led Brocklehurst with 10.
In the quarterfinals, the Vanderhoof Nechako Valley Vikings defeated the Saltspring Gulf Islands Scorpions x-x. It was a dead-heat for three quarters, but Vikings pulled away in the fourth when Scorpions had to go to their bench and began turning the ball over against the press. Foul trouble and fatigue were also factors. Brad Van Dolah led the Vikings with 26. Ezra Gwilliam added 18. Al Lemay paced the Scorpions with 21. The Scorpions also included Rhys Beasley, Sam Hannah.
The Prince George Duchess Park Condors dumped the Armstrong Pleasant Valley Saints 67-54 as Jordan Yu scored 28. Simon Wiebe added 15 for the Condors, who pulled away in the fourth quarter after the two teams seldom were separated by a field-goal for most of the game. Brandon Goodwin paced the Saints with 15. Jay Finstad added 14. Saints coach Ross Shannon told the Vernon Morning Star that “we played solid. We didn’t play over our heads. We played pretty consistent against a small, athletic and fast team.” … That Yu is a very good player and he was the difference. He made bunch of shots. He would penetrate, pull up and take the jumper and he was tough on defence. They were a good team.”
Summerland Rockets’ 6-8 forward Josh Hood’s shot blocking ability and physical presence under the defensive boards seemed to have a disconcerting effect on the Kamloops Westsyde Whundas as the Rockets took a 58-54 win. When Hood was out with foul trouble Westsyde surged back into a 50-50 tie, then went nearly five key minutes in the fourth quarter without a point after Hood re-entered the game as both teams played stingy defence down the stretch. Summerland had 30 points from Steve Defehr, including six, three-pointers. Westsyde countered with 19 by Sean Garvey. The Whundas (coached by Del Komarniski) also included Matt Feeney, Jamie Martin, David Armstrong.
In the last quarterfinal, the Prince Rupert Rainmakers defeated Ladysmith 49ers in one of the highest scoring games in ‘AA’ tournament history. Ladysmith battled from behind to tie the game 94-94 in the final three minutes, but ended up losing 105-99. Rupert was led by Evan Ludwick with 48 points as he was near double figures in every quarter, while Ladysmith got 25 from Louis Edgar. Joe Moro added 24, Fabian Schooner 16, Phil Cowley 14 and Luke Robinson 13. The 49ers trailed by as man as 22 but rallied to knot the score at 94. Ladysmith coach Randy Steel told the Nanaimo Daily News “they got a couple of baskets at the end and that was the difference. The kids worked really hard to come back and make it close.”
In the semi-finals, the Vanderhoof Nechako Valley Vikings crushed the Summerland Rockets 102-82 as Aaron Gwilliam scored 31 (including 23 in the first half) and Brad Van Dolah 25. The Vikings took control early, led 56-44 at the half. Summerland’s big man Josh Hood had 22 and Logan Cripps added 21, including five three-pointers, but Summerland also lost two starters to fouls.
In the other semi, the top-seeded Prince Rupert Rainmakers easily handled the Prince George Duchess Park Condors 91-76 to set up an all-Northern final. The Condors (coached by Al Erricson)
In the bronze medal match, the Summerland Rockets dispatched the Prince George Duchess Park Condors 68-60.
In the final, the Prince Rupert Rainmakers defeated the Vanderhoof Nechako Valley Vikings 91-84 led by Brody Bishop with 25, and 24 from Jason Alsop, while tourney MVP Evan Ludwick had 23. Nechako scoring was led by Brad Van Dolah with a game high 37, while Aaron Gwilliam made 19.
The bronze medalist Summerland Rockets: Josh Hood; Logan Cripps;
The silver medalist Vanderhoof Nechako Valley Vikings: Brad Van Dolah; Aaron Gwilliam; Brandon Senner; Tyler Hynd; Keeton Hutchins; Erza Gwilliam; Johnathan Whidden; Chad Johnson; Mike Stanley; Spencer Pasowisty; Jared Fawcett; coach Gary Simrose; assistant Vaughn Mueller; manager Debbie Simrose
The gold medalist Prince Rupert Rainmakers: Evan Ludwick, Brody Bishop, Jason Alsop, Oliver Reyes, Marc Monteleone, Miguel Goncalves, Paul Bondoc, Robert Monteleone, Jyoti Bahia, Ryan Leask, Brandon Sampson, Ian Urbanski, Aaron Williams and Lindsay Smith; coach Mel Bishop