In the opening round: …………………………………………………… The top-seeded Burnaby South Rebels dusted the 16th-seeded Cranbrook Mount Baker Trojans 95-41 after leading 26-11, 55—17 and 84-24 at the quarters. Rebels post Sasha Vujisic and 6-7 teammate Karan Aujla combined to dominate the Trojans. “We can find each other pretty well,” Vujisic told Varsity Letters. “This year it’s kind of been like me and (2018 MVP and senior forward) Jusef (Sehic), but I am more like Jusef and he’s me, I guess.” Sasha Vujisic paced the Rebels with 24. Karan Auhla added 16, along with 10 boards, Justin Sunga 11, Anthony Palomino Acevedo 10, Jareb Pineda 9, Emir Krupic 9, Jimmy Zaborniak 8, E.J. Taylor 6, Conlin Duong 2 and Owen Wittg 2, while Matthew Pineda, Issac Lovendino, Justin Loza, Eric Li and Kyle Aguas were scoreless. The Rebels hit 41-92 (.446) from the floor, 6-34 (.176) from the arc and 7-13 (.538) from the line, while garnering 53 boards, including 27 on the offensive glass, 16 fouls, 20 assists, 16 turnovers, 3 blocks and 23 steals. Jeff Lalach paced the Trojans with 10. Carter White added 8, Manny Juneau 6, Carter Marlow 6, Dawson Oliver 4, Greg Rebaliatti 3, Marc Johnson 2 and Wyatt Dudley 2, while Eliot Jones, Louis Glennison, Darren Johnson, Josh Baume and Jaycen Lubbers were scoreless. The Trojans (coached by Ron White and Shawn Marlow) hit 13-52 (.250) from the floor, 5-20 from the arc and 10-15 from the line, while garnering 25 boards, including 6 on the offensive glass, 11 fouls, 4 assists, 34 turnovers and 10 steals. …………………………………………………… The 8th-seeded Victoria Oak Bay Bays edged the 9th-seeded Surrey Tamanawis Wildcats 81-79 on a driving layup by Jaime Molins with 0.3 seconds to play. “I got it at the three-point line, I saw the clock … six seconds left and I started running all the way,” Molins a 6-1 guard who joined the team last season from Spain, told Varsity Letters. “It’s awesome.” Bays coach Chris Franklin summed it up by saying: “fortunately, we had the ball at the end.” The Bays led 21-13, 45-25 and 66-53 at the quarters. The Bays led by as many as 24 before the Wildcats rallied behind the bombing of Saim Bhutta. He put the Wildcats ahead by 75-74 with 2:03 to play but a hook by Ekman Sohal gave the Bays a one-point edge. Varris Janda hit a runner to give the Wildcats a 76-75 lead, setting the stage for Molins’ heroics. Molins had missed of the season after suffering a broken leg while playing soccer. “Very happy for him because he is a tough kid that loves basketball and had most of his senior season stolen by the injury playing soccer,” said Franklin. “But that’s life. We want our kids playing multiple sports and sometimes it happens.” Lucas Maffia paced the Bays with 35. Chris Horwood added 15, Jaime Molins 14, Kiran Chadwick-Rupp 11, Alvaro Iraola 4 and Ethan Moore 2, while John Horwood, Nathan Burnham, Matthew Callow, Arc Alomes, Griffin Arnatt, Max Miller and Matthew Magnan were scoreless. The Bays hit 30-73 (.411) from the floor, 9-27 (.333) from the arc and 12-18 from the line, while garnering 43 boards, including 13 on the offensive glass, 14 fouls, 13 assists, 12 turnovers and 4 steals. Varris Janda paced the Wildcats with 29, while nabbing 10 boards. Saim Bhutta added 27, Ekman Sohal 9, Arbin Dhillon 7, Saboor Bhutta 4 and Tegbir Kainth 3, while Sim Kandola, Prab Ahluwalia, Savek Sandu, Rykan Stovern, Vince Cortei, Guriot Atwal, Ranvir Sanghara, Max Chic and Gursewik Mann were scoreless. The Wildcats (coached by Manny Dulay, assisted by Harleen Dulay, Par Bais and Aurel David) hit 29-66 (.439) from the floor, 12-34 (.353) from the arc and 9-13 (.692) from the line, while garnering 31 boards, including 6 on the offensive glass, 14 fouls, 11 assists, 10 turnovers, 1 block and 5 steals. …………………………………………………… The 5th-seeded Abbotsford Panthers clocked the 12th-seeded Port Coquitlam Terry Fox Ravens 90-61 after leading 30-17, 50-34 and 78-46 at the quarters. Panthers coach Greg De Vries told Varsity Letters that “I was really happy with our team defence. (Terry Fox’s) Cam Slaymaker … he is one of the best in the province and we were really focused on him. I thought our guys played great help-side defence.” The Panthers led by as many as 34. Benjamin McGuckin paced the Panthers with 20. Karndeep Brar added 15, Sahilveer Sidhu 12, Josiah Levale 10, Jesse Davis 9, Keyan De Vries 8, Jalem Catlin 6, Marley Edwards 6, Tyler Yakimisson 2 and Brandt Lenz 2, while Kevin Endozo, Derek Ellis, Toby Bacon and Ammetoje Uppal were scoreless. The Panthers hit 33-71 (.465) from the floor, 8-21 (.381) from the arc and 16-19 (.842) from the line, while garnering 25 boards, including 6 on the offensive glass, 16 fouls, 16 assists, 15 turnovers, 4 blocks and 15 steals. Cameron Slaymaker led the Ravens with 17. Joao Coimbra added 13, Ko Takahashi 12, Arars Jahangiri 8, Brian Oyan 6, Jeffrey An 3 and Jessiah Labrador 2, while Bodi Cain, Ting Wang, Kenny Dogoy, Ethem Gulseren, Jake McFarland and Gordon Xu were scoreless. The Ravens (coached by Mark Prinster and Brad Petersen, manager Ernie Vickers) hit 23-70 (.329) from the floor, 3-17 (.176) from the arc and 12-20 (.600) from the line, while garnering 36 boards, including 13 on the offensive glass, 16 fouls, 8 assists, 26 turnovers, 3 blocks and 9 steals. …………………………………………………… The 4th-seeded Vancouver College Fighting Irish torched the 13th-seeded Surrey Fleetwood Park Dragons 88-58. Fighting Irish guard Hunter Cruz-Dumont told Varsity Letters that the team was finding its form after a host of injuries during the season. “Five starters injured, definitely tough, it’s been up and down with injuries but we’ve battled. But we’ve had a good stretch of practices, and I think this is our fifth win in a row. We’re all confident right now with the way we’re playing.” Dragons coach Nick Day said “the second quarter really did us in (in which they were outscored 18-5).” Hunter Cruz-Dumont paced the Fighting Irish with 27, Jacob Holt added 24, Cole Cruz-Dumont 11, along with 12 boards, Gabriel Botelho 9, Jason Soriano 8, Sahil Sandhu 4, Micheal Chong 4 and Josh Lum-Tong 1, while Andrew Illing, Parse Heydarzadeh, Nathan Ruffle, John Calica, Jackson Findlay and Armaan Hothi were scoreless. The Fighting Irish hit 34-72 (.472) from the floor, 4-15 (.267) from the arc and 16-21 (.762) from the line, while garnering 52 boards, including 14 on the offensive glass, 14 fouls, 12 assists, 14 turnovers, 8 blocks and 4 steals. Rav Randhawa paced the Dragons with 11. Raymon Saran added 9, Gurek Sran 9, Abishek Kanagasaby 9, Bhavrup Gosal 8, Allan Landasan 7, Parvin Dhillon 3 and Armaan Bath 2, while Rico Evangelista, Himmat Aujla, Gurman Ghuman, Divjot Pataria, Guishan Sran, Siraj Khanna and Haiden Letzing were scoreless. The Dragons (coached by Nick Day, assisted by Zoel Thibault and Nathan Saran) hit 20-82 (.244) from the floor, 9-37 (.243) from the arc and 9-13 (.692) from the line, while garnering 29 boards, including 13 on the offensive glass, 15 fouls, 10 assists, 12 turnovers and 6 steals. …………………………………………………… The 2nd-seeded Coquitlam Centennial Centaurs blasted the 15th-seeded Prince George Polars 80-46 after leading 22-11, 36-28 and 57-41 at the quarters. Given the tournament’s history of stunning first-round losses, “we made sure the guys were ready, and Prince George, they came prepared to play,” Centaurs co-coach Rob Sollero told Varsity Letters. The Centaurs appeared to struggle against a zone in the first half but totally dominated the second half. Centaurs post Dom Parolin said “they put up a real fight in the first half so we had to go hard, but then we put some new stuff in for the second half.” The adjustments included variations in their high-low sets, along with a shift to a 1-3-1 zone in the second half. The latter, in turn, befuddled the Polars’ offence. Dominic Parolin paced the Centaurs with 24, while nabbing 18 boards. K.C. Ibekwe notched 19, Nick Yang 10, Paul Didenko 9, Leif Skelding 7, Dante Petrescu 6 and Braeden Markiewicz 5, while Arjun Panju, Myles Cho, Ryan lee, Aimair Parmar, Gurneil Brar, Alessio Berera and Kayle Cowley were scoreless. The Centaurs hit 32-75 (.427) from the floor, 6-30 (.200) from the arc and 10-18 (.556) from the line, while garnering 45 boards, including 12 on the offensive glass, 7 fouls, 21 assists, 13 turnovers, 3 blocks and 18 steals. Harmandeep Gill paced the Polars with 16. Jordan Foster added 12, along with 10 boards, Brannigan Douglas 8, Grady Goyer 5, Cole Brenton 3 and Tonton Sisse 2, while Gurik Varaich, Rey Clemnia, Trevor Scott, Evan Kugler, Shahoryan Khanzada, Emerson Muratoni and Maviv Tatla were scoreless. The Polars (coached by Tim Bigelow and Sukhjeet Maan, assisted by Haydn Molcak and Colby Molcak) hit 19-57 (.333) from the floor, 5-20 from the arc and 3-8 (.375) from the line, while garnering 34 boards, including 7 on the offensive glass, 12 fouls, 3 assists, 28 turnovers, 1 block and 7 steals. …………………………………………………… The 7th-seeded North Vancouver Handsworth Royals clubbed the 10th-seeded Abbotsford Yale Lions 78-57 after leading 21-14, 41-33 and 60-44 at the quarters. “We’ve been having great practices the last couple of weeks,” Panthers coach Randy Storey told Varsity Letters. “I think we’re pretty long and athletic so when we’re digging in, we can play some good defence. … There is a wonderful togetherness on this team. It’s a team of guys that you can lose with, so consequently, we’re winning. If things don’t go our way we find a way to get it back together. We’ve got a lot of key Grade 12 guys and that is a big part of it.” Zachary Watters paced the Royals with 17. Matthys Van Bylandt added 16, Marko Stojsavljevic 13, Robert Lutman 10, George Horn 10, Matt Scott 4, Charlie Kenna 4, Hamish Gregg 2 and Avery Porter 2, while Kai Gehry, Roger O’Callaghan, Furkan Elcin, Aidan Kershaw, Colin Baster, Tristan Gau and Zachary Mason were scoreless. The Royals hit 31-81 (.383) from the floor, 7-23 (.304) from the arc and 9-18 from the line, while garnering 56 boards, including 24 on the offensive glass, 16 fouls, 8 assists, 19 turnovers, 4 blocks and 11 steals. Jaydan Bains led the Lions with 19. Joseph Ho added 15, Ben Pike 13, Harmaan Bola 7, Ekjot Mann 2 and Reid Loewen 1, while Jaydan Burga, Chris Shi, Shawn Duncan, Conner Moar, Cole Kinney, Rowan Bridger, Ronan Sexton, Ayo Sudipo and Reyd Zomar were scorless. The Lions (coach Euan Roberts, assistants Ace Brar and Matt Brar, managers Ali Tessarolo, Nylan Roberts and Taige Roberts) hit 19-72 (.264) from the floor, 6-35 (.171) from the arc and 13-23 (.565) from the line, while garnering 34 boards, including 13 on the offensive glass, 14 fouls, 3 assists, 17 turnovers, 2 blocks and 16 steals. …………………………………………………… The 3rd-seeded Kelowna Owls annihilated the 14th-seeded Surrey Frank Hurt Hornets 104-35. Owl guard Hunter Simson said the team tries to emulate the 2016 edition that captured a BC title. “That team was amazing. Everyone on that team could score 20 points a game, they ran every team out of the gym. We’re trying to emulate that as much as possible, like everyone sharing the ball, scoring, and not taking time off on defence.” Hornets coach Duane Linnen said his troops were jittery while making their first tournament appearance in decades. “Nerves and no confidence, that’s all I can say. But it’s a first step. It’s the first time we’ve been here in 28 years.” Johnathon Haughton paced the Owls with 21. Jayden Lalonde added 13, Malcom Greggor 12, Hunter Simson 12, Ajay Gill 12, Ethan Bramm 7, Rylen Ibbetson 7, Braden White 5, Connor Dojohn 5, Jarred Taylor 4, Liam Royston 3 and Taye Parmar 3, while Logan Kam was scoreless. The Owls hit 4-197 (.423) from the floor, 11-32 (.344) from the arc and 11-18 (.611) from the line, while garnering 60 boards, including 19 on the offensive glass, 20 fouls, 19 assists, 14 turnovers, 1 block and 23 steals. Marcellus Linnen led the Hornets with 8. Sartaj Bhullar added 8, Gurcharan Tumber 6, Adrian Brown 4, Kailen Singh 3, Stephen Basug 2, River Rey 2 and Shahbaaz Gill 2, while Karman Bains, Sean Broca, Hamza Abdulahi, Rukunda Fota and Sameet Sumal were scoreless. The Hornets (coached by Duane Linnen, assistants Moe Manif, Bob Singh, Jay Singh and Aaron Hayes, manager Corrie Chenier) hit 12-60 (.200) from the floor, 3-26 (.115) from the arc and 8-20 (.400) from the line, while garnering 40 boards, including 9 on the offensive glass, 14 fouls, 3 assists, 37 turnovers, 6 blocks and 9 steals. …………………………………………………… The 11th-seeded Victoria Claremont Spartans stunned the 6th-seeded Surrey Holy Cross Crusaders 69-67 as Ethan Boag notched the winner with 7.3 seconds to play. Point guard Kyle Pepper had slipped as time was expiring but managed to flip the ball to Boag who attacked Crusder star Uyi Ologhola and managed to get a shot off that fell thru the net. “Over the last couple of possessions we had set a lot of high ball screens for Pepper, but that time he fumbled it,” Spartans coach Brandon Dunlop told Varsity Letters. “But he’s a lacrosse player, he’s a tough kid, and he stuck with it. It wasn’t pretty but for him to find Ethan, and then for Ethan to go up strong knowing there were just a couple of seconds left on the clock? I couldn’t be more proud.” The Spartans led 22-19 after one quarter. The Crusaders led 39-35 at the half. The Spartans led 52-48 after three quarters. Nik Babaeff had given the Spartans a 67-65 lead on a baseline cut for a layup on a pass from Petter with 52.9 seconds on the clock. But Holy Cross’ Brent Padilla notched a putback to knot the score at 67, setting the stage for the final heroics. “It’s two great teams, that is what provincials are all about,” said Dunlop. “Everyone is good. Everyone know’s each other’s plays. It just comes down to will. We stuck with it.” Ethan Boag paced the Spartans with 19, while nabbing 13 boards. Nik Babaeff notched 14, along with 12 boards, Ben Manns 13, Jakob Neufeld 9, Noah Helman 7, Kyle Pepper 5 and Spencer Simeao 2, while Izzy Helman, Spencer O’Sullivan, Colby Parker, Joseph Reyes, Jeff Rieberger, Dawson Sears and Simon Byatt were scoreless. The Spartans hit 27-71 (.380) from the floor, 0-17 from the arc and 15-31 (.484) from the line, while garnering 58 boards, including 22 on the offensive glass, 20 fouls, 11 assists, 17 turnovers, 3 blocks and 8 steals. Uyi Ologhola paced the Crusaders with 25, while nabbing 12 boards. Brent Padilla added 12, Thomas-Jay Fujimura 9, Ben Levy 5, Kyle Tejada 5, Brandon Fuchs 4, Tee Anim 3, Nosa Ehizode 2 and James Marrujo 2, while Joseph Salazar, Curtis Goode, Zoilo Sarmiento, Logan Mathers, Lettrell Suite and Andre Mangonon were scoreless. The Crusaders (coached by Matt LeChasseur, Anthony Pezzente, Kevin Wallsmith and Jeff Dadson) hit 25-73 (.342) from the floor, 5-22 (.227) from the arc and 12-20 (.600) from the line, while garnering 31 boards, including 6 on the offensive glass, 25 fouls, 7 assists, 11 turnovers, 2 blocks and 13 steals.
In the quarterfinals, the top-seeded Burnaby South Rebels stomped the 8th-seeded Victoria Oak Bay Bays 89-49 after leading 23-12, 43-15 and 58-37 at the quarters. The dominant 20-3 second quarter, including a 16-0 run, proved the difference for the Rebels. The Rebels led by as many as 30. “We played great defence for the first half and kind of came out a bit slow to start the second,” Rebels coach Mike Bell told Varsity Letters. “I got on them, called a time out and then got down to business … We just came out with no energy, flat. The whistles were going the other way – that’s due to us not moving our feet, not playing our hands on defence. I got discouraged and we just had to get back on them to bring the same energy we did to start the game. … Coming out of it healthy was great. We weren’t going to take any chances, not after last year,” in which Sasha Vujisic broke his ankle in the semi-finals. Bell added that “we haven’t had a good shooting day yet, so it’s always tough when you’re not shooting your best. Hopefully the best is yet to come.” Justin Sunga paced the Rebels with 18. Jareb Pineda added 16, Emir Krupic 15, Karan Aujla 14, Sasha Vujisic 13, Anthony Palomino-Acevedo 7, Matthew Pineda 4 and Jimmy Zoborniak 2, while Issac Lovendino, Conlin Duong, E.J. Taylor, Justin Loza, Eric Li, Owen Wittg and Kyle Aguas were scoreless. The Rebels hit 36-69 (.522) from the floor, 6-21 (.286) from the arc and 11-16 (.688) from the line, while garnering 42 boards, including 11 on the offensive glass, 17 fouls, 21 assists, 12 turnovers and 12 steals. Lucas Maffia paced the Bays with 20. Jaime Molins added 7, Matthew Callow 6, Griffin Arnatt 5, Ethan Moore 4, Chris Horwood 3, Matthew Magnan 3 and Alvaro Iraola 1, while John Horwood, Nathan Burnham, Arc Alomes, Max Miller and Kiran Chadwick-Rupp were scoreless. The Bays (coach Chris Franklin, assistants Wendy Draper Maffia and Diego Maffia, manager Enjo Behrens) hit 15-56 (.268) from the floor, 8-29 (.276) from the arc and 11-13 (.846) from the line, while garnering 22 boards, including 4 on the offensive glass, 17 fouls, 6 assists, 15 turnovers and 6 steals.
The 4th-seeded Vancouver College Fighting Irish dispatched the 5th-seeded Abbotsford Panthers 101-87 after leading 25-22, 50-45 and 75-69 at the quarters. The Panthers opened with a 10-0 run but the Irish fought back to an 17-15 lead and never again trailed. “We played really good defence,” Irish assistant Doug Beers told Varsity Letters. “We got off to a bit of a shaky start but we kept with it. (Head coach) Lloyd (Scrubb) really gets them to play great defence and it pays off at this time of the year.” Hunter Cruz-Dumont paced the Fighting Irish with 40. Jacob Holt added 21, along with 11 boards, Sahil Sandhu 15, Josh Lum-Tong 7, Jason Soriano 7, Gabriel Botelho 5, Cole Cruz-Dumont 2, Jackson Findlay 2 and Michael Chong 2, while Andrew Illing, Parsa Heydarzadeh, Nathan Ruffle, John Calica and Armaan Hothi were scoreless. The Fighting Irish hit 44-71 (.620) from the floor, 4-10 from the arc and 9-26 (.346) from the line, while garnering 38 boards, including 11 on the offensive glass, 28 fouls, 20 assists, 19 turnovers, 5 blocks and 6 steals. Karndeep Brar paced the Panthers with 18. Jesse Davis added 14, Keyan De Vries 13, Sahilveer Sidhu 13, Brandt Lenz 13, Benjamin McGuckin 11 and Josiah Levale 5, while Jalem Catlin, Marley Edwards, Kevin Endozo, Derek Ellis, Toby Bacon, Tyler Yakimisson and Ammetoje Uppal were scoreless. The Panthers (coached by Greg De Vries, assisted by Paul Peters, Malcolm Campbell, Brent Ciochetti, Devin Brar, Prentice Lenz and Elmore Abraham) hit 28-80 (.350) from the floor, 10-31 (.323) from the arc and 21-35 (.600) from the line, while garnering 26 boards, including 8 on the offensive glass, 21 fouls, 16 assists, 13 turnovers and 11 steals.
The 7th-seeded North Vancouver Handsworth Royals shocked the 2nd-seeded Coquitlam Centennial Centaurs 70-67 despite trailing 15-9, 30-28 and 47-46 at the quarters. Royals coach Randy Storey told Varsity Letters said “my experience allows me to kind of sit back and enjoy it and not get freaked out by it, because we’ve been here before. The Tyler Kepkays and the Quinn Keasts [members of past Royal squads in the mid-2000s] allow us to have the confidence that we can do it again. That’s the message that we’ve been giving all year – we can do this.” The Centaurs had opened with a 12-0 run and Storey said “we were halfway through the quarter and we hadn’t scored a basket. It felt like, ‘Wow, what are we going to do here? Are we going to come up with a clunker, are we ever going to score a basket?’” But the Royals stormed back to knot the score at 15 and it turned into a tight contest between 6-8 Centaurs star Dominic Parolin and the more balance starting five of the Royals. Parolin “is just a beast,” Storey said. But point guard Robert Lutman, forward George Horn, wings Marko Stojsavljevic and Zack Watters, and forward Matthys Van Bylandt, who hit a trey and two free throws to break a 65-65 tie, invariably had the answers. “Our five starters are all good basketball players,” said Storey. “We are a team that has balance and can get you in so many different ways. If it was a football team, we could beat you with the running game, we could beat you with the passing game.” The Centaurs stole the ball with five seconds to play and heaved up a trey that would have forced overtime. “It hit the rim and bounced off as the buzzer went, and then it was bedlam for a few minutes,” said Storey. “It’s wonderful to be playing on a Friday night in a big venue. You just never know when these kind of golden moments will happen.” Marko Stojasavljevic said “everyone on our team is a leader, and everyone on our team is a scorer. This is an awesome team.” Marko Stojsavljevic paced the Royals with 16. Robert Lutman added 13, Zachary Watters 13, George Horn 12, Matthys Van Bylandt 9 and Hamish Gregg 7, while Kai Gehry, Roger O’Callaghan, Furkan Elcin, Matt Scott, Aidan Kershaw, Colin Baxter, Charlie Kenna, Tristan Gau, Avery Porter and Zachary Mason were scoreless. The Royals hit 25-73 (.342) from the floor, 12-27 (.444) from the arc and 8-15 (.533) from the line, while garnering 32 boards, including 9 on the offensive glass, 17 fouls, 15 assists, 7 turnovers, 2 blocks and 8 steals. Dominic Parolin paced the Centaurs with 41, while nabbed 16 boards. Leif Skelding notched 13, K.C. Ibekwe 7, Ryan Lee 3 and Braeden Markiewicz 3, while Nick Yang, Arjun Panju, Myles Cho, Dante Petrescu, Paul Didenko, Ajmair Parmar, Gurneil Brar, Alessio Berera and Kayle Cowley were scoreless. The Centaurs (coaches Lucian Sauciuc and Rob Sollero, assitant Dave Parolin, manager Alan Kaselj) hit 27-63 (.429) from the floor, 5-24 (.208) from the arc and 8-14 (.571) from the line, while garnering 34 boards, including 6 on the offensive glass, 12 fouls, 19 assists, 15 turnovers and 5 steals.
In the last quarterfinal, the 3rd-seeded Kelowna Owls dumped the 11th-seeded Victoria Claremont Spartans 94-82 after leading 39-16, 51-39 and 72-55 at the quarters. The Owls invariably built a big lead then eased off the pedal, to the chagrin of coach Harry Parmar. “We won but I am not happy about the way we won at all,” Parmar told Varsity Letters. “In general, I am not happy. We didn’t execute, we didn’t play defence the way we need to. We’re taking way too many plays off. To me, the score doesn’t matter. We have to do things the right way.” Jayden Lalonde paced the Owls with 33, while nabbing 11 boards. Malcom Greggor notched 14, Johnathon Haughton 13, Ajay Gill 8, Jarred Taylor 6, Braden White 6, Hunter Simson 6, Taye Parmar 5 and Ethan Braam 3, while Connor Dojohn, Liam Royston, Logan Kam and Rylan Ibbetson were scoreless. The Owls hit 31-74 (.419) from the floor, 15-37 (.405) from the arc and 17-23 (.739) from the line, while garnering 39 boards, including 13 on the offensive glass, 30 fouls, 12 assists, 15 turnovers, 2 blocks and 10 steals. Ben Manns paced the Spartans with 20. Ethan Boag added 15, Kyle Pepper 12, Nick Babaeff 11, Noah Helman 10, Jakob Neufeld 8, Noah Messelink 3 and Simon Byatt 3, while Spencer O’Sullivan, Spencer Simeao, Colby Parker, Joseph Reyes, Jeff Rieberger and Dawson Sears were scoreless. The Spartans (coached by Brandon Dunlop, assisted by Mark Neufeld) hit 24-73 (.329) from the floor, 7-30 (.233) from the arc and 27-43 (.628) from the line, while garnering 38 boards, including 13 on the offensive glass, 22 fouls, 11 assists, 17 turnovers, 5 blocks and 10 steals.
In the semis, the top-seeded Burnaby South Rebels whipped the 4th-seeded Vancouver College Fighting Irish 69-52 after leading 28-13, 42-29 and 52-47 at the quarters and despite struggling to contain 6-9 Fighting Irish post Jacob Holt. “They brought us down to earth,” Rebels coach Mike Bell told Varsity Letters. “I thought we busted out very fast, but they brought us back. Our shots went away. It wasn’t our greatest game, put it that way, but we’re leaving here with the W and that’s what really matters. … We got into foul trouble because we made some mistakes helping on defence when we weren’t in help position. So that put us in a tricky situation for most of the game and we didn’t get to have our two bigs out there together until the fourth. … We protected them.” Justin Sundha paced the Rebels with 18 on 7-15 from the floor, 2-5 from the arc, 2-2 from the line, 3 boards, 5 assists and 3 steals. Jareb Pineda added 17 on 6-13 from the floor, 4-10 from the arc, 1-1 from the line, 5 boards and 2 assists. Karan Aujla notched 13 on 5-10 from the floor, 3-4 from the line and 8 boards. Emir Krupic scored 10 on 3-12 from the floor, 2-3 from the arc, 2-4 from the line and 4 boards. Sasha Vujisic added 7 on 3-10 from the floor, 1-2 from the line, 9 boards and 5 blocks. Matthew Pineda notched 2 on 1-2 from the floor, 3 boards and 3 steals. Jimmy Zaborniak scored 2 on 0-8 from the floor, 0-5 from the arc, 2-2 from the line and 7 boards, while Anthony Palomino-Acevedo, Issac Lovendino, Conlin Duong, E.J. Taylor, Justin Loza, Eric Li, Owen Wittg and Kyle Aguas were scoreless. The Rebels hit 25-70 (.357) from the floor, 8-23 (.348) from the arc and 11-15 (.733) from the line, while garnering 41 boards, including 16 on the offensive glass, 18 fouls, 10 assists, 13 turnovers, 5 blocks and 9 steals. Jacob Holt paced the Fighting Irish with 31 on 10-20 from the floor, 4-6 from the arc, 7-9 from the line, 13 boards and 5 blocks. Hunter Cruz-Dumont added 10 in 3-16 from the floor, 0-2 from the arc, 4-8 from the line, 5 boards, 2 assists and 3 steals. Jason Soriano notched 4 on 2-6 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc and 0-2 from the line. Jackson Findlay added 3 on 1-3 from the floor and 1-1 from the arc. Cole Cruz-Dumont notched 2 on 1-4 from the floor and 0-3 from the arc. Josh Lum-Tong scored 2 on 1-2 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc and 5 boards, while Andrew Illing, Parsa Heydarzadeh, Nathan Ruffle, John Calica, Gabriel Botelho, Sahil Sandhu, Michael Chong and Armaan Hothi were scoreless. Sandhu dished 2 assists. The Fighting Irish hit 18-56 (.321) from the floor, 5-18 (.278) from the arc and 11-19 (.579) from the line, while garnering 28 boards, including 6 on the offensive glass, 18 fouls, 7 assists, 13 turnovers, 7 blocks and 8 steals.
In the other semi, the 3rd-seeded Kelowna Owls blasted the 7th-seeded North Vancouver Handsworth Royals 84-54 after leading 15-11, 41-23 and 64-37 at the quarters. “That was way better defence,” Owls coach Harry Parmar told Varsity Letters. “We gave up 82 points [in the quarterfinal]. That’s not good. Today we gave up 52. That’s good. Everything is about defence. I don’t care about the offence.” The Owls pressure and depth wore down the Royals. They took command with an 11-0 run over 90-second period late in the second quarter. They led by as many as 35. “We kind of went over some stuff today of what they do, but we don’t worry about other teams too much,” said Parmar. “We wanted to play at our pace, and the boys did that. They played as a team. They were getting in the lanes, moving their feet, not giving in. (Handsworth) scored on us but we didn’t make it easy for them.” Ajay Gill paced the Owls with 14 on 5-13 from the floor, 3-7 from the arc, 3-4 from the line, 5 boards and 2 assists. Hunter Simson added 16 on 6-16 from the floor, 3-12 from the arc, 1-1 from the line, 5 boards, 2 assists and 2 steals. Malcom Greggor notched 1 2on 4-12 from the arc, 3 assists and 2 steals. Braden White scored 9 on 4-8 from the floor, 1-4 from the arc, 0-1 from the line, 4 boards and 3 steals. Johnathon Haughton added 9 on 4-11 from the floor, 1-4 from the arc and 7 boards. Jarred Taylor scored 8 on 3-9 from the floor, 2-6 from the arc and 3 boards. Jayden Lalonde scored 8 on 3-12 from the floor, 0-5 from the arc, 2-3 from the line, 7 boards, 2 assists and 3 steals. Liam Royston notched 3 on 1-2 from the floor and 1-1 from the arc. Rylan Ibbetson scored 3 on 1-2 from the arc and 3 boards, while Connor Dojohn, Logan Kam, Ethan Braam and Taye Parmar were scoreless. The Owls hit 31-91 (.341) from the floor, 16-56 (.286) from the arc and 6-9 from the line, while garnering 39 boards, including 10 on the offensive glass, 24 fouls, 13 assists, 13 turnovers and 14 steals. Zachary Watters paced the Royals with 10 on 3-9 from the floor, 2-6 from the arc, 2-2 from the 4 boards. George Horn added 7 on 2-5 from the floor, 3-5 from the line and 11 boards. Matthys Van Bylandt notched 7 on 3-6 from the floor, 0-2 from the arc, 1-2 from the line and 6 boards. Matt Scott added 5 on 2-5 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 1-4 from the line and 2 assists. Marko Stojsavljevic scored 5 on 2-13 from the floor, 1-9 from the arc and 6 boards. Roger O’Callaghan notched 4 on 1-5 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 2-5 from the line and 4 boards. Robert Lutman scored 4 on 2-8 from the floor, 0-2 from the arc, 6 boards, 3 blocks and 2 steals. Avery Porter added 4 on 1-5 from the floor, 2-4 from the line and 4 boards. Hamish Gregg scored 2 on 1-3 from the floor and 0-2 from the arc. Colin Baxter scored 2 on 1-1 from the floor. Charlie Kenna scored 2 on 1-1 from the floor and 3 boards. Tristan Gau added 2 on 1-2 from the floor and 4 boards, while Kai Gehry, Furkan Elcin, Aidan Kershaw and Zachary Mason were scoreless. The Royals hit 20-63 (.317) from the floor, 3-21 (.143) from the arc and 11-24 (.458) from the line, while garnering 49 boards, including 9 on the offensive glass, 13 fouls, 8 assists, 32 turnovers, 5 blocks and 5 steals.
In the bronze medal match, the 4th-seeded Vancouver College Fighting Irish nipped the 7th-seeded North Vancouver Handsworth Royals 58-56 after leading 25-10, 33-28 and 40-39 at the quarters. Defensive player of the tournament Jacob Holt paced the Fighting Irish with 35 on 13-24 from the floor, 4-6 from the arc, 5-7 from the line, 15 boards and 4 blocks. Cole Cruz-Dumont added 6 on 3-7 from the floor, 0-2 from the arc, 0-2 from the line, 6 boards and 2 assists. Sahil Sandhu notched 5 on 1-6 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 3-4 from the line and 4 boards. Hunter Cruz-Dumont scored 4 on 1-6 from the floor, 0-2 from the arc, 2-4 from the line, 5 boards, 2 assists, 2 blocks and 3 steals. Michael Chong added 4 on 2-4 from the floor, 0-2 from the arc, 4 boards and 2 steals. Jason Soriano added 2 on 1-4 from the floor and 3 assists. Josh Lum-Tong scored 2 on 1-5 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 0-2 from the line and 3 boards, while Andrew Illing, Parsa Heydarzadeh, Nathan Ruffle, John Calica, Gabriel Botelho, Jackson Findlay and Armaan Hothi were scoreless. The Fighting Irish hit 22-58 (.379) from the floor, 4-14 (.286) from the arc and 10-19 (.526) from the line, while garnering 46 boards, including 11 on the offensive glass, 14 fouls, 12 assists, 23 turnovers, 6 blocks and 8 steals. George Horn led the Royals with 17 on 7-16 from the floor, 3-3 from the line, 10 boards and 2 steals. Matthys Van Bylandt added 16 on 4-20 from the floor, 2-3 from the arc, 6-8 from the line, 7 boards and 6 steals. Marko Stojsavljevic notched 11 on 4-18 from the floor, 1-9 from the arc, 2-2 from the line, 2 boards, 2 assists and 4 steals. Zackary Watters added 6 on 3-13 from the floor, 0-9 from the arc, 0-1 from the line, 6 boards, 2 assists and 3 steals. Robert Lutman scored 4 on 2-5 from the floor, 0-2 from the line and 3 steals. Matt Scott added 2 on 1-3 from the floor, 0-2 from the line and 2 boards, while Kai Gehry, Roger O’Callaghan, Furkan Elcin, Aida Kershaw, Hamish Gregg, Colin Baxter, Charlie Kenna, Tristan Gau, Avery Porter and Zachary Mason were scoreless. Gregg nabbed 5 boards. The Royals (coached by Randy Storey, assisted by Andras Levente Szocs) hit 21-77 (.273) from the floor, 3-22 (.136) from the arc and 11-18 (.611) from the line, while garnering 33 boards, including 11 on the offensive glass, 19 fouls, 8 assists, 9 turnovers, 3 blocks and 19 steals.
In the final, the top-seeded Burnaby South Rebels clipped the 3rd-seeded Kelowna Owls 70-58 after leading 17-12, 31-24 and 52-40 at the quarters. The Rebels dominated the paint and forced the Owls to a perimeter game. The Owls opened the second quarter with a 7-0 run to take the lead on a Jayden Lalonde jumper. But Emir Krupic banked in a runner and point guard Justin Sunga added a jumper as the Owls regained the lead and closed out the first half with a 14-5 run. Rebels 6-10 post Sasha Vujisic opened the second frame with a dunk and a pair of buckets in the paint. But the Owls rallied to within three on a Ryland Ibbetson trey with four minutes to play in the third quarter. Sunga and Krupic answered with treys as the Rebels built a 12-point after three quarters and then maintained the margin through the final frame. “Any team we played we couldn’t play down to their level, we just had to play our game. Same thing, every time, Kelowna’s a good team. We just had to take away that sideline. We know they can shoot. They’ll shoot in transition so we had to take that away and soak up the rebounds,” tournament MVP Justin Sunga told Varsity Letters. Rebels coach Mike Bell said “we just told them to pound the ball down low. (Kelowna) are so undersized, a great team though, well-coached and can shoot the hell out of the ball. That ball just flies out of their hands. Today we played better. … I’m not going to lie. We’ve played them four times now, we played them through a zone. The one game we lost we didn’t have Matt (Pineda), we didn’t have (Krupic) and we didn’t have (Vujisic). We lost by one. To have all of them playing today, it was incredible.” Krupic, a 6-3 guard who’d been ruled ineligible to play for the Rebels shortly before the 2019 tournament because of games played with a Seattle, Washington prep school, said “this past year I went through a lot, not being able to play. Honestly, all the hard work and this patience has paid off. I’m just happy to do it with this team — everyone on this team is my brother and I wouldn’t want to do it with anybody else. It’s a blessing, it’s redemption. I can’t be anymore happier.” Bell said “we did a pretty good job. I was disappointed in how many extra opportunities we gave (Kelowna), but in the end of the day we’re off the clock with a 12-point win. No team went over 60 points (against us). … That’s kind of incredible for our defence, let alone our offence.” Vujisic, who’d missed the start of the season after suffering a leg fracture in the summer, said after a 1-7 first half, in which “the truth is, I as just playing bad … at halftime, I cleared my head and I realized that I had to do whatever it took to put the ball through the hoop because that is what the coaches wanted me to do.” Sunga, who ran the offence with aplomb, high-five his entire team, and embraced the coaches, after being named MVP. “I’ve just got to show love where love is given, right?” said Sunga. “I am not a selfish person. I appreciate everyone on my team. They all trust me with the ball and I have to deliver.” Bell said Sunga is “amazing. He’s always played up. As a Grade 2 he was playing with the Grade 7s, just wherever his brother (Vince) was, and now they are both champions. They played box-and-one on him the last two nights and he just blew by them like they weren’t even there.” Owls coach Harry Parmar said his troops had an off-night from the arc, normally their strength. “The game played out like we thought it would. But we just didn’t hit shots. Giving them 70 points? I am happy with that. We had some costly turnovers, and we didn’t defensive-rebound, but we just didn’t shoot the ball like we needed to. But I can live with it. What can you do? Burnaby South is just a team that loves to pound it inside, and we just had to hit a couple more threes.” Bell said “we do a pretty good job of chasing people off the line and I think that is what others didn’t do against them.” The Rebels outscored the Owls 46-6 in the paint, largely because of Vujusic. “I got on him a little at halftime for a few mistakes,” Bell said. “He responded. He went in and he was a terror. When he gets mad, you don’t want to get in his way.” Emir Krupic paced the Rebels with 17 on 8-17 from the floor, 1-3 from the arc and 9 boards. Justin Sunga added 15 on 4-10 from the floor, 2-3 from the arc, 5-8 from the line, 6 boards, 4 assists and 2 steals. Sasha Vujisic notched 15 on 7-15 from the floor, 1-2 from the line, 20 boards and 2 steals. Karan Aujla scored 13 on 5-10 from the floor, 3-4 from the line and 7 boards. Jareb Pineda added 9 on 2-12 from the floor, 0-8 from the arc, 5-6 from the line, 5 boards, 4 assists and 4 steals. Matthew Pineda scored 1 on 0-2 from the arc, 1-2 from the line, 2 boards and 2 assists, while Anthony Palomino-Acevedo, Issac Lovendino, Conlin Duong, Jimmy Zaborniak, E.J. Taylor, Justin Loza, Eric Li, Owen Wittg and Ky Aguas were scoreless. The Rebels hit 26-67 (.388) from the floor, 3-16 (.188) from the arc and 15-24 (.625) from the line, while garnering 51 boards, including 17 on the offensive glass, 15 fouls, 11 assists, 18 turnovers, 2 blocks and 10 steals. Hunter Simson paced the Owls with 14 on 5-15 from the floor, 4-12 from the arc, 0-1 from the line, 5 boards, 2 assists and 2 steals. Johnathon Haughton added 10 on 4-11 from the floor, 0-2 from the arc, 2-4 from the line, 6 boards, 2 assists and 2 steals. Malcom Greggor notched 9 on 3-12 from the floor, 3-11 from the arc, 2 boards and 2 assists. Ajay Gill scored 7 on 1-6 from the floor, 1-3 from the arc, 4-4 from the line, 2 boards and 3 assists. Jayden Lalonde added 5 on 2-12 from the floor, 1-7 from the arc, 0-2 from the line and 5 boards. Ethan Braam notched 4 on 2-3 from the floor and 2 boards. Braden White scored 3 on 1-2 from the arc, 2 boards and 3 assists. Rylan Ibbetson added 3 on 1-3 from the arc. Jarred Taylor scored 3 on 1-6 from the arc, while Connor Dojohn, Liam Royston, Logan Kam and Taye Parmar were scoreless. The Owls hit 20-71 (.282) from the floor, 12-47 (.255) from the arc and 6-11 (.545) from the line, while garnering 27 boards, including 11 on the offensive glass, 25 fouls, 15 assists, 14 turnovers, 1 block and 7 steals.
The all-tournament team featured MVP Justin Sunga (Burnaby South); Hunter Simson (Kelowna); Ethan Boag (Claremont); Jacob Holt (Vancouver College); Dominic Parolin (Centennial); and Sasha Vujisic (Burnaby South).
The 2nd-team featured: Malcom Greggor (Kelowna); Lucas Maffia (Oak Bay); George Horn (Handsworth); Jonathan Haughton (Kelowna); and Jareb Pineda (Burnaby South).
The bronze medalist Vancouver College Fighting Irish: Andrew Illing; Parsa Heydarzadeh; Cole Cruz-Dumont; Josh Lum-Tong; Nathan Ruffle; John Calica; Gabriel Botelho; Jackson Findlay; Sahil Sandhu; Hunter Cruz-Dumont; Michael Chong; Jason Soriano; Jacob Holt; Armaan Hothi; coach Lloyd Scrubb; assistant Mer Marghetti; assistant Doug Beers; assistant Christine Bradstock; manager Ryan Leong; manager Alex Ko
The silver medalist Kelowna Owls: Malcom Greggor; Braden White; Hunter Simson; Connor Dojohn; Jayden Lalonde; Liam Royston; Jonathon Haughton; Ajay Gill; Logan Kam; Ethan Braam; Taye Parmar; Rylan Ibbetson; Jarred Taylor; coach Harry Parmar; assistant Brad Heuser; assistant Jay Johnstone
The gold medalist Burnaby South Rebels: Isaac Lovendino; Justin Sunga; Matthew Pineda; Jareb Pineda; Conlin Duong; Jimmy Zaborniak; Anthony Palomino-Acevedo; Justin Loza; Eric Li; Owen Wittg; Karan Aujla; Kyle Aguas; Sasha Vujisic; coach Mike Bell; assistant Karl Brysch; assistant Cody Cormack; assistant Randy Edwards