In the opening round: …………………………………………………… The top-seeded Dawson Creek Ron Pettigrew Christian Lions dusted the 16th-seeded Victoria St. Andrew’s Sabres 104-55 after leading 22-13, 48-23 and 80-41 at the quarters. Lance Gavino paced the Lions with 33. Mej Fernandez added 29, Garrett Tower 22, Francis 0beta 18, along with 10 boards, and Anthony Collins 2. The Lions hit 40-77 (.519) from the floor, 11-35 (.314) from the arc and 13-22 (.591) from the line, while garnering 36 boards, including 14 on the offensive glass, 8 fouls, 9 turnovers, 6 blocks and 3 steals. Gabriel Reda paced the Sabres with 14. Michael Keane added 10, Liam Keane 9, Vardeep Gill 6, Justin Oliveros 6, Gursajan Johal 4, Arshdeep Dhatt 3, Manavjeet Shergill 2 and Benjamin Cripps 1, while Rentaro Kizawa, Benjamin Arthurs, Maxwell Lavoie and Sam Ogden were scoreless. The Sabres (coach Tyler Verde, assistant Gavin Duque-Holland) hit 22-67 (.328) from the floor, 10-28 (.357) from the arc and 1-6 (.167) from the line, while garnering 29 boards, including 7 on the offensive glass, 17 fouls and 18 turnovers. …………………………………………………… The 9th-seeded Surrey Khalsa Lions clubbed the 8th-seeded Duncan Christian Chargers 86-59 after leading 14-13, 37-29 and 61-43 at the quarters. Amrit Mangat paced the Lions with 26. Jaskirat Sandhu added 16, Harkerat Bhangu 13, Daiya Dhaliwal 9, Anmol Johal 9, Ripudaman Waraich 7, Maninder Lally 4 and Herveer Gill 2. The Lions hit 37-73 (.507) from the floor, 10-22 (.455) from the arc and 2-10 from the line, while garnering 26 boards, including 9 on the offensive glass, 14 fouls, 10 turnovers, 3 blocks and 4 steals. Adam Kapteyn paced the Chargers with 16. Mike Brandsma added 14, Matt Brandsma 12, Josiah Nolin 8, Ben Coleman 3, Vincent Fernandez 3 and Nick Harder 3, while Malachi Wall, Elvis Kerote, Ben Kapteyn and Josh Running Bear were scoreless. The Chargers (coach Jim Brandsma, manager Darlene Brandsma) hit 23-52 (.442) from the floor, 7-17 (.412) from the arc and 6-10 from the line, while garnering 24 boards, including 5 on the offensive glass, 6 fouls, 1 assist, 16 turnovers and 2 steals. …………………………………………………… The 4th-seeded Langley Credo Christian Kodiaks bombed the 13th-seeded Fraser Lake Cougars 96-65 after leading 19-13, 48-24 and 85-43 at the quarters. Levi Leyenhorst paced the Kodiaks with 38. Reuben Sikma added 13, Nolan Dewit 10, Aidan Dewit 10, Bryce Pol 8, Jacob Hoogstra 7, Joshua Allison 5, Damon Flokstra 3 and W Dykstra 2. The Kodiaks hit 39-81 (.481) from the floor, 10-28 (.357) from the arc and 8-14 (.571) from the line, while garnering 52 boards, including 27 on the offensive glass, 11 fouls, 8 assists, 19 turnovers, 3 blocks and 9 steals. Daryl Fehr paced the Cougars with 19. Randy Fehr added 15, Austyn Ketlo 9, Josh Laffin 8, Julian Chmelyk 7 and Jordy Kersey 7, while Jordan George, Christian Louie and Ethan Lank were scoreless. The Cougars (coached by x) hit 28-67 (.418) from the floor, 2-13 (.154) from the arc and 7-14 from the line, while garnering 34 boards, including 17 on the offensive glass, 9 fouls, 7 assists, 18 turnovers, 1 block and 12 steals. …………………………………………………… The 5th-seeded Kelowna Christian Knights crushed the 12th-seeded Burnaby Deer Lake Falcons 101-64 after leading 28-7, 51-31 and 83-45 at the quarters. Dawson Swenseid paced the Knights with 23 on 9-10 from the floor. Jackson Katler added 19, Cruz Andersen 13, Carter Martens 13, Tyler Jardine 11, Zeph Brown 6, #10 (Jackson Cockwill or Tilon Ward) scored 4, Jackson Borne 4, Ethan VanDyk 4, Nathan Christophe 2 and Austin Poulin 2. The Knights hit 43-79 (.544) from the floor, 6-19 (.316) from the arc and 9-14 (.643) from the line, while garnering 41 boards, including 20 on the offensive glass, 16 fouls, 8 assists, 16 turnovers, 1 block and 12 steals. Kevin Ferrufino paced the Falcons with 25. Taryk Prendergast added 14, Braedon Cox 11, Rahul Gupta 7, Gabe Penson 3, Matthew Tsang 2 and Homayoun Ghaseminezhad 2, while Moises Macadangdang, Renz Tingson, Michael Mvundura, Joel Bernard, Barry Huang and Jaden Mendoza were scoreless. The Falcons hit 21-50 (.420) from the floor, 5-17 (.294) from the arc and 17-22 (.773) from the line, while garnering 18 boards, including 7 on the offensive glass, 11 fouls, 2 assists, 19 turnovers and 13 steals. The Falcons (coach Chris Pedro, assistant Randy Adusei, manager Arthur Barrett, manager Esmon Emmons, manager Molly Ryden) also included Balraj Bilkhu, Vincent Malagar, Gideon Tarango, Saa Tappie, Eden Sumagui, Alexander Stampfer and Asriel Dancel. …………………………………………………… The 2nd-seeded Port Coquitlam B.C. Christian Panthers blasted the 15th-seeded Vanderhoof Northside Christian North Stars 89-43 after leading 34-28, 63-25 and 76-36 at the quarters. Cody Dowell paced the Panthers with 24. Harry Oghomienor added 22, Paul Berinde 15, Quentin Onyemordi 14, Zack Kuzyk 12 and Max Gibson 2. The Panthers hit 38-79 (.481) from the floor, 6-22 (.273) from the arc and 7-11 (.636) from the line, while garnering 29 boards, including 18 on the offensive glass, 21 fouls, 12 turnovers, 1 block and 12 steals. Tyler Bublitz and Mathias Froese each scored 12 to pace the North Stars. Austin Dueck added 6, Ethan Unger 6, Travis Dejax 3, L F 2, Kyle Bublitz 1 and R U 1, while Alex Durupt, Jared Bublitz, L W, Ruben Durupt, Tyrell Ventin, Jeffery Neufeld and K D were scoreless. The North Stars hit 15-43 (.349) from the floor, 2-10 from the arc and 11-22 from the line, while garnering 26 boards, including 8 on the offensive glass, 7 fouls, 2 assists, 22 turnovers and 3 steals. The North Stars (coach Ian MacLeod, assistant Mark Schmidt) also included Clay Guenther. …………………………………………………… The 7th-seeded Smithers Bulkley Valley Christian Royals whipped the 10th-seeded Keremeos Similkameen Sparks 87-66. The score was knotted at 24 after one quarter. The Sparks led 45-37 at the half. The Royals led 63-61 after three quarters. Nathan Steenhof paced the Royals with 36. Saymon Loki added 22, Noah Delege 9, Brett Groot 9, Rudy Vandenberg 6, Mauro Melo 3 and Brandon Holtyluwer 2. River Eaglespeaker paced the Sparks with 15. Andaru West added 11, Corbin Marsden 10, Money Boparai 7, Harjaap Bengag 5, Dominik Claus 5, Sasha Zebroff 4, Nakoma Squakin 3, Jughraj Boparai 2, Tyrell Allison 2 and Aidan Nelson 2, while Parampreet Bengag and Hassan Brar were scoreless. The Sparks hit 22-72 (.306) from the floor, 9-33 (.273) from the arc and 13-22 (.591) from the line, while garnering 26 boards, including 9 on the offensive glass, 33 fouls, 6 assists, 19 turnovers, 1 block and 14 steals. The Sparks (coach Yuri Zebroff, assistant Misha Zebroff, manager Sandra Simpson) also included Jarod Smith. …………………………………………………… The 3rd-seeded Kelowna Heritage Christian Saints stomped the 14th-seeded West Vancouver Mulgrave Titans 88-52 after leading 31-10, 54-24 and 70-40 at the quarters. The Saints led 7-5 early and then took command with a 20-0 run. Player of the game Isaiah Akurienne paced the Saints with 18. Raymond Barrett added 14, Sam Bell 12, Joshua Weekes 10, Timi Akindele 10, Jordan Nanasheff 9, Isaac Opuama 7, Ben Robideau 6 and Colton St. Pierre 2. The Saints hit 37-84 (.440) from the floor, 6-31 (.194) from the arc and 8-14 (.571) from the line, while garnering 29 boards, including 15 on the offensive glass, 9 fouls, 10 assists, 8 turnovers, 4 blocks and 9 steals. John Taghavi paced the Titans with 21, all from beyond the arc. Timmy Frewin added 7, Michael Calder 7, Jack DeCooman 4, David Sui 4, Liam Gray 4, Hank Liu 3 and Jacob Mackenzie 2, while Justin Abray, Simon Wang, Kevin Hu, Josh Levy, Florian Steinmann and Lucky Kim were scoreless. The Titans hit 20-56 (.357) from the floor, 9-25 (.360) from the arc and 3-10 from the line, while garnering 22 boards, including 5 on the offensive glass, 10 fouls, 5 assists, 17 turnovers and 4 steals. The Titans (coach Bijan Jiany, coach Kyle Prior, coach Jamie Wright) also included Jamie Cross. …………………………………………………… The 6th-seeded Sparwood Spartans rolled the 11th-seeded Vancouver King David Lions 68-47. The Lions led 15-14 after one quarter and 35-22 at the half. The Spartans led 44-41 after three quarters. Tyler Bruce paced the Spartans with 19, along with 10 boards and 4 assists. Wyatt Wyld added 16, Eric Riedel 13, Austin Molley 8, Tyler MacDonald 6, Dane Campbell 2, Bradley Bodie 2 and Mack Sedrovic 2. The Spartans hit 28-62 (.444) from the floor, 5-21 (.227) from the arc and 7-11 (.636) from the line, while garnering 40 boards, including 14 on the offensive glass, 19 fouls, 10 assists, 13 turnovers and 5 steals. Benjamin Munt paced the Lions with 13. Elan Clark added 10, Josh Bugis 8, Josh Markovitz 6, Lior Talmachiu 2, Felipe Goldbach 2, Oliver Munt 2 and S Khalifa 2, while Daniel Stiller, Adam Clark, Justin Kalvari, Josh Altow, Matt Porte, Joel Guincher and V Jacob were scoreless. The Lions hit 17-55 (.321) from the floor, 2-13 (.154) from the arc and 9-16 (.563) from the line, while garnering 19 boards, including 5 on the offensive glass, 14 fouls, 4 assists, 13 turnovers and 1 steal. The Lions (coach David Amram, assistant Christi Bauck) also included Aidan Garfield, Almog Mizrahi, Jordan Boroditsky, Jonathan Linde and Asher Freedman.
In the quarterfinals, the top-seeded Dawson Creek Ron Pettigrew Christian Lions whipped the 9th-seeded Surrey Khalsa Lions 92-58. The Lions rolled to a 32-10 lead after one quarter and romped to an easy win. Garrett Tower paced the Pettigrew Lions with 32. Lance Gavino added 28, Francis Obeta 19, along with 24 boards and Mej Fernandez 9. Jaskirat Sandhu led the Khalsa Lions with 19. Harkerat Bhangu added 11 and Anmol Johal 9, along with 11 boards. The Lions (coach Doug Wong, associate coach Marc Cleto, assistant Kanwar Bal, trainer Keenan Wong, student manager Diljot Takhar) also included Pawanjot Mand, Prabjot Chahal, Daiya Dhaliwal, Maninder Lally, Ishpreet Parmar, Amrit Mangat, Ranveer Rai, Ripudaman Waraich and Herveer Gill.
The 5th-seeded Kelowna Christian Knights nipped the 4th-seeded Langley Credo Christian Kodiaks 58-56. The Kodiaks trimmed the margin to 57-56 down the stretch but the Knights’ Jackson Katler hit a free throw to ice the win. The Kodiaks led by 18-8 early. Casey Martin paced the Knights with 32. Cruz Anderson and Tyler Jardine each added 11. Levi Leyenhorst led the Kodiaks with 16. Reuben Sikma added 15 and Joshua Allison 13. The Kodiaks (coach Justin Vanderploeg) also included Ethan Sikma, Seth Vandeburgt, Aidan Dewit, Bryce Pol, Damon Flokstra, Jacob Hoogstra and Nolan Dewit.
The 2nd-seeded Port Coquitlam B.C. Christian Panthers smacked the 7th-seeded Smithers Bulkley Valley Christian Royals 78-54. The Panthers took command with a 21-9 run to open the second half. Quentin Onyemordi paced the Panthers with 26. Zack Kuzyk added 20, Cody Dowell 15 and Harry Oghomienor 13. Nathan Steenhof led the royals with 25. Saymon Loki added 11. The Royals (coach Chris Steenhoff, assistant David Bakker, assistant Aaron Steenhof, manager Helga Steenhof) also included Curtis Ripmeester, Logan Verbeek, Brett Groot, Noah Stolte, Jordan Monn, Noah Delege, Rudy Vandenberg, Mauro Melo, Brandon Holtyluwer and Owen Goodson.
In the last quarterfinal, the 3rd-seeded Kelowna Heritage Christian Saints dumped the 6th-seeded Sparwood Spartans 108-84. The Saints opened with a 24-8 run and the Spartans never threatened. Sam Bell led the Saints with 32. Isaac Opuama added 16, Joshua Weekes 15, Ben Robideau 15, Raymond Barrett 13 and Jordan Nenasheff 11. Wyatt Wyld led the Spartans with 24. Tyler Bruce added 19 and Tyler MacDonald 14. The Spartans (coach Pete Templin, assistant Adam Christensen) also included Dane Campbell, Jaden Staples, Austin Molley, Reese Barrett, Eric Riedel, Bradley Bodie, Mack Sedrovic and Ethan Lukkar.
In the semis, the 5th-seeded Kelowna Christian Knights stunned the top-seeded Dawson Creek Ron Pettigrew Christian Lions 75-72 in overtime. The game featured 10 ties and 14 lead changes, and the largest lead was nine points by the Knights in the second quarter. The Lions led 47-44 after three quarters. The score was knotted at 61 after regulation. “It is awesome to get back,” Knights coach Tim Martens told VarsityLetters.ca. “That is a great team that we just beat so we feel fortunate. We made a lot of mistakes, but in the end, we somehow seemed to persevere and pull through. … You only opportunities like this once in a while. We’re fortunate that a lot of balls bounced our way. You just have to take advantage of the opportunities you get and be grateful for them.” Player of the game Carter Martens paced the Knights with 30, along with 11 boards. Cruz Anderson scored 14, Tyler Jardine 13, along with 8 boards, and Jackson Borne 10, while Jackson Kattler nabbed 12 boards. Lance Gavino led the Lions with 24. Garrett Tower added 22 points, Mej Fernandez 16 and Francis Obeta 10, along with 12 boards. Knights coach Tim Martens told Kelowna Now that his son Carter “really did take control of the game and was a big reason for our success. And he made some key buckets down the stretch.” Martens and Cruz Anderson hit critical treys in overtime to pull out the win for the Knights. Tim Martens added that “we knew we had to stop Pettigrew’s fast break and take care of business under the basket and that’s just what we did. Except that our outside shooting wasn’t there tonight, I couldn’t have asked for more from the guys.”
In the other semi, the 2nd-seeded Port Coquitlam B.C. Christian Panthers nipped the 3rd-seeded Kelowna Heritage Christian Saints 80-76. The Panthers led 21-20, 44-34 and 65-53 at the quarters and built a 19-point lead with 4:11 remaining, but the Saints came roaring back and pulled to within two points in the final minute. “Two years ago, I coached them in Grade 8 and 9 and we were just getting pounded in senior (varsity) leagues,” Panthers coach Gib Hinz told VarsityLetters.ca of the Saints, which he once coached. “But I said, ‘You get yourselves to the BC’s and you can cause some trouble’. I just didn’t think it was going to be against us.” Cody Dowell paced the Panthers with 28. Harry Oghomienor added 27 and Quentin Onyemordi 14. Sam Bell paced the Saints with 20, along with 10 boards. Raymond Barrett added 14, Ben Robideau 12, along with 6 boards, and Jordan Nenasheff 11. Hinz told Kelowna Now that “of course it was great to be able to get to the final and try to win the first provincial basketball championship in the school’s history (25 years), but I really did feel for the Heritage players, nine of whom were with the team when I was there. I had a chance to watch them at a tournament earlier on this season and I was just blown away at how well they were playing . . . and how much they’ve grown. After seeing the Saints put up 108 points the night before (against Sparwood), I knew they were the real deal.” Hinz added that his team appeared to panic in the fourth quarter. “We were in survival mode. They really stuck it to us down the stretch (HCS got to within two points with 30 seconds remaining). It’s a good thing the game wasn’t any more than 40 minutes. … It was a wakeup call, no doubt about it. We’ve been playing so well lately that we haven’t found ourselves in those situations where we’ve had to fight back in many games. Hopefully we’ve learned a lesson for the championship game.”
In the bronze medal match, the 3rd-seeded Kelowna Heritage Christian Saints defeated the top-seeded Dawson Creek Ron Pettigrew Christian Lions 93-86 to capture a medal in their first-ever appearance at a provincials. The Saints led 49-42 at the half but fell behind by 84-83 with three minutes to play before rallying to the win. Player of the game Isaac Opuma led the Saints with 28, including 5 of Heritage Christian’s 17 treys. Sam Bell added 22, including 5 treys, Ben Robideau 15, along with 13 boards, and Joshua Weeks 14, along with 12 boards and 9 assists. The Lions (coach Brent Tower, assistant Dianne Tower) included James Dan, Liam Dan, Julian Craig, Mej Fernandez, Anthony Collins, Garrett Tower, Lance Gavino and Francis Obeta.
In the final, the 2nd-seeded Port Coquitlam B.C. Christian Panthers dispatched the 5th-seeded Kelowna Christian Knights 68-63. “This was a dream come true today,” said player of the game Zack Kuzyk, who scored 32 on 7-14 from the arc, told Varsity Letters.ca. “We have three other seniors on this team, too, and all we wanted to do was leave it on the court. It’s the best way possible to go out.” Panthers coach Gib Hinz, the former head coach at both Kelowna Christian and Heritage Christian, captured his fifth provincial title (all four previous titles at Kelowna Christian. He also won three provincial titles in Saskatchewan). “It’s amazing,” he said. “You just try to work with these kids and try to get them to this place where it’s the last game that you can get to, and then just see if we can leave it all out on the floor. I am so pumped for every one of them and all of them are special.” Grade 8 Nigerian-product Harry Oghomienor scored 18 and nabbed 6 boards, while being chosen tournament MVP. “It feels so good because this is my first year at the school,” he said. “I was pretty nervous because yesterday, in the semifinals, I twisted my ankles. I just prayed to God to help me and I was able to play.” Panther Quentin Onyemordi was named defensive MVP of the tournament. Knights coach Tim Martens said “we sure didn’t stop their No. 9 (Kuzyk). He lit us up. We had some goals to stop No. 15 (Cody Dowell) and No. 13 (Onyemordi) and we seemed to accomplish that, but No. 9 surprised us a bit. And you know what? They just out-played us.” Jackson Borne led the Knights with 18. Carter Martens added 15, along with 10 boards, Cruz Anderson 11 and Jackson Katler 9, along with 12 boards. Oghomienor told Kelowna Now that this “feels so good because this is my first year at the school. I was pretty nervous because yesterday, in the semifinals, I twisted my ankles. I just prayed to God to help me and I was able to play.” Hinz said ‘it’s not often a coach gets to play two teams he’s coached in the past on the way to a provincial championship. In some ways it was bittersweet.” Hinz told Tri-City News that “every win is special, but this one is the most special. This is a first for our school. This is our first championship.”
The bronze medalist Kelowna Heritage Christian Saints: Matt Van Fleet; Colton St. Pierre; Joshua Weekes; Isaac Opuama; Ben Robideau; Timi Akindele; Raymond Barrett; Isaiah Akurienne; Lukas Ord; Jordan Nenasheff; Sam Bell; Mark Bell; coach Colton Tripke; assistant Sam Striker; assistant David Hennes; assistant Josiah Bitgood; manager Valeri Bajer
The silver medalist Kelowna Christian Knights: Jackson Katler; Cruz Andersen; Nathan Christophe; Dawson Swendseid; Jackson Borne; Carter Martens; Ethan VanDyk; Austin Poulin; Tyler (Robert) Jardine; Zeph Brown; Jackson Cockwill; Tilon Ward; coach Brian Banman; coach Tim Martens; assistant Dan Benson; trainer Jordan Vanderham
The gold medalist Port Coquitlam B.C. Christian Panthers: Jacob Brown; Jerome Ha; Andres Cruz; Ryan Moon; Harry Oghomienor; Zack Kuzyk; Paul Berinde; Quentin Onyemordi; John Yoon; Cody Dowell; Max Gibson; Justin Niyomaharo; Sebastian Azpiri; Nick Kuzyk; coach Gib Hinz; assistant Drew Slaght; manager Gloria Niyomahoro