In the opening round, held in Kamloops: …………………………………………………… The top-seeded Ladysmith 49ers defeated the North Vancouver Windsor Dukes 98-69 as Jaret Redford scored 19, including 9-10 from the line and 7 boards. Phil Cowley added 18, Duncan Munro 13, Mark Darbyshire 11, Paul Berto 10 and Eric Aris 10. The 49ers led 45-28 at the half. Matt Smith led Windsor with 13. …………………………………………………… The Burnaby St. Thomas More Knights dumped the Mission Roadrunners 72-63 as Lenny Piprah scored 19 and grabbed 11 boards, Jacques DesLauriers 14 and Andrew Witt 14. Rahul Manocha led Mission with 15. Johnny Grewal added 12. …………………………………………………… The Nanaimo Cedar Spartans defeated the Prince Rupert Rainmakers 57-43 as 6-6 Willie Galick scored 18 and grabbed 18 rebounds, Harlan Punnett 17, Colin Thommasen 17 and Alex Bjork 16. The Spartans led 33-19 at the half. Aaron Williams led Prince Rupert with 15. …………………………………………………… The Prince George College Heights Cougars defeated Vernon W.L. Seaton Sonics 95-75 as Chris Gregson scored 33 and Jeff Sampson 22. Balraj Dhaliwal led W.L. Seaton with 24. Carson Williams added 19 and Chris Sochan 11, along with 10 boards. Sonics coach Merv Prier told the Vernon Morning Star that “we had an eight-point lead early in the third quarer but we just hit a really bad stretch where we gave the ball up and had four or five bad possessions. We were down 10 with three minutes left and then we missed some shots and had to start fouling them, so it was a lot cloer than the score indicated.” The Sonics (coached by Prier) also included Aaron Hale. …………………………………………………… The Invermere David Thompson Lakers defeated the Kamloops Sa-Hali Sabres 75-64 as 6-9 center scored 23 and dominated the boards. Lawson Eberhard added 16. Sean Tombe paced Sa-Hali with 24. …………………………………………………… The 3rd-seeded Victoria Lambrick Park Lions defeated the Steveston Packers 80-63 as guard Grant Fedorak scored 28, Rajan Nirwan 20 and Mike Saunders 14. Lee Yakubowich grabbed 7 boards. Andrew Taylor and Graham Plant each scored 18 for Steveston, while Aydin Smith grabbed 9 boards. The Packers (coached by Craig Jones) also included Ben Winograd, Randy Uy, Peter Adams, Sharma Vikas, Nathan Lee, Jackie Ho, Zack Berman. Jones told the Richmond Review “I think we gave them one of their games of the year. We were within 12 with two minutes to go but they had some very good players with good depth and deserved their rnaking. … We had little drup spell in each of the first and second quarters where they were able to fast break.” …………………………………………………… The Kamloops Westsyde Whundas defeated the Quesnel Spartans 82-51 as Corey Semeniuk scored 19, Nathaniel Houchen 12, Eric Sonneson 14, Tom Eggers 16, including four from beyond the arc, and David Armstrong 10, along with 6 boards. Mark Tobin led Quesnel with 16. Brian Clark added 13. The Spartans (coached by Cyril Tobin, assisted by Lavin Ingstrup) also included Dustin Clausen, Bryan Lepetich, Jeremy Charleton, Ian Grant, Chris Tobin, Andri Feldmann and Tyler Funk. …………………………………………………… The Surrey Holy Cross Crusaders defeated the Trail J.L. Crowe Hawks 71-61 as Kevin Wilson scored 22, Adam Mills 12 and 8 boards, and Brent Parsons 11. Garrett Johnson led J.L. Crowe with 18. Joel Graf added 16 and Devin Hughes had 10 boards.
In the quarterfinals, the top-seeded Ladysmith 49ers defeated the Burnaby St. Thomas More Knights 59-53 despite nearly sacrificing a 43-29 lead going into the final quarter. Phil Cowley led Ladysmith with 16. David Robinson added 15 and Mark Darbyshire 14, while Jaret Redford grabbed 12 boards. Calvin McCarty led St. Thomas More with 21 points.
The Prince George College Heights Cougars defeated the Nanaimo Cedar Spartans 89-77 after overcoming a 10-point first half deficit. Cody King led College Heights with 42 points, 15 boards and 7 steals. Micah Brookhart added 12 points. Harlan Punnett led Cedar with 28. Willi Gallick added 25 and Siggi Skagfeld 12. The Spartans led 36-35 at the half.
The Kamloops Westsyde Whundas defeated the Surrey Holy Cross Crusaders 81-55 after leading 42-27 at the half. David Armstrong scored 30, including a pair from beyond the arc that turned the tide for the Whundas when the Crusaders had trimmed the margin to single digits in the second half. Corey Semeniuk added 27, including 17 in the first half, and grabbed 20 boards. Kevin Wilson led Holy Cross with 14 points. The Crusaders (coached by Gianni Risi) also included Nico Flojo, Adam Mills, Brent Parsons.
In the last quarterfinal, the 3rd-seeded Victoria Lambrick Park Lions dumped the Invermere David Thompson Lakers 76-30. The Lions led 45-10 at the half and romped. Lee Yakubowich notched 14, while Charlie Spurr and Rajan Nirwan each scored 13. Matt LeBourdais led David Thompson with 14 points and 17 boards.
In the semis, the 3rd-seeded Victoria Lambrick Park Lions thrashed the Kamloops Westsyde Whundas 88-52. The Lions zipped to an 11-0 lead and never looked back as their team speed thoroughly disrupted the Whundas. Lambrick Park led 39-26 at the half and opened the second frame with an 8-0 run to ice it. Grant Fedorak led Lambrick Park with 27 points. The Lions hit 14-29 from the arc, including five apiece by Rajan Nirwan and Sunny Gahunia. Mike Saunders added 8 points and 12 boards. Corey Semeniuk led Westsyde with 27 points. David Armstrong added 11. Lions coach Ed Somers told the Victoria Times-Colonist that “what feels so good is to go back (to the final) with only three players back from last year. Grant was unbelievable for us. He controlled the tempo.” Somers added that the 8-0 run to open the second half “kind of broke their back. We maintained the lead and really worked the clock.” Despite having three grade 10s and six grade 11s in the line-up, Somers said “our kids have a quiet expectation that we will compete. They don’t realize how young they are.”
In the other semi, the top-seeded Ladysmith 49ers crushed the Prince George College Heights Cougars 90-53 after exploding to a 31-9 lead in the first quarter as Phil Cowley hit three from the arc. Cowley led Ladysmith with 26. Wes Briggs added 16 and 6-6 center Jaret Radford 14, along with 11 boards. David Robinson and Mark Darbyshire each added 10. Cody King led College Heights with 21. Chris Gregson added 14.
In the bronze medal match, the Kamloops Westsyde Whundas defeated the Prince George College Heights Cougars 82-62.
In the final, the 3rd-seeded Victoria Lambrick Park Lions for the second year in a row defeated the top seed as they whipped the Ladysmith 49ers 69-57 to capture their second consecutive crown. Lambrick Park also avenged a loss to Ladysmith in their zone finals. Tournament MVP Grant Fedorak led Lambrick Park with 32. Rajan Nirwan added 17, while guard Mike Saunders ripped down 14 boards. Mark Darbyshire led Ladysmith with 24 points. Jaret Radford added 11 and 17 boards, while Phil Cowley scored 13. Lambrick Park took and early 8-0 lead and led 17-11, 33-28 and 52-43 on the quarters. Fedorak told the Vancouver Sun that the repeat title was “more rewarding. We were the underdog last year but we were even more the underdog this year. We had already lost to Ladysmith in the Islands, so there was a little bit of revenger in there. And it was a young team and those guys pulled through.” The Lions took an 8-0 lead as Fedorak nailed a three, stole the ball for a short jumper, while guard Rajan Nirwan knocked down another trey. Although the 49ers rallied back, the trio of Lion guards proved too much for Ladysmith to handle. “What really helped us was Grant’s leadership,” Lions coach Ed Somers, whose young group had only two Grade 12s and three returning players in total from last year’s defending champion squad, told the Victoria Times-Colonist. “Boy, he hit some clutch hoops just when we needed it.” The 49ers got within four points with five minutes to play. Guard Phil Cowley, chosen defensive player of the tournament, severely sprained his ankle in the first game at Kamloops, but chucked his crutches and played anyway. “It was a heroic effort by Phil,” Somers said. “He endured a lot of pain to play that game.”
The bronze medalist Kamloops Westsyde Whundas: Corey Semeniuk; David Armstrong;
The silver medalist Ladysmith 49ers: Mark Darbyshire; Phil Cowley; Wes Briggs; Jaret Radford; David Robinson;
The gold medalist Victoria Lambrick Park Lions: Lee Yakubowich; Charlie Spurr; Rajan Nirwan; Grant Fedorak; Sunny Gahunia; Mike Saunders; C.G. Morrison; coach Ed Sommers; assistant Mark Schippers