In the opening round (scoring tallies are often approximate as the scoresheets were somewhat ill-kept and occasionally incoherent), held in Langley: …………………………………………………… The top-seeded Vancouver St. Patrick Celtics clubbed the 16th-seeded Trail J.L. Crowe Hawks 127-41 after leading 9-0 early and 34-9, 68-15 and 101-22 at the quarters. Celtics coach Nap Santos told Varsity Letters that “we know the further we get the harder it gets. We understand that, so that’s why I wanted them to focus on their defence because that is what will get us through the next few days. We know there is a target on our back, so we are really going to be focused on getting the job done.” Santos added that guard Irish Coquia is “talented but he deserves it because he works really hard. He puts in extra work, which is what you need to do to get to the next level and he wants to get to that next level. He deserves whatever accolades he gets.” Irish Coquia paced the Celtics with 27. Jovin Sunner added 21, Kian Palaganas 11, J Matalabos 8, Kaden Carrion 8, Ryan Garcia 7, Ethan Santa Juana 7, Liam Jaymalin 7, Joey Panghulan 6, Diljot Sunner 5, John Linder 5, Jerome Alojado 4, Danny Geppert 4 and Arkin Solis 2, while M King-Collins was scoreless. Aaron Ripplinger scored 15 to lead the Hawks (coach Stephanie Leithead, athletic director Donna Hebert). C Wert added 13, R Adams 6, C Jansen 5, L Buckland 4 and Daniel Fang 2, while N Moll, G Trask, R Tymchyshyn and J Coull-Weir were scoreless. …………………………………………………… The 2nd-seeded Nanaimo Dover Bay Dolphins clocked the 15th-seeded Terrace Caledonia Kermodes 81-34 after leading 19-7, 42-16 and 63-31 at the quarters. They led by as many as 40. The Dolphins 2-3 zone defence and length befuddled the Kermodes. Dolphins coach Darren Seaman told Varsity Letters that Oak Bay coach Chris Franklin had suggested the notion of playing a 2-3 zone in early December. “He probably regrets it, because we got them the tournament after that. At the UVic tournament, we beat them in the semifinal. … We were kind of half-and-half at first – we’d go man-to-man, and then 2-3. We’d put the 2-3 on, get scored on, and take it off. It wasn’t until we committed fully. … Christmas was the big turning point for us. We’ve added some of our own touches on it, as well – it’s not just your standard, old-school 2-3 defence. We have different looks. … It was a long day, waiting to play this game – hanging around the hotel, coming back and forth from here. We could have been more competitive from the get-go defensively. It wasn’t our best outing.” Luke Linder paced the Dolphins with 17. Tarman Sandhu added 12, Hudson Trood 11, Oyama Crouch 10, Frank Linder 8, Jack Benjamin 6, Calum Walker 5, J Linder 4, Ben Carter 4, Manmeet Gurm 2 and Dylan Myhrer 2, while Matthew Cote was scoreless. Chaz Genaille scored 14 to pace the Kermodes (coach Matthew Lowndes, assistant Cam MacKay, assistant Joe Dominguez, assistant Denis Burnip). Justin Carrita added 8, Brome Hansen 7, Damon Jaswal 3 and Garrison Gottschling 2, while Mathias Dominguez, Jacob Schafhauser, Cameron Nyce, Nav Bhandar, Logan Myers, Ryan Thorsen, Owen LeBarge, Caiden West-Johnson and Kelby Muir were scoreless. …………………………………………………… The 4th-seeded Burnaby Byrne Creek Bulldogs clipped the 13th-seeded South Kamloops Titans 75-66. The Titans led 21-19 after one quarter. The Bulldogs led 40-39 at the half and 58-54 after three quarters. Bulldogs coach Balraj Dhillon said the Titans “played very well. I really don’t know what the difference was, maybe a little bit of experience. We played a little bit of a tougher schedule than them, so maybe that was a factor. … Today we went 10 or 11 deep but we can easily go 13 deep. There are guys on the bench who deserve to play but it’s just the nature of the beast and at this time of the year things tighten up a little bit.” Dhillon added that 6-10 post Biar Akuoc was the difference-maker on the defensive end of the floor. “He does so much for us that doesn’t show up on the stat sheet. He changes the game and just even from a leadership standpoint he’s like a heart and soul type of guy.” Atawa Baraba paced the Bulldogs with 15. Justin Pamintuan added 14, Faisal Rashid 13, player of the game Mohammed Dukuly 11, Cusmos Djunga 10, Biar Akuouc 7 and Mamadee Jawara 5, while R.J. Dela-Cruz, K.C. Layco, Hassan Alassar, Abdisa Rashid, Abdi Ahmed, Sam Rahimi, Ziar Shpoun, Eduardo Aguilar, Karrson Maccuaig and Dirk Mariano were scoreless. Keenan Brulotte scored 17 to pace the Titans (coach Corey Yamaoka, assistant Cam McKay). Charlie McKay added 16, Larry Shyaka-Gisa 13, Max Ritchie 7, Alex Howard 6, Noah Henson 4 and Adam Philpoots 3, while Ethan Sarkor, Danny Kroeker, Thomas Nowicki, Cooper MacLeod and Ian Buemann were scoreless. …………………………………………………… The 6th-seeded North Delta Huskies crushed the 11th-seeded Alberni District Armada 71-47 after leading 19-2 early and 26-14, 44-21 and 62-33 at the quarters. Their 3-2 zone generated an 18-2 run that bridged the first and second quarters and coasted to the easy win. Huskies coach Jas Hothi told Varsity Letters that “the last two weeks, we’ve been really focused. Through South Frasers we’ve been trying to keep (the players) focused and doing things with them to make sure they’re not nervous. Just making sure everybody knows their job and the game plan – making sure it’s clear – and just breathing. And at the end of the day, having fun.” Armada coach Craig Brooks said nerves played a factor. “I don’t know that we’ve shot that cold at any point of the season. And just physically, we weren’t owning the space that we needed. Hats off to North Delta – whatever space we gave, they took. It took us a little too long to get fired up, and by then, it was too late. “We didn’t come in with the mentality of just being satisfied with having made it, but sometimes the moments are a little too big, and you get get a little shell-shocked in the beginning.” Arjan Atwal paced the Huskies with 19. Krishan Jeet added 16, Harvir Hothi 12, Joseph Maku 9, Allen Lomboy 5, Amar Lalli 4, Kristian Cabico 2, Gurdas Dhillon 2, Jaiveer Sekhon 1 and Hamraj Lit 1, while Randeep Singh, N Obazughanwan, Arjun Atwal, M Sidhu and Arjin Phagura were scoreless. Liam St-Onge scored 17 to pace the Armada (coach Craig Brooks, assistant Yvan St. Onge, assistant Neelam Parmar, manager Colleen Brooks). Ty Cyr added 9, Dominic Synans 7, Luca Centomo 6, Blake Knoll 4, Scott Cisaroski 2 and Mitchell Noel 2, while Evan McLeod, Jakob Murray, Nicholas Cross, Izrael Oosthuyzen, Brooklyn Doiron, Aiden Poirier-Barnes, S Murray and Sam Gentleman were scoreless. …………………………………………………… The 7th-seeded Clearbrook Mennonite Educational Institute Eagles defeated the 10th-seeded Steveston-London Secondary Sharks 93-88. The Sharks led 19-14 after one quarter. The Egles led 42-41 at the half and 66-55 after three quarters. Eagles coach Tim Smith said Gabe Vig proved the difference after overcoming the first quarter jitters. “You know how it is with Grade 12’s, right? You have so much emotion, and you’re wanting to impress. So there were definitely nerves in the beginning, but Gabe has been our guy all year. He’s played so well. “You want to see some of those threes drop, and they did (in the second half).” Eagle post Spencer Tatlock dominated the first half and then Vig took over the second with his perimeter shooting. The Sharks rallied within two down the stretch as Simon Zeng and Gavin Cameron caught fire. But Vig hit a pair of clutch free throws to ice the win. Gabe Vig paced the Eagles with 37. Spencer Tatlock added 18, Ben Brandsma 13, Micah Young 11, Eli Thiessen 6, Jared Huebert 6 and Jaren Esau 2, while Bailey Neufeld, Karson Berg, Isaac Skeels, Lucas He, Cole Neufeld, Carter Walker, Nathan Laspa, Sam Bosch, Malakai Klassen and Carter Giesbrecht were scoreless. Simon Zeng scored 25 to pace Sharks (coach Mike Stoneburgh, assistant Taros Johal, assistant Darryl Wong, statis Aariz Hosain, social media Rayburn Lu, film Avi Krygier, film Wajih Hassan, manager Taylen Gill, manager Atom Corcos). Gavin Cameron added 20, Kaden Nelson 19, Shaun Johal 12, Davis Lee 7, Pierce Kerr 3 and David Wang 2, while Jay Liu, Nick Yee, Sommerson Ma, Addison Chan, Ryan Raghani, Achal Ballary, Cameron Cheung, Eason Xu, Carter Chow, Roop Jaswal, Atom Corcos, Johnathan Tan and Taylen Gill were scoreless. …………………………………………………… The 9th-seeded North Vancouver Argyle Pipers whipped the 8th-seeded Richmond A.R. MacNeill Ravens 79-59 after leading 19-15, 34-20 and 60-43 at the quarters. The Pipers took command with a 14-0 run late in the second quarter. They drained six treys in the first half. The Pipers played all their games during the season on the road after flooding damaged their school’s gym. “It was pretty disappointing in that we haven’t had a single home game this season, but we did our best to get our fans out to all of our away games and a lot of times our fans outnumbered the other team’s,” Piper Gavin Archer told Varsity Letters. “It’s still been a good season. … I don’t think they respected our outside shooting from the start. But we showed them we can shoot. We are not really an offensive team. We rarely score 80 points, so we are just dogs on defence. We hustle and a lot of us aren’t really basketball players. We are multi-sport athletes. I am a soccer player who trended into basketball late.” Pipers coach Sean Zhang said “I think our defence made the difference. They (MacNeill) are a fast team, they can really get some momentum if we don’t guard them well. The key to winning this game was our defence.” Caden Ruby paced the Pipers with 22. Gavin Archer added 21, Gabriel Hilman 10, Cohen Johnson 6, Tyler Russell 6, Carl Spat 6, Liam Nilson 3, Dylan Woodward 3 and Evan Hensler 2, while Colton Williams, Luca Vilarino, Juan Divinagracia and Ethan Florendo were scoreless. Josh Mayans scored 23 to pace the Ravens (coach Ben Mayan, coach Steward Siy, coach Justin Dy-Pe, media Miko Macapagal, manager Ryan Nave, manager Lucas McKay, manager Merve Medik). Joaquin Bautista added 15, Migel Galano-Tan 8, Sean Duques 6, Wahking Lay 4 and Josiah Dativo 3, while Samer Awad-Raouf, Nick Ellens, Andrew King, Xyrille Reyes, Miko Bacarac, Josh Felipe, Marco Ip, Francis Chan and Manay Mattu were scoreless. …………………………………………………… The 5th-seeded Vancouver Lord Byng Grey Ghosts clipped the 12th-seeded Nanaimo Wellington Wildcats 60-52 after leading 12-10, 25-18 and 42-34 at the quarters. Grey Ghosts guard Eli Mullin told Varsity Letters that “I think it was our defence that was the difference. As a team we really stepped up defensively in the second half. We had some foul trouble in the second half, but our bench is pretty deep. … I have worked a lot on my shot and I enjoy shooting the threes. But I am trying to develop more of an inside game as well.” Player of the game Eli Mullin paced the Grey Ghosts with 19. Marko Radic added 16, Dylan King 9, Jeffrey Brown 8, Attila Storhas 6 and Sebastian Minns 2, while Jonas Groves, Isaac Dance, Quinn Handy, Finlay Buder and Timothy Li were scoreless. Grayson Ritzand scored 25 to pace the Wildcats (coach Luke Letham). Benedek Horvath added 9, Owen Bryce 6, Kevin Taylor 5, Kaiden Hoover 4 and Ty Coldwell 3, while Jacob Merilees, Jason Jung, Kanata Hasumi, Max Hurren, James Park, Ben Burns, Mack Bach, Jackson Peters, Sean McLean and Jeremy Jacklin were scoreless. …………………………………………………… The 14th-seeded Prince George College Heights Cougars stunned the 3rd-seeded Burnaby St. Thomas More Knights 62-60 as Bobby Kelly hit a contested fadeaway jumper with 10.4 seconds to play. Kelly told Varsity Letters that “we’re a little bit surprised. But you know, it’s exciting. We had that faith that we could do it. I got the ball in my hands, and saw (the defender) leaning a little bit, and then I just floated and hit it. It feels great, to be honest. I’ve never been in a game like this. The energy, as you can hear, we’re all psyched. We’re hyped.” The Cougars led 24-15 after one quarter as Troy Todoruk nailed a trio of treys and 35-29 at the half. The Knights led 49-48 after three quarters as their trapping defence began yielding dividends. Knight Timmy Gonzales hit three treys in succession as St. Thomas More built a slim lead in the final frame but Todoruk answered with a pair of contested fadeaway jumpers and a trey, setting the stage for Kelly’s winner. “We wanted to be a Cinderella story of the tournament,” said Cougars coach Jordan Yu. “We had a lower ranking than we wanted, and we knew we had a really tough first game. So we said, ‘You know what, guys? You got us here, let’s just go out and play. We always watch the college national championships, and you always see that Cinderella team that just plays loose and is firing on all cylinders. That was our game plan – just let it go and play loose. … That’s a very talented team. We haven’t had much opportunity to play high-level competition like them all season. We have a couple graduating seniors, but for the most part we’re pretty young. … We kept it loose in our team room, kept it loose with our game plan, and the boys stepped up. It was just locking down on the defensive end, and trying to play out every possession.” Troy Todoruk paced the Cougars with 22. Bobby Kelly added 18, Gaurey Bains 12 and Tolu Bankole 10, while Evan Zhang, David Oso, Jacob McLean, Zach Loewen, Ayman Khan, Alex Lucarelli, Thomas Tichener, Tobey Agarpao and Gabe Roallos were scoreless. Chris Ainsley scored 19 to pace the Knights (coach Aaron Mitchell, assistant Denzel laguerta, assistant Dominic Zimmermann, manager Courtney Castres, manager Regina Visaya, manager Sarah Austin). Timmy Gonzales added 13, Tarrance Booker 12, Matthew Custodio 5, Denayden Lee-Daniel 4, Evan Wang 3, Marcus Morales 2 and Ethan Ball 2, while Dylan Isog, Ryan Huang, Marcus Malinowski, Dom Kully, Gurjaan Siddoo and Sebastian Gorrie were scoreless.
In the quarterfinals, the top-seeded Vancouver St. Patrick Celtics whipped the 9th-seeded North Vancouver Argyle Pipers 89-70 after leading 22-15, 38-31 and 66-48 at the quarters. After the Pipers ripped off a 9-0 run, the Celtics bridged the first and second quarters with a 16-0 run to take command. Celtics coach Nap Santos told Varsity Letters that his troops didn’t really get their transition offence on track. “We’ve got a lot of things to focus on – I don’t think we played a great defensive game. Offence will always take care of itself – we’ve worked really hard with that. It was more of a focus on boxing out, loose balls, trying to get those boards.” Irish Coquia paced the Celtics with 28. Kaden Carrion added 17, Joey Panghulan 16, Jovin Sunner 11, Liam Jaymalin 9, Diljot Sunner 2 and Jerome Alojado 1, while Ryan Garcia, Arkin Solis, M King-Collins, John Linder, Ethan Santa Juana, Kian Palaganas, Danny Geppert, Jakobi Matalabos were scoreless. Gavin Archer scored 22 to pace the Pipers (coach Sean Zhang, assistant Harrison Archer, assistant Jamal Enzo-Bala). Caden Ruby added 14, Carl Spat 12, Gabriel Hilman 10, Lucas Vilarino 7, Ethan Florendo 3 and Dylan Woodward 2, while Colton Williams, Liam Nilson, Cohen Johnson, Evan Hensler, Tyler Russell and Juan Divinagracia were scoreless.
The 5th-seeded Vancouver Lord Byng Grey Ghosts crushed the 4th-seeded Burnaby Byrne Creek Bulldogs 81-62 after leading 25-13, 40-31 and 64-59 at the quarters. “It feels great,” Grey Ghosts forward Dylan King, who dominated the paint despite giving up six inches to the Bulldogs 6-10 post Biar Akuoc, told Varsity Letters. “With a young roster, we’ve got to come out and match the intensity of all the other teams, you know? Today we came out to play. We matched Byrne’s intensity – they were up high pressing, very aggressive. I think we did a good job handling that. I think we’ve really matured this season. We practice every day – all day, all night, school lunches, everything. … We actually played them at the Steveston tournament, and I had a bit of trouble. I’m not going to lie – I got blocked a lot. Ever since then, I’ve tried to come up with different ways to finish around the 6’10” guy, you know? You’ve just got to work your way around. I mean, today I got some good finishes on him, but he got his fair share of blocks, too.” Dylan King paced the Grey Ghosts with 35. Attila Storhas added 14, Jeffrey Brown 10, Sebastian Minns 8, Marko Radic 6, Eli Mullin 6 and Isaac Dance 2, while Jonas Groves, Quinn Handy, Finlay Buder, Timothy Li and Alex Dabrowski were scoreless. Atawa Baraba scored 20 to pace the Bulldogs. Justin Pamintuan added 19, Cusmos Djunga 11, Mamadee Jawara 5, K.C. Layco 3, Mohammed Dukuly 2 and Biar Akuouc 2, while R.J. Dela Cruz, Faisal Rashid, Hassan Alassar, Abdisa Rashid, Abdi Ahmed, Sam Rahimi, Ziar Shpoun and Eduardo Aguilar were scoreless. The Bulldogs (coach Balraj Dhillon, assistant Nigel Palma, assistant Shaun Hake) also included Karrson Maccuaig and Dirk Mariano.
The 2nd-seeded Nanaimo Dover Bay Dolphins defeated the 7th-seeded Clearbrook Mennonite Educational Institute Eagles 83-76 as Luke Linder lit up the court for 49. Linder told Varsity Letters that his father Michael Linder had scored 49 for Kamloops Westsyde “and I’ve had 49 three times now and I still haven’t been able to get 50. I’m a little disappointed. … I was just playing my game – I just go as hard as I can every possession. First half, that’s what my team needed. We weren’t scoring, and they needed me to step up on offence and keep us in the game until everyone else got going.” The Eagles led 21-18, 41-32 and 62-60 at the quarters, largely by capitalizing on high-low sets between Micah Young and Spencer Tatlock. But then Linder took command, repeatedly notching transition buckets, while Callum Walker notched an and-one as the Dolphins regained the lead and hung on for the win. “We just reminded them of our fitness,” said Dolpins coach Darren Seaman. “We grind, and we’re so fit that in those situations, we tell them just to hang in there and rely on your hard work, and just believe. We let the gamers game today, and Luke just showed up and did his thing. What else can I say, right? We rely on that sometimes, and today it worked.” Frank Linder added 10 for the Dolphins, Matthew Cote 9, Hudson Trood 6, Oyama Crouch 3, Callum Walker 2, Tarman Sandhu 2 and Jack Benjamin 2, while Manmeet Gurm, J Linder, Dylan Myhrer and Ben Carter were scoreless. Gabe Vig scored 23 to pace the Eagles. Micah Young added 17, Ben Brandsma 16, defensive player of the tournament Spencer Tatlock 12, Jared Huebert 3, Jaren Esau 3 and Cole Neufeld 2, while Bailey Neufeld, Karson Berg, Isaac Skeels, Eli Thiessen, Lucas He, Carter Walker, Nathan Laspa and Sam Bosch were scoreless. The Eagles (coach Tim Smith, assistant Ryan Esau, assistant Nathan Bosch, assistant Brad Neufeld, assistant Braley Kraemer) also included Malakai Klassen and Carter Giesbrecht.
In the last quarterfinal, the 6th-seeded North Delta Huskies dispatched the 14th-seeded Prince George College Heights Cougars 69-59. The score was knotted at 17 after one quarter. The Huskies led 36-31 at the half and 55-41 after three quarters. The Huskies took command with a 13-0 run to open the second half as Harvir Hothi caught fire. “Everyone was locked in and we wanted the same thing,” Hothi told Varsity Letters. “We all played well… we all played as a team.” Huskies coach Jas Hothi said “our motto has always been that the first five minutes of the game are the most important of the game. We just re-energized them, re-focussed them because a couple of our guys were having a tough first half. They came out and they took care of business against a great team, a tough, tough team. … I just keep telling these guys to be great and they are so young. I tell them ‘Do what you do,’ to stick to things and they will fall your way.” Harvir Hathi paced the Huskies with 18. Arjan Atwal added 14, Krishan Jeet 13, Amar Lalli 11, Joseph Maku 7, Kristian Cabico 3 and Jaiveer Sekhon 3, while Randeep Singh, H Virk, Arjun Atwal, Hamraj Lit, Allen Lomboy, Gurdas Dhillon, M Sidhu and Arjin Phagura were scoreless. Gaurey Bains and Troy Todoruk each scored 18 to pace the Cougars. Bobby Kelly added 13, Tolu Bankole 4, Alex Lucarelli 4 and Evan Zhang 2, while David Oso, Jacob McLean, Zach Loewen, Ayman Khan, Thomas Titchener and Toby Agarpao were scoreless. The Cougars (coach Sam Goodrich, assistant Jeff Goodrich, athletic director Monique Engert) also included Gabe Roallos.
In the semis, the top-seeded Vancouver St. Patrick Celtics stomped the 5th-seeded Vancouver Lord Byng Grey Ghosts 93-66 after leading 18-9, 44-23 and 79-38 at the quarters. The Celtics ran a transition offence clinic as they maintained a torrid tempo and raced to the easy win. Celtics coach Nap Santos told Varsity Letters that “we don’t want to harp on the fact that [our opponents] score. If they score on us, don’t worry about it. Let’s push the ball – it’s always been like that, even for our Grade 8s, they play like that. For our program, if they score, that’s okay. Just put the ball in bounds and push right away, so we don’t get flustered just because they scored. … They went on a two-three zone. Once I saw that, our threes were wide open, and we have a lot of good shooters.” Irish Coquia paced the Celtics with 36, along with 12 boards. Joey Panghulan added 17, along with 10 boards, Jovin Sunner 16, Kaden Carrion 8, John Linder 8, Liam Jaymalin 4, Kian Palaganas 3 and Diljot Sunner 2, while Ryan Garcia, Arkin Solis, M King-Collins, Jerome Alojado, Ethan Santa Juana, Danny Geppert and Jakobi Matalabos were scoreless. Dylan King paced the Grey Ghosts with 30. Jeffrey Brown added 10, Eli Mullin 9, Marko Radic 6, Alex Dabrowski 5, Isaac Dance 4 and Finlay Buder 2, while Jonas Groves, Attila Storhas, Sebastian Minns, Quinn Handy and Timothy Li were scoreless.
In the other semi, the 2nd-seeded Nanaimo Dover Bay Dolphins dusted the 6th-seeded North Delta Huskies 91-59 after leading 26-16, 49-37 and 71-50 at the quarters. Luke Linder again dominated the floor for the Dolphins, while hitting five treys. “First thing I want to do is to hit a shot close to the hoop,” Linder told Varsity Letters. “But sometimes that’s not possible so I just take my chances. … I am just working off my teammates. They were rebounding amazingly, and it allowed me to get out and run, and to shoot the ball well.” Dolphins coach Darren Seaman said Linder “is just true gamer, he just never quits, he shows up big-time for big games. And not only that, he has to be one of the best human beings around. He’s worked relentlessly at his game. When you’ve put in the time like he has, it shows.” Luke Linder paced the Dolphins with 42 on 16-28 from the floor and 8-12 from the arc. Frank Linder added 13, along with 15 boards and 8 assists, Matthew Cote 10, along with 10 boards, Hudson Trood 10, Tarman Sandhu 5, Oyama Crouch 4, Jack Benjamin 4 and Callum Walker 3, while Manmeet Gurm, J Linder, Dylan Myhrer and Ben Carter were scoreless. Harvir Hothi paced the Huskies with 26, including 6-16 from the arc. Hamraj Lit added 7, Arjan Atwal 7, Amar Lalli 5, Kristian Cabico 4, Arjun Atwal 3, Krishan Jeet 2, Allen Lomboy 2, H Virk 2 and Joseph Maku 1, while Randeep Singh, Arjin Phagura, Jaiveer Sekhon, Gurdas Dhillon and M Sidhu were scoreless.
In the bronze medal match, the 5th-seeded Vancouver Lord Byng Grey Ghosts clubbed the 6th-seeded North Delta Huskies 81-47 after leading 26-12, 43-27 and 69-45 at the quarters. Dylan King paced the Grey Ghosts with 24. Eli Mullin added 15, Marko Radic 11, Alex Dabrowski 7, Attila Storhas 6, Sebastian Minns 6, Jeffrey Brown 6, Jonas Groves 3 and Isaac Dance 2, while Quinn Handy, Finlay Buder and Timothy Li were scoreless. Harvir Hothi scored 13 to pace the Huskies (coach Jas Hothi, assistant Bill Edwards, assistant Jesse Hundal, athletic director Jaskaran Dhanda). Krishan Jeet added 12, Arjan Atwal 10, Joseph Maku 3, Gurdas Dhillon 3, Kristian Cabico 2, Amar Lalli 2, Hamraj Lit 2 and Arjin Phagura 2, while Randeep Singh, H Virk, Arjun Atwal, Allen Lomboy, Jaiveer Sekhon and M Sidhu were scoreless.
In the final, the top-seeded Vancouver St. Patrick Celtics dispatched the 2nd-seeded Nanaimo Dover Bay Dolphins 91-80 to capture their second consecutive title. The Dolphins led 24-18 after one quarter and 41-40 at the half. The Celtics led 68-65 after three quarters. Celtics coach Nap Santos said the Dolphins did a great job on their defensive transitions, while his troops benefited from superior free throw shooting (12-16, as compared to 4-11). They were also forced to play more of a halfcourt game. “They (the Dolphins) were awesome. They ran back. They sprinted. … We did work on our halfcourt sets… we did work on it a lot. We knew we were going to play them in the finals, so we worked on our half-court sets, and pick-and-(roll).” The Celtics also benefitted from Luke Linder having suffered a right ankle injury early in the affair. While he eventually returned to the game, he was clearly hobbled. “It just kind of sums up his heart,” said Dover Bay coach Darren Seaman. “Our team motto is… like we just work through whatever is going on. He just … Sorry. I don’t have words right now. … Yeah, so unfortunate… that early in the game for something like that to happen. He stepped on someone’s foot. And then it got stepped on later. Sorry… I don’t have any words right now.” Santos said Linder had “crazy fight. Like, him coming back after whatever happened to his ankle? Oh, he’s got a lot of heart. In the end we just showed more.” Celtic Jovin Sunner was a force in the paint in the second half. He scored 11 straight points for a 3:07 span between the third and fourth quarters, the first coming off a perfectly placed lob into the deep paint for a reverse lay-in against the Dover Bay zone. Santos said “we knew that they were playing a high 2-3. And we knew that lob was open. We worked on it, and all year long we knew that was going to be open.” Sunner later notched nine straight, including a trey, to make in 88-78 and then a layup to make it 90-80. “He stepped up, but it was his time, also,” Santos said. “He was the one. He’s athletic… super-athletic and he can shoot. He’s been working, putting in a lot of work and it’s just awesome. I am just so proud of him.” Player of the game Jovin Sunner paced the Celtics with 30. Irish Coquia, selected tournament MVP for the second consecutive year, added 29, Joey Panghulan 19, Kaiden Carrion 10 and John Linder 2, while Diljot Sunner, Ryan Garcia, Arkin Solis, Kian Palaganas, Jerome Alojado, Ethan Santa Juana, Danny Geppert, Jakobi Matalabos and Liam Jaymalin were scoreless. Luke Linder and Frank Linder each scored 23 to pace the Dolphins. Callum Walker added 9, Oyama Crouch 9, Matthew Cote 7, Hudson Trood 5 and Jack Benjamin 3, while Manmeet Gurm, Joe Linder, Dylan Myhrer, Tarman Sandhu and Ben Carter were scoreless.
The all-tournament team featured MVP Irish Coquia (St. Patrick); Kaden Carrion (St. Patrick); Gabe Vig (M.E.I;); Dylan King (Lord Byng); Harvir Hothi (North Delta) and Luke Linder (Dover Bay).
The 2nd-team featured Atawa Baraba (Byrne Creek); Kaden Nelson (Steveston-London); Frank Linder (Dover Bay); Gavin Archer (Argyle) and Gaurev Bains (College Heights).
The bronze medalist Vancouver Lord Byng Grey Ghosts: Dylan King; Eli Mullin; Marko Radic; Alex Dabrowski; Attila Storhas; Sebastian Minns; Jeffrey Brown; Jonas Groves; Isaac Dance; Quinn Handy; Finlay Buder; Timothy Li; coach Kevin Sandher; assistant Mike Pettifer; manager Maddie Mackay
The silver medalist Nanaimo Dover Bay Dolphins: Luke Linder; Frank Linder; Callum Walker; Oyama Crouch; Matthew Cote; Hudson Trood; Jack Benjamin; Manmeet Gurm; Joe Linder; Dylan Myhrer; Tarman Sandhu; Ben Carter; coach Darren Seaman; athletic director Bill McWinnie
The champion Vancouver St. Patrick Celtics: Irish Coquia; Jovin Sunner: Kian Palaganas; Jakobi Matalabos; Kaden Carrion; Ryan Garcia; Ethan Santa Juana; Liam Jaymalin; Joey Panghulan; Diljot Sunner; John Linder; Jerome Alojado; Danny Geppert; Arkin Solis; M. King-Collins; Vaughan Macatangay; coach Nap Santos; assistant Luigi