In the opening round, held in Langley: …………………………………………………… The top-seeded Chilliwack Unity Christian Flames stomped the 16th-seeded Bella Coola-Hagensborg Sir Alexander MacKenzie Grizzlies 126-47 after leading 38-5, 70-17 and 94-34 at the quarters. The Flames notched 11 treys, including four by Lucas Devisser. Daxton Vander Kooi paced the Flames with 17. Lucas Devisser added 17, Jay Smiens 15, Seth Schuurman 14, Ethan Vrolyk 12, Eli Kingma 11, Ryan Post 10, Christopher Janssen 7, Mason Bowman 6, Luke Graham 5, Gabe Koot 5, Luke McGee 4, Ryun Fukumoto 4 and Josiah Welch 2, while Ryder Vander Kooi was scoreless. Chaudry George-Evans scored 9 to pace the Grizzlies (coach Sony Legault, athletic director Alex Boileau). Jaymen Schieck added 8, Kayden Parr 8, Kyle Doiron 5, Sebastian Evans-Windsor 4, Danny Legault 4, Noah Clellamin 4, Manny White 3 and Richard Siwallace 3, while Nathaniel Schooner, Dakota Sampson-Tweedie, William Dishkin, Tristen Sellars and Eli Hall were scoreless. …………………………………………………… The 5th-seeded Vancouver St. John’s Eagles torched the 12th-seeded Vanderhoof Northside Christian Northstars 84-48 after leading 28-21, 49-39 and 67-50 at the quarters. Viv Anderson-Francois paced the Eagles with 34. Louis Lin added 13, Shaw Kim 8, Arjun Krishnatry 6, Aaron Lo 6, Marcus Teodorescu 5, Gurpreet Mehmi 4, Markus Frigaard 4, K Apshar 2 and P Wong 2, while S Yazdi, Thomas Curry-Towneley-O’Hagan, R Yochlowitz, Riley Guise, R Chadha, Razell Tjandra and Jack Kincaid were scoreless. Caleb Giesbrecht scored 18 to pace the Northstars (coach Ian MacLeod, assistant Mark Unger, manager Doris Durupt). Graham Yoder added 15, Derek Giesbrecht 12, Noah DeVries 8, Kaden Giesbrecht 6 and Garret Schlamp 1, while David Wiens, Jason Dyck, Dietrich Pelzer, Samuel Klassen, Nolan Dyck, Samuel Thiessen and Salem Birkenstock were scoreless. …………………………………………………… The 4th-seeded Nanaimo Christian Trail Blazers clocked the 13th-seeded Surrey Regent Christian Bible Fellowship Academy Royals 90-60 after leading 28-12, 45-31 and 72-43 at the quarters. Jackson Tonsi paced the Trail Blazers with 35, including five treys. Calvin Vanderkooi added 23, William Johnson 17, Garrett Miller 5, Mattias Lindkvist 2, Jonah Yap 2, Owen Philips 2 and Oakley Kempner 2, while Ethan Reid, Bobby McArthur and Jack Nelson were scoreless. Eduard Zaveldi scored 23 to pace the Royals (coach Ken Walker, coach Mark Mitchell). Silvano Lalana added 14, Micah Decembrini 10, Darren Agyapong-Poku 5, Rohan Willfred David 4, Joshua Staunton 2 and Justin Wang 2, while Axle Hernandez, David Prah, Joel Prah, Noel Nebin and David Fosu-Poku were scoreless. …………………………………………………… The 8th-seeded Prince George Cedars Christian Eagles edged the 9th-seeded Kamloops St. Ann’s Academy Crusaders 44-40. The Crusaders led 17-2, 24-11 and 30-29 at the quarters. The Eagles closed out the affair with a 11-3 run. Andrew Isaac led the Eagles with 11. Liam Tiefensee added 10, Gabe Taylor 8, Ryan Crosina 7, Joe Redden 3, Dominik Powar 3 and Jonah Oliver 2, while Levin Petkau, Mathew Hildebrandt, Kale Doerksen and Cole Staves were scoreless. Aidan Sethan scored 20 to lead the Crusaders (coach Jason Eichebergar, athletic director Byron Green). Nash Pearce added 10, Thomas Balison 3, Jacob Eichenberger 3, Matteo Cuzzetto 2 and Ryder Corsi 2, while Mutsa Kanyangu, Jack Bacon, Austin Sethen, Luke Oyler, Thomas Sewell and Brennan Coetzer were scoreless. …………………………………………………… The 2nd-seeded Vancouver King David Lions mauled the 15th-seeded Keremeos Similkameen Sparks 88-58 after leading 23-9, 40-22 and 70-42 at the quarters. Arel Steen paced the Lions with 25. Joseph Gabay added 13, Ari Altow 13, Ezra Heayie 12, Kristian Galazka 10, Jesse Millman 8, Micah Sacks 5, Noah Bakonyi 4, Paul Zychlinski 3 and Max Koenigbaur 2, while Max Forman, Zac Peter, Chad Beron, Ben Schapiro and Lev Fishman were scoreless. Nate Weber scored 17 to lead the Sparks (coach Mishak Potash, assistant Billy Potash, manager Nobal Bhathal, athletic director James Brown). Darion Eustache-Peone added 16, Ethan Potash 15, Rain Marsden 4, Cody Leduc 2, Aiden Lusted 2 and Harman Sidhu 2, while Emaan Brar, Hermaan Saran and Roy Lucich were scoreless. …………………………………………………… The 10th-seeded Victoria Brookes Westshore Gryphons clipped the 7th-seeded Gidgalang Kuuyas Naay Breakers 53-41 after leading 15-12, 27-23 and 42-36 at the quarters. A 6-0 run to open the final frame proved decisive for the Gryphons. Alex Buhr paced the Gryphons with 17. Logan Harrold added 11, Vigo Gamez-Soramae 10, Coen Salvador Brown 7, Jackson Jenkins 4, Seiya Kotagiri 2 and Hassan Mohamed 2, while Mahad Cheema, Noam Lamwertz, Rodrigo Arrigunaga, Tristan Boxshall, Fawaz Ilupeju and Kura Shiba were scoreless. Levi Burton scored 12 to lead the Breakers (coach Dan Burton, assistant Duane Alsop, athletic director Debi Laughlin). Loay Almanamid added 9, Isaiah Pryce 8, Teemo Laughlin 8 and River Michealoff 4, while Trace Swain, Logan Jones, Lief Morton, Riley Duke, Kieran Moraer and Ezra Bowers were scoreless. …………………………………………………… The 3rd-seeded Kelowna Aberdeen Hall Gryphons stomped the 14th-seeded Ucluelet Warriors 92-52 after leading 20-15, 45-24 and 64-47 at the quarters. The Gryphons took command with a 21-3 first-half run. Kyler Assam paced the Gryphons with 39. Luka Louw added 14, Andrew Isa 11, Soren Crumb 11, Noah Bsat 6, Josh Kostek 4, Raajin Hoonjan 4 and Maxwell Hager 3, while Matthew Hill-Turner, Jacob Palmer, Kohen Reiber, Callum Sutton-Mcmillan, Marcus Hodelet, Ciro Bertolutti and Nicholas Jackson were scoreless. Anthony Robinson scored 22 to pace the Warriors (coach Chris Sylvester, assistant Alistair Reynolds, assistant Jason Sam). Tylan Ryan added 12, James Ortiz-Castro 9, Ethan Gardiner 4, Jeff Tom 2 and Marcus Nixon 1, while 2 points were unallocated, and Jordan Frank, Riley Gerbrandt, Tyson Rhodes, Evan Touchie, Tayte Ryan, Deagan Tompson and Leon Patrick were scoreless. …………………………………………………… The 6th-seeded Burnaby Deer Lake Falcons torched the 11th-seeded Golden Eagles 77-40 after leading 26-8, 46-18 and 65-28 at the quarters. The Falcons closed the first quarter with a 19-0 run. Jason Myundura paced the Falcons with 20. Sauvan Asere added 14, Tino Jura 13, Aijalon Llewellyn 10, Logan Mirkovich 7, Carlo Waro 5, Basleal Goshu 4, John Luceno 2, Saihil Asere 1 and Gideon Amalo 1, while Malachi Watson, Luigi Tingson, Ronald Carcellar, Yadonay Teyikie, Saahil Sodhi, Junior Geoffrey and Arvid Panganiban were scoreless. Jacob Tetrault scored 12 to pace the Eagles (coach Curt Thorne, assistant Taj Manhas, manager Navneet Rondeau, athletic director Rhys Badenoch). Emilio Aquino added 6, Axelle Dominado 6, Lance Southcott 6, Braxton Gulliford 4, Kaelen Anthony Turner 2, Noah Emery 2 and Carter Thorne 2, while Ghenard Patalita, Brayden Mastroianni and Zachary Farnsworth were scoreless.
In the quarterfinals, the top-seeded Chilliwack Unity Christian Flames torched the 8th-seeded Prince George Cedars Christian Eagles 96-57. The Flames led 23-18 after one quarter. The Eagles led 41-39 at the half. The Flames opened the second half with a 16-3 run and led 69-46 after three quarters. Flames coach David Bron told Varsity Letters that the Eagles early pressure proved an obstacle in the first half. “You shoot that well, you break a press that well, you make us pay … it was what they were doing right. We got really tight, our rotations weren’t there, we weren’t trusting our press at all. It was like November all over again for some reason. … We adjusted, went a little less pressure on the ball, got more in the passing lanes and then shut off the drive and thankfully, they hit a way less percentage.” Jay Smiens paced the Flames with 26. Seth Schuurman added 14, Daxton Vander Kooi 18, Ryan Post 11, Ryun Fukumoto 8, Ethan Vrolyk 5, Lucas Devisser 2 and Christopher Janssen 2, while Luke Graham, Eli Kingma, Luke McGee, Josiah Welch, Gabe Koot, Mason Bowman and Ryan Vander Kooi were scoreless. Liam Tiefensee scored 16 to pace the Eagles (coach Jeff Ludditt, assistant Frank Crosina, manager Dany Tekeng, athletic director Steve Wilson). Ryan Crosina added 12, Gabe Taylor 8, Dominik Powar 5, Kale Doerksen 5, Joe Redden 4, Jonah Oliver 4 and Andrew Isaac 3, while Levin Petkau, Mathew Hildebrandt and Cole Staves were scoreless.
The 4th-seeded Nanaimo Christian Trail Blazers clipped the 5th-seeded Vancouver St. John’s Eagles 82-68. The Eagles led 20-13 after one quarter and 36-32 at the half. The Trail Blazers led 64-50 after three quarters. Blazers coach Ben Sijpheer told Varsity Letters that troops were able to limit their turnovers in the second half. “We needed to clean up some of those things and we needed to run our fast break. And we had a couple of our guards who weren’t pushing the ball like they usually do. Just changing that helped us a lot.” Jackson Tonsi paced the Trail Blazers with 26. Calvin Vanderkooi added 24, William Johnson 14, Mattias Lindkvist 7, Owen Phillips 6 and Garrett Miller 5, while Ethan Reid, Bobby McArthur, Jack Nelson, Jonah Yap and Oakley Kempner were scoreless. Viv Anderson-Francois scored 34 to pace the Eagles (coach Jonathan Kinman, assistant Andrew Ilkiw, assistant Daniel Ahn). Louis Lin added 13, Arjun Krishnatry 6, Markus Frigaard 5, Aaron Lo 5, Marcus Teodorescu 3 and Shaw Kim 2, while Jack Kincaid, Thomas Curry-Towneley-O’Hagan, Yazdi, Afshar, Tudori, Riley Guise, Wong, Gurpreet Mehmi and Razell Tjandra were scoreless.
The 2nd-seeded Vancouver King David Lions dispatched the 10th-seeded Victoria Brookes Westshore Gryphons 66-50 after leading 9-0 early and 19-12, 38-27 and 60-39 at the quarters. Lions coach David Amram told Varsity Letters “that is something we have tried to pride ourselves on all year, having quick starts and showing the opponent that it is going to be war when they play against us.” Arel Steen paced the Lions with 20. Joseph Gabay added 15, Ezra Heayie 12, Kristian Galazka 11, Noah Bakonyi 3, Ari Atlow 3 and Jesse Millman 2, while Orian Yona, Boaz Grunau, Micah Sacks, Paul Zychlinski, Leo Kallmer, Chad Beron, Max Koenigbaur and Max Forman were scoreless. Alex Buhr scored 16 to pace the Gryphons (coach Aija Salvador, assistant Michaela Witte). Vigo Gamez-Soramae added 11, Logan Harrold 6, Coen Salvador-Brown 6, Jackson Jenkins 5, Hassan Mohamed 5 and Kura Shiba 1, while Mahad Cheema, Noam Lamwertz, Rodrigo Arrigunaga, Tristan Boxshall, Fawaz Ilupeju and Seiya Kotagiri wee scoreless.
In the last quarterfinal, the 3rd-seeded Kelowna Aberdeen Hall Gryphons defeated the 6th-seeded Burnaby Deer Lake Falcons 87-81. The Falcons led 19-17 after one quarter and 44-33 at the half. The Gryphons led 67-57 after three quarters. The Gryphons exploded for a 22-4 run in the third quarter as they built their lead to 23 and then withstood a final Falcons rally that trimmed the margin to six. “We just told them they needed to step up and play with some pride,” Gryphons coach Michael Hooper. “We were not playing with as much heart as they were; they outworked us in that first half, but in the second, we played with some heart and our skill showed. … The effort, the defence. We played like I know they can.” Soren Crumb led the Gryphons with 31. Kyler Assam added 20, Raajin Hoonjan 15, Andrew Isa 8, Josh Kostek 7 and Luka Louw 6, while Matthew Hill-Turner, Noah Bsat, Jacob Palmer, Kohen Reiber, Callum Sutton-Mcmillan, Marcus Hodelet, Nicholas Jackson, Maxwell Hager and Ciro Bertolutti. Logan Mirkovich paced the Falcons with 24. Tino Jura 21, Jason Mvundura 19, Saihil Asere 9, Aijalon Llewellyn 4, Luigi Tingson 2 and Basleal Goshu 2, while Sauvan Asere, Malachi Watson, Ronald Carcellar, John Luceno, Carlo Waro, Gideon Amalo, Yadonay Teyikie and Saahil Sodhi were scoreless. The Falcons (coach Brittany Doggin, assistant Timothy Jakovac, assistant Marc Andrade, assistant Daniel Kim, manager Esmon Emmons, manager Molly Ryden, administrator Dawn Jakovac) also included Junior Geoffrey and Arvid Panganiban.
In the semis, the top-seeded Chilliwack Unity Christian Flames stomped the 4th-seeded Nanaimo Christian Trail Blazers 100-67 after leading 26-16, 55-31 and 78-46 at the quarters. The Blazers led 9-0 early before the Flames got on track. Flames coach David Bron told Varsity Letters that “our game plan was to play fast and sometimes when you play fast, you give up some things. Weren’t (the Trail Blazers) three-for-three (to start). I’m just thinking, hopefully they don’t do that the whole game. Once we got a score, we got our press on and then the momentum shifted.” Seth Schuurman and Jay Smiens each scored 19 to pace the Flames. Daxton Vander Kooi added 18, along with 14 boards, Ryun Fukumoto 12, Ethan Vrolyk 9, Ryan Post 9, Lucas Devisser 6, Eli Kingma 4, Luke Graham 2 and Mason Bowman 2, while Christopher Janssen, Luke McGee, Josiah Welch, Gabe Koot and Ryan Vander Kooi were scoreless. Jackson Tonsi paced the Flames with 26. Calvin Vanderkooi added 19, William Johnson 14, Mattias Lindkvist 3, Bobby McArthur 2, Owen Phillips 2 and Ethan Reid 1, while Garrett Miller, Jack Nelson, Jonah Yap and Oakley Kempner were scoreless.
In the other semi, the 2nd-seeded Vancouver King David Lions dispatched the 3rd-seeded Kelowna Aberdeen Hall Gryphons 85-68. The Gryphons led 17-16 after one quarter as the Lions struggled to resolve a 1-3-1 zone. But the Lions began working the ball inside to Arel Steen and got treys from Ezra Heayie and Paul Zychlinkski to take a 44-28 lead at the half. They withstood several Gryphon mini-runs and led 56-47 after three quarters. Lions point guard Ezra Heayie told Varsity Letters that “it feels great. We finally got a chance to play them again and this time we had our full team. We executed and stuck to the game plan and got the W.” Lions coach David Amram said “it feels incredible (to make the final). It’s a reward for all the hard work, the morning practices, the late practices, the traveling.” Steen said his inside buckets were a product of “everyone setting me up. I didn’t have to do much. It was a team effort. … I don’t think anyone got nervous. We had some bad turnovers in there, but the guys never stopped working. Five seconds (of dwelling on it) and we’re right back at it.” Gryphon Kyler Assam said “we gave a good fight. Every guy out there really gave everything he could out on the court. And that’s all you can hope for in a game like this. But tough loss, yeah.” Arel Steen paced the Lions with 24. Ezra Heayie added 22, Jesse Millman 13, Kristian Galazka 12, Pual Zychlinski 8 and Joseph Gabay 6, along with 14 boards, while Orian Yona, Noah Bakonyi, Boaz Grunau, Ari Atlow, Max Forman, Zac Peter, Micah Sacks, Leo Kallner, Chad Beron and Max Koenigbaur were scoreless. Kyler Assam paced the Gryphons with 28 (alternately reported as 31). Andrew Isa added 15, Soren Crumb 11, Josh Kostek 5, Maxwell Hager 5, Raajin Hoonjan 2 and Ciro Bertolutti 2, while Matthew Hill-Turner, Noah Bsat, Jacob Palmer, Kohen Reiber, Callum Sutton-Mcmillan, Marcus Hodelet, Luka Louw and Nicholas Jackson were scoreless.
In the bronze medal match, the 4th-seeded Nanaimo Christian Trail Blazers spanked the 3rd-seeded Kelowna Aberdeen Hall Gryphons 90-71 after leading 27-15, 44-32 and 63-41 at the quarters. Jackson Tonsi paced the Trail Blazers with 38. Defensive player of the tournament Calvin Vanderkooi added 31, Owen Phillips 14, William Johnson 4 and Oakley Kempner 3, while Mattias Lindkvist, Ethan Reid, Bobby McArthur, Garrett Miller, Jack Nelson and Jonah Yap were scoreless. Kyler Assam scored 24 to pace the Gryphons (coach Michael Hooper, assistant Akasha Bopp, athletic director John Gareau). Andrew Isa added 19, Soren Crumb 13, Raajin Hoonjan 9, Josh Kostek 4 and Kohen Reiber 2, while Matthew Hill-Turner, Noah Bsat, Jacob Palmer, Callum Sutton-Mcmillan, Marcus Hodelet, Luka Louw, Nicholas Jackson, Maxwell Hager and Ciro Bertolutti were scoreless.
In the final, the 2nd-seeded Vancouver King David Lions edged the top-seeded Chilliwack Unity Christian Flames 72-68. The Flames led 17-14 after one quarter and 30-27 at the half. The score was knotted at 47 after three quarters. The Lions trailed by eight with 7:35 to play but closed out the affair with a 12-4 run. “We just talked about keeping our poise and composure and trying to make every moment matter and doing it for our brothers,” Lions coach David Amram told Varsity Letters. “We had a chip on our shoulder. We knew that we were bounced out of the tournament way too early (a year earlier). We were hoping for a Final Four run but sometimes things just don’t work out the way you have planned. I am so, so proud of my men.” Joseph Gabay paced the Lions with 25, along with 15 boards. Player of the game Ezra Heayie added 18, Arel Steen 15, Kristian Galazka 12 and Max Koenigbaur 2, while Noah Bakonyi, Boaz Grunau, Ari Atlow, Max Forman, Zachary Peters, Micah Sacks, Paul Zychlinski, Leo Kallner, Chad Beron and Jesse Millman were scoreless. Jay Smiens paced the Flames with 21. Seth Schuurman added 18, Ethan Vrolyk 10, Ryan Post 8, Daxton Vander Kooi 7, Lucas Devisser 2 and Eli Kingma 2, while Ryan Fukumoto, Luke Graham, Christopher Janssen, Luke McGee, Josiah Welch, Gabe Koot, Mason Bowman and Ryan Vander Kooi wee scoreless.
The all-tournament 1st team featured MVP Jesse Millman (King David); Kyler Assam (Aberdeen Hall); Ezra Heayie (King David); Daxton Vander Kooi (Unity Christian); Arel Steen (King David) and Seth Schuurman (Unity Christian)
The 2nd-team featured: Ryan Crosina (Cedars Christian); Viv Anderson-Francois (St. John’s); Jason Mvundura (Deer Lake); Jackson Tonsi (Nanaimo Christian) and Jay Smiens (Unity Christian).
The bronze medalist Nanaimo Christian Flames: Jackson Tonsi; Calvin Vanderkooi; William Johnson; Mattias Lindkvist; Bobby McArthur; Owen Phillips; Ethan Reid; Garrett Miller; Jack Nelson; Jonah Yap; Oakley Kempner; coach Ben Sijpheer; assistant Breanne Quist
The silver medalist Chilliwack Unity Christian Flames: Daxton Vander Kooi; Lucas Devisser; Jay Smiens; Seth Schuurman; Ethan Vrolyk; Eli Kingma; Ryan Post; Christopher Janssen; Mason Bowman; Luke Graham; Gabe Koot; Luke McGee; Ryun Fukumoto; Josiah Welch; Ryder Vander Kooi; coach Dave Bron; assistant Matt Van Muyen; assistant Noah Klassen; athletic director Dwayne Hansen
The champion Vancouver King David Lions: Arel Steen; Joseph Gabay; Ari Altow; Ezra Heayie; Kristian Galazka; Jesse Millman; Micah Sacks; Noah Bakonyi; Paul Zychlinski; Max Koenigbaur; Max Forman; Zachary Peter; Chad Beron; Ben Schapiro; Lev Fishman; Orian Yona; Boaz Grunau; Leo Kallner; Arel Steen; coach David Amram; assistant Matt Dichter; assistant Cale McDonald