In the opening round: …………………………………………………… The 3rd-seed Ladysmith 49ers dumped the Creston Prince Charles Comets 75-54. The 49ers took a 24-11 lead in the first quarter and never looked back. Senior guard David Robinson scored 25. Guard Gabe Hamilton hit five treys while scoring 19. Senior 6-5 forward Eden Yesh paced Prince Charles with 21 points. Marshall Perrin added 17. …………………………………………………… The Prince Rupert Rainmakers edged the Vernon Kalamalka Lakers 83-80 after surviving a fourth-quarter scare. Kalamalka senior guard Kaelen Chartrand gave Prince Rupert a big scare in the final minute of a game. Chartrand poured in 11 of his game high 33 points in just 60 seconds, but Rainmakers finally clinched the win at the foul line where 14-18 foul shooting in the final quarter barely held off the Laker charge. Chartrand had four three-pointers down the stretch and 20 fourth quarter points after managing just a single basket in the third quarter. Prince Rupert had led 38-34 at the half and 57-45 after three quarters with grade-11 guard Chris Campbell leading the offence with 30 points, including six three-pointers. Guard Connor Agnew added 25. Chartrand was backed up by Owen Geier’s 13. The Lakers also included Aneil Jaswal, Kyle Degruchy, Luke Stack. …………………………………………………… The Victoria Lambrick Park Lions defeated the Seychelt Chatelech Eagles 87-67. Senior guard Charlie Spurr showed why he was a first-team all-star at the 2004 provincials, as he helped lead the Lions past Chatelech with a 35-point game, while senior guard C.G. Morrison backed him up with 17. Chatelech closed to within six points early in the third quarter, but could not stay with a Lambrick club that boasts no less than seven players at 6’3” or bigger. Guard Devan Haynes had 27 for Chatelech and team captain Aaron DeJong had 19. Defending B.C. ‘AA’ champion Victoria Lambrick Park lost out to Cedar Spartans in the final of the Vancouver Island zone in a high-scoring 100-92 result. In fact, the top three seeds in the provincials all come from the Island, where Ladysmith 49ers also qualified. …………………………………………………… The Prince George D.P. Todd Trojans nipped the Surrey Fraser Valley Christian Falcons 77-76. Can you get from end to end of the court on two passes and a dribble drive in four seconds? That was just how fast D.P. Todd Trojans inbounded against Fraser Valley Christian, and hit senior guard Josh Quarenghi in full stride breaking off the wings for a quick hoop with .2 left on the clock to prevent impending overtime. Josh Quarenghi had a game high of 31. The Falcons included Joel Bron. …………………………………………………… The top-seeded Nanaimo Cedar Spartans defeated the Vancouver Notre Dame Jugglers 87-79. The Jugglers gave the Spartans all they could handle until well in the fourth quarter, but lacked the big man to try and matchup with 6’7” senior forward Willie Galick whose dominance at both ends of the quarter was in keeping with his having won B.C. ‘AA’ tournament MVP in 2004. The Jugglers were within a basket for stages of the fourth quarter but Spartans opened up an eight-point margin in the final few minutes and maintained it to the finish. Spartans led 43-36 at the half with Galick the big determining factor with his balanced scoring of 34 points that included at least seven points in each quarter. Backing up Galick with a strong perimeter game was shooting guard Siggi Skagfeld with 23 points, while Blake Hunter added 15. Notre Dame’s senior post Alan Hogan did his best to match Galick’s offence with 32, and also helped on the defence of Galick, while senior forward Reg Mercado backed up Hogan with 17 points. …………………………………………………… The Kamloops Valleyview Vikings thrashed the Surrey Pacific Academy Breakers 76-57. Okanagan runner-up Valleyview completely outhustled Fraser Valley champion Pacific Academy and steadily built on their lead from start to finish, spurred on by an extremely loud home-town crowd. Grade-12 guard Adam Dodgson had 22 including five three-pointers and fellow senior Greg Weatherhead had a strong fourth quarter dominating the defensive boards and also hitting for 13 of his 17 points in the game. Vikings senior guard Tyson Mulcahy added 11 and spent much of the game assisting on plays. Pacific got a combined 33 points from seniors Trevor Plett and Kyle Graewe. The Breakers also included Mitch Beugelink. …………………………………………………… The Vancouver King George Dragons dumped the Langley D.W. Poppy Redhawks 82-68. The Dragons trailed 33-32 at the half before grade-12 guard Diago Kapelan hit 11 third quarter points to spearhead a surge that put the Dragons ahead to stay. Kapelan finished with a team leading 28 for the game, with teammate Milan Stankovic adding 23 and Darko Kulic contributing 18 more. Red Hawks got a big game throughout from 6’5” guard-forward Kevin Kokoska with 24, while Wade Leathem added 14. …………………………………………………… The Vernon Clarence Fulton Maroons crushed the Trail J.L. Crowe Hawks 72-43. The Okanagan champ Maroons led 25-3 early in the second quarter and 33-3 at the half. Trail did their best to save some face in the second half as they matched Fulton basket for basket but the damage had been done early. Fulton senior forward Jason Keegstra had 24 points by the half, then rested much of the second half as Fulton had 10 of 11 players hit the scoresheet, with only Keegstra in double figures. Maroons coach Dale Olson told the Vernon Morning Star that “they came on at the end of the game. Everybody got lots of minutes. Defensively, we were very good and everybody contributed on offence.” Devin Hughes paced the Hawks with 10. The Hawks also included Bryan MacKenzie.
In the quarterfinals, the Ladysmith 49ers defeated the Prince Rupert Rainmakers 67-58. In the history of the B.C. ‘AA’ boy’s basketball championships (also including single ‘A’ ball at one stage) Ladysmith teams hold the record for bridesmaid performances, with three second-place finishes, not to mention eight top-eight finishes in nine trips which is the best percentage for reaching the top half of the field. The win was paced by 2004 second-team B.C. all-star David Robinson with 23 points. Rainmakers were led by grade-11 guard Connor Agnew with 24 points. The Rainmakers also included James O’Connor.
The top-seeded Nanaimo Cedar Spartans dumped the Kamloops Valleyview Vikings 75-60. The Okanagan runner-up Vikings were outscored 38-19 in the middle half of a game. It was a rare game in which 6’7” Spartan big man Willie Galick was not the top scorer, finishing with 21, compared to the 25 of teammate Siggi Skagfeld whose totals included four three-pointers. The game had been tied at 20 after one quarter. The Spartans led 36-27 at the half. with Valleyview’s offence led by coaches’ son Michael Brar with five treys and 20 points, while 6’5” Greg Weatherhead had 13. Both Weatherhead and Brar fouled out of the game in the fourth quarter. The Vikings got Galick in foul trouble but Harlan Punnett and Siggi Skagfeld picked up the slack in his absence. “Yeah, we wanted to get him out, we wanted to get him out as early as possible,” Valleyview post Greg Weatherhead told the Kamloops Daily News. “I mean, when we got him out, we could have done things differently. If it would have been earlier, it might have helped.” The Vikings trailed 58-47 when Galick fouled out with 9 minutes to play but Weatherhead fouled out with 3 minutes on the clock, quelling any hopes that Valleyview might have had of a rally. “Unfortunately, they got a few shots that they delayed and made,” Vikings coach Surinder Brar said. “They hit a couple of shots that gave them some momentum. We did what we wanted to do and they still got the two points there. I think those are tough. You don’t end up closing the gap like you wanted to.”
The Victoria Lambrick Park Lions whipped the Prince George D.P. Todd Trojans 105-79. The Lions used size and scoring balance to soar into triple figures against the Trojans, as seniors Jeff Krawetz and Charlie Spurr hit for 29 and 27 points respectively. D.P. Todd were tied after one quarter but fell 17 points behind by the half, led offensively in the game by Bhupinder Johal with 19 and 16 from fellow guard Hanspaul Pannu. The Trojans also included Josh Quarenghi.
In the last quarterfinal, the 4th-seeded Vernon Clarence Fulton Maroons annihilated the Vancouver King George Dragons 95-64. The Maroons gave the interior at least one rep in semi-finals after the Okanagan champs won their second straight convincing decision. 6’7” forward Jason Keegstra paced Vernon with 36, along with 20 boards. Mike Fedyniak added 18, Levi Broadland 15, Jesse Brown 13, Connor Korberg 10 and Ivan Chow 9. Maroons coach Dale Olson told the Vernon Morning Star that “our offensive was really clicking. We played stifling defence and really had a lot of confidence shooting the ball.” Diago Kapelan led the Dragons with 27.
In the semis, the Victoria Lambrick Park Lions whipped the Ladysmith 49ers 89-69. The Lions led 21-20 after one quarter on a late bucket by Jeff Krawetz. Smooth ball movement at a high tempo enabled the defending champ Lions to dominate the second quarter by a 27-9 count and hold a commanding 48-29 lead at the half and 67-53 after three quarters, a lead Lambrick pretty well maintained to the finish. A pair of senior guards did much of the damage for Lambrick Park, as C.G. Morrison had 25 points with a slick shooting touch, while Charlie Spurr provided all around perfection and had 23 points, to go with 17 by Jeff Krawetz. Ladysmith pretty well played Lambrick even up in the first quarter and the second half but were clearly outclassed in the second quarter, with Ladysmith led by David Robinson with 22, Chris Vanderweide 19 and Gabe Hamilton 17. Ladysmith also lost Robinson, their top player to fouls in the fourth quarter. “Every year is amazing,” Charlie Spurr told the Kamloops Daily News. “I think it’s pretty unbelievable that we’ve made the finals four seasons in a row; it’s pretty unbelievable. It’s almost like a storybook.” Lions coach Ed Somers said that “to get to the final four every year has been our goal. To have been able to beat a good team like Ladysmith is so exciting.” Lions Spurr, John Galloway, Jared Gayle and Kyle Orr dominated the boards. 49ers guards David Robinson, Gabe Hamilton and Chris Vanderweide dominated the perimeter. “They’re a very good rebounding team and that’s what we have to do against a team
like them,” Spurr said. “They’re a good rebounding team as it is, so we had to work extra hard to out rebound them.”
In the other semi, the top-seed Nanaimo Cedar Spartans defeated the Vernon Clarence Fulton Maroons 65-58. The Spartans had all they could handle before using fourth quarter poise and a quarter of cold Vernon shooting to come from a 47-39 deficit late in the third quarter to win the game. Nanaimo had led 20-8 after one quarter but for the next two quarters Vernon shooters blistered the cords, then totally cooled off down the stretch. The big men for both teams, Will Galick for Spartans and Jason Keegstra for Vernon both were in foul trouble early in the fourth quarter which also was somewhat of a factor. Cedar got hot outside shooting from Siggi Skagfeld with 23 points including several timely three-pointers. Gallick led his club with 27 and Blake Hunter spearheaded an explosive and dangerous fast break for the winners who held stamina despite the fact the Spartans hardly ever substituted. The Spartans dominated the final frame by a 21-11 count. Fulton’s Keegstra had 24, while Jesse Brown was explosive at point guard in the third quarter with some great drives and a pair of three-pointers, while Levi Brodland was a hot early shooter but mysteriously was played sparingly in the second half. Mike Fedyniak added 10 and Jesse Brown 8.
In the bronze medal match, the Vernon Clarence Fulton Maroons dumped the Ladysmith 49ers 65-45. The Maroons were in control from the start, jumping out to an 8-0 lead and never trailing in the game. Fulton led 14-8, 32-14 and 46-25 at the quarters behind a much better perimeter shooting game and the dominant play at forward of 6’7” senior Jason Keegstra. Fulton, who had given top seeded Nanaimo Cedar a particularly tough semi-final game, seemed to carry the momentum from that tough loss up against Ladysmith, with Keegstra finishing with 19, while point guard Jesse Brown had 15 and Mike Fedyniak 11. The Fulton win came despite losing both Fedyniak and Connor Korberg to fouls, with Ladysmith scoring paced by David Robinson who with 24 had virtually no offensive support from his teammates.
In the final, the top-seeded Nanaimo Cedar Spartans defeated the Victoria Lambrick Park Lions 78-68 in a rematch of the Vancouver Island championship. The Spartans captured their first ever title led by 6’7” forward Will Galick, tournament MVP the past two years. Galick scored 39, including four slam dunks against the three-time defending champion Lions, while nabbing 18 boards as the Spartans led by four to eight points for most of the second half. Lambrick Park shooters went cold in the fourth quarter and some uncharacteristic turnovers were mixed in as Cedar Spartans were not seriously challenged in the final quarter. Besides Galick, perimeter shooter Siggi Skagfeld had 25 on 4 treys and 7-8 from the line, while Blake Hunter forced two late game turnovers that prevented Lions from any hopes of a run, Harlan Punnett added 6 and Braden Wheatcroft 2. The Lions hit 6-7 from the line down the stretch. For Lambrick, big man Jeff Krawetz had 21, and senior guard Charlie Spurr had 20 but couldn’t get his game on track in the second half when he had only four points and made some rare turnovers. Defensive player of the tournament C.G. Morrison had 11 and Kyle Orr ten, with Lambrick trailing 22-20 after a quarter and 25-21 at the half, adding just 27 more points in a surprisingly low scoring second half but Lions could not capitalize on the fact the Spartans offence also slowed in the second half. The Pepperdine-bound Gallick told the Kelowna Daily News that “it was a great effort by the whole team. The steals at the end by our guards Harlan (Punnett), Siggi Skagfeld and Blake Hunter really sealed the deal for us. We knew we couldn’t let up; these guys were looking for a four-peat. We played them last year in the final and we knew that we had to play them stronger and harder. We got the quick lead, which is what we wanted, and we just kept it.” Jeff Krawetz said “our long shots weren’t falling and (Willie) kept cleaning up the boards; he’s just a massive, massive guy. It’s hard to defend a guy that big, and Willie is very talented. I think we played good D; we should have tried to step it up more on that guy. Siggi and Harlan also played very well.” The Spartans led 22-20, 47-41 and 62-55 at the quarters. Spartans coach Rick Hart told the Nanaimo Daily News that “it pretty much went as planned. … We were confident we could win. We had the desire and the ability. We knew we could pull it out. … Our steals at the end of the game solidified it for us. Blake (Hunter) had a could of steals, Harlan (Punnett) had one, so that was huge. They were fouling at the end of the game. We hit some free throws and that kind of finished them.”
The bronze medalist Vernon Clarence Fulton Maroons: Dan Novakowski; Ivan Chow; Jesse Brown; Kris Richter; Calum Lloyd; Conner Korberg; Pat Quigley; Levin Brodland; Justin Haapala; Mike Fedyniak; Jason Keegstra; coach Dale Olson
The silver medalist Victoria Lambrick Park Lions: C.G. Morrison; Charlie Spurr; Neal Manhas; Brendan Orr; Jeff Krawetz; John Galloway; Jared Gale; Kyle Orr; Chris Abra; Cam Spurr; coach Ed Somers; assistant Steve Szatmary
The gold medalist Nanaimo Cedar Spartans: Willie Gallick; Harlan Punnett; Siggi Skagfeld; Braden Wheatcroft; Blake Hunter; Eric Jonson; Allan Ross; Max German; Mackenzie Pawliuk; Chris Suddaby; Byron Smiley; Samuel Skagfeld; Phil Daetz; coach Rick Hart, assistant Robbie Galick