Final regular season standings (9): Douglas (16-0); Okanagan (12-4); Camosun (11-5); Malaspina (10-6); Columbia (6-10); Capilano (6-10); Northern British Columbia (5-11); Langara (4-12); Kwantlen (2-14)
Playoff non-qualifiers:
Kwantlen: Andy Kaila, Mical Ollivierre, Jermaine Adeyinka, Brighton Gbarazia, Nick Lafleur, Reid Taylor, Kujo Jhaj, Pavan Samra, Jay Hoare, Daniel Fuller, Marco Serka, Brenda Graham, Alex Courville
Langara: Chris Mackay, David Whitley, Usman Jamil, Robert Fougnier, Peter Adams, Jeremy Butler, Brody Greig, Karol Cybula, Clint Wickham, Kenny Ryan, Sean Burke, Kash Nagano, Donovan Hong and Yacob Issayas.
Northern British Columbia: Luke Lundall, Justin Bhullar, Alain McGladdery, Dennis Stark, John Locht, Paul Burkholder, Chris Laurie, Sean Corcoran, Scott McCormick, Jay Gladdish, Jarett Borsoi, Matt Konar
In the men’s quarterfinals, the 3rd-seeded Camosun Chargers whipped the 6th-seeded Capilano Blues 97-58. The third-seeded Chargers were up 48-21 at halftime and didn’t let up an ounce in the second half. Jeff Spoor, a second-year guard from Victoria, hit for 23 points, including going 3-3 from the arc and 8-8 from the foul line. Third-year forward Jeff Krawetz finished with 21 for the Chargers. The Blues, ranked sixth, got 17 points from rookie guard Dan Evans. Jeff Krawetz was chosen player of the game for Camosun, while Dan Evans earned the laurels for Capilano. The Blues also included Chris James, Nick Toews, Vick Jassal, Chris Ufford, Adam Rosenthal, Keith Nath, Edward Fan, Brodie Robertson, Gwaliga Hart, Devan Haynes, Tyson Mutombo, Ryan Szeto,
In the other quarterfinal, the 5th-seeded Columbia Bible College Bearcats defeated the 4th-seeded Malaspina Mariners 68-67. Louis Hurd was chosen player of the game for Columbia Bible, while Andrew Kaban earned the laurels for Malaspina. With three seconds left in the game, the Mariners botched two free-throws which would have put their team ahead. “It was a great game,” said Bearcats coach Mike McLaverty. “One of the most fun to watch I’ve been a part of.” The Bearcats raced out to a 41-31 halftime lead, only to watch the Mariners chip away at the lead throughout the second half. The Mariners included Henry Bui, Waylon Swan, Edgar Carlson, Peter Christensen, Jacob Thom, Graham Giske, Andrew Kaban, Ryan Davidson, Carson Williams, Patrick McCarthy, Matt Kazanowski and Rory Peffers.
In the semis, the top-seeded Douglas Royals whipped the 5th-seeded Columbia Bible College Bearcats 106-73. William McNutt was chosen player of the game for Douglas, while Matt Mills earned the laurels for Columbia Bible. The Royals appeared tight and a bit over anxious in the opening minutes. Missing easy shots and having uncharacteristic turnovers, the Royals quickly found themselves in unfamiliar territory. At the eight minute mark of the second quarter, the overmatched Bearcats out hustled and outworked their way to lead the contest 32-30. However, they would never be in complete control of the game and surrendered the lead on as the Royals went on a 15-0 run to end the half. With stalwartly inside defensive, BCCAA Players of the Year, Billy McNutt, turned away three Bearcats attempts during the run and finished with 7 blocks for the game. Jobair Satari canned a 3 pointer with 30 seconds left in the half to cap the run that broke the Bearcats back. From there the story is simple…Douglas was too good and too deep. The Royals went into the second half, confident and ready to hit their stride. An alley-oop dunk from Graeme McCallum to Andrew Sturgeon to start the second half was a taste of things to come for the Bearcats. The increasing defensive pressure created easy opportunities that the Royals converted into points, slowly increasing their lead to 30 points by the fourth quarter. Major contributions from the DC bench (23 pts) and a +22 rebounding edge where the key factors in the win tonight for the Royals along with a stellar performances from Player of the Game, Billy McNutt. McNutt finished with 21 points, 10 rebounds, and 7 blocks. It was a big night for Graeme McCallum has he led all Royals with 29 points, 6 rebounds, 4 steals and 8 assists. “In a game like that you hope your guys have the best game of their lives and that the other team doesn’t play well. That’s what it would have taken for us to beat Douglas,” said Bearcats coach McLaverty. The Bearcats actually led by four with a few minutes left in the first half. But then the Royals knocked the rust off after being idle for two weeks to take an 11-point lead into halftime, capped off by a three-point basket from Burnaby Central grad Jobair Satari. “We refocused and were able to get going,” said coach Jamie Oei. Guard Graeme McCallum had 29 points to lead the Royals with Billy McNutt netting 21 points, 10 rebounds and seven blocks. The next night, McNutt, the tournament MVP, scored 28 and brought down 15 rebounds. Oei said McNutt, who transferred from the Nova Scotia Agricultural College this year, was awesome and has been fantastic since the start of the second semester. Bol Kong had 17 points while McCallum netted 18.
In the other semi, the 2nd-seeded UBC Okanagan Lakers clipped the 3rd-seeded Camosun Chargers 74-55. Wendall Thomas was chosen player of the game for Okanagan, while Max Bell earned the laurels for Camosun. Wendel Thomas paced the Lakers with 21 points and 14 boards. Marco Dolcetti scored 18, Yassine Ghomari 10, Matt Gowing 8, Aron Balakrishnan 4, David Joseph 4, James Moodie 4, Andrew Rowan 3 and Kealy McDonald 2, while Reece Torode-McDonald, Taylen Busch, Christopher Veale, Jon Zaleski and Simon Pelland were scoreless. The Lakers hit 29-84 (.345) from the floor, 4-11 (.364) from the arc and 12-19 (.632) from the line, while garnering 55 boards, including 28 on the offensive glass, 15 fouls, 16 assists, 16 turnovers, 6 blocks and 11 steals. Max Bell paced the Chargers with 21. Jeff Krawetz added 13, Marek Downarrowicz 7, along with 10 boards, Jeff Spoor 6, Brian Waterman 4, Lee Henwood 2 and Isaac Neubert 2, while Casey Parson, Kamal Vaid and Shahn James were scoreless. The Chargers hit 21-68 (.309) from the floor, 6-19 (.316) from the arc and 7-16 (.438) from the line, while garnering 49 boards, including 21 on the offensive glass, 13 fouls, 20 turnovers, 4 blocks and 5 steals.
In the bronze medal match, the 3rd-seeded Camosun Chargers defeated the 5th-seeded Columbia Bible College Bearcats 95-81. Jeff Spoor, a second-year guard, led the winners with 25 points. Marek Downarowicz and Jeff Krawetz both added 18 for the Chargers. Spoor added 9 assists, while Isaac Newbert had 10 boards and Jeff Krawetz 9. The Chargers built a 20 point lead and coasted to the win. “I’m very happy we won and sad for the guys that this was our last game. It’s hard to play the bronze medal game when you’ve come here to play for gold, but the guys showed up and worked hard,” said Camosun coach Gord Thatcher. Louis Hurd, a third-year guard, pumped in 29 points for the Bearcats in a losing cause. The Chargers led 46-28 at halftime. Jeff Spoor was chosen player of the game for Camosun, while Joel Bron earned the laurels for the Bearcats, who also included Elijah Nakagawa, Chris Major, Tim Bismeyer, Kyle Boon, Paul Schmitke, Louis Hurd, Matt Mills, Taylor Roth, Nathan Matthews and Steve Wiebe.
In the final, the top-seeded Douglas Royals defeated the 2nd-seeded UBC Okanagan Lakers 89-76 in a rematch of the 2007 final. Douglas was simply too powerful for the Lakers. “We played a really good team,” said Royals head coach Jamie Oei. “They had us well-scouted. They know what we like to do. They had some people really step up so it was a tough game for us. Our Big Four (Billy McNutt, Graeme McCallum, Bol Kong and Andrew Sturgeon) sort of showed why they were our Big Four all year. They got the job done. All four of them were awesome. We got contributions from everybody. I’m really happy with the way the guys gutted it out.” Andrew Sturgeon was chosen player of the game for the Royals, while David Joseph earned the laurels for the Lakers. The Royals earned back to back titles. The first half of the game was closely contested with 10 lead changes. The momentum shifted several times between the two teams with Douglas’ Bol Kong sparking the Royals to an 8-0 run half way through the second quarter on a steal leading to a breakaway dunk. He then hit back to back three pointers to push the Royals ahead. But before the end of the half, the Lakers put together a run of their own, hitting some timely 3 pointers and making some defensive stops trimming the Royals lead to 6 points heading into the half time break. But clutch performances by tournament MVP Billy McNutt and starting point guard Tyler Lutton kept the Laker advances at bay in the second half while senior and first Team All-Star, Andrew Sturgeon continued to dominate the inside boards. Depth was the difference. The Lakers stayed within striking distance of the Royals through three quarters, but couldn’t shorten the gap when it mattered most. The Royals, who finished a combined 18-0 in the regular season and provincials, entered the second half hungry and the Lakers were treading water. As the game wore on, the Lakers ran out of gas against the top ranked team in the country. “Teams kind of stay with us, but then if we pick it up defensively as much as we want to play offence, it’s game over,” said B.C. Colleges Athletic Association rookie Bol Kong, who collected 17 points and seven rebounds. “No one can run with us when we do that.” Oei said “I think we got contributions from everybody. We have our four, sort of star players (in McNutt, Kong, Sturgeon and McCullum) and they all played great, and then the guy who they always leave open is Tyler Lutton and he was great. He hit some big shots down the stretch.” Lakers coach Darren Semeniuk said “Yassine Ghomari is a rookie, and for him to have sort of guts that he does out there already as a rookie is very impressive. He got a little bit tired in the second half just because he did so much in the first half, and it showed because he made some poor decisions down the stretch.” The Royals play around the boards proved to be a factor, as they out-rebounded UBC Okanagan 52 to 33. Twenty-three of the Royals’ rebounds were in the offensive zone. “You do all the things that you’re supposed to do on defence, and they miss their shot,” Semeniuk said. “That’s what you want and then they come in and they scoop up their offensive rebounds and put backs. You work so hard on defence and then they come in there and get an easy two still, because of their size. It’s a little bit defeating to have that happen but I thought our guys, to be outsized the way we were, fought really hard inside and did a really good job. There’s nothing that’s going to make you feel better about losing that game. I just reminded them that I’m very proud of the way they conduct themselves out there. I think our group has a lot of character, and a lot of class and they’re out there competing. It’s a game and they’re going hard and they’re leaving it on the court, and for a group to come along for the full year and then have a game like that was so exciting and so emotional at the same time.” Oei said “we’ve had a target on our back all year,” Oei said. “People have been aiming for us because we had an undefeated season. I think guys are used to it, so hopefully they don’t feel the pressure.” Billy McNutt, the tournament’s most valuable player, paced the Royals with 28 points and 15 boards. Graeme McCallum added 18, Bol Kong 17, Andrew Sturgeon 12, along with 13 boards, Tyler Lytton 10, and Shane Heuring 4, while Donald Lindo, Jobair Satari, Aneetan Braich, James Anderson, Florian Joseph and Ryan Hatch were scoreless. The Royals hit 35-76 (.461) from the floor, 8-22 (.364) from the arc and 11-20 (.550) from the line, while garnering 52 boards, including 23 on the offensive glass, 17 fouls, 23 assists, 14 turnovers, 6 blocks and 7 steals. Yassine Ghomari, an 18-year-old rookie guard, led the Lakers with 27 points. David Joseph added 17, Marco Dolcetti 13, Wendel Thomas 8, Matt Gowing 7 and Kealy McDonald 4, while Reece Torode-McDonald, Andrew Rowan, James Moodie, Taylen Busch, Christopher Veale, Jon Zaleski, Aron Balakrishanan and Simon Pelland were scoreless. The Lakers hit 27-65 (.415) from the floor, 8-17 (.471) from the arc and 14-20 (.700) from the line, while garnering 33 boards, including 11 on the offensive glass, 20 fouls, 17 assists, 14 turnovers, 1 block and 10 steals.
The bronze medalist Camosun Chargers: Josh Reddy; Max Bell; Brian Waterman; Dave Isbister; Nate Randall; Casey Parsons; Kamal Vaid; Lee Henwood; Spencer Fyfe-Wilson; Marek Downarowicz; Jeff Krawetz; James Shahn; Jeff Spoor; Isaac Neubert; Davidson St. Paul; Casey Parsons; coach Gord Thatcher; assistant Jordan Mottl; assistant Shohei Kizu; trainer Kim Oslund; conditioning coach Alan Poole
The silver medalist Okanagan Lakers: Reece Torode-McDonald; David Joseph; Andrew Rowan; James Moodie; Taylen Busch; Christopher Veale; Jon Zaleski; Matt Gowing; Yassine Ghomari; Marco Dolcetti; Aron Balakrishnan; Wendell Thomas; Simon Pelland; Kealey McDonald; coach Darren Semeniuk; assistant Cary Mellon; manager Chris Spencer
The gold medalist Douglas Royals: Donald Lindo; Graeme McCallum; Jobair Satari; Tyler Lutton; William McNutt; Aneetan Braich; James Anderson; Lenny Piprah; Shae Heuring; Florian Joseph; Andrew Sturgeon; Bol Kong; Ryan Hatch; Tim Beaver; Cody Fox; Ethan MacKinnon; coach Jamie Oei; director of operations Douglas Roe; assistant Mike Schmidt; assistant Dahman Boudraa; assistant Mike Hamilton; manager Tim Whitehead; performance enhancement trainer Clint Lomas