In the opening round: …………………………………………………… The top-seeded Kitsilano St. John’s School Eagles mauled the 16th-seeded Duncan Queen Margaret’s Royals 108-48 after leading 30-9, 61-19 and 92-27 at the quarters. Kian Afshar paced the Eagles with 35. Harry Whyte added 17, Jacob Botham 16, Douglas Cassidy 13, Remi Anderson-Francois 8, Jamie Watt 6, Brandon Lam 4, Lucas Pawlowski 4, Matthew Lee 3 and Mickey Wang 2, while Luke Stokes, Matthew Lau, Kai von Bergmann and Philip Wong were scoreless. Reiden Lin scored 11 to pace the Royals (coach Noah Charles, athletic director Lucy Smith). William MacMillan added 9, Kai White 8, Joeffrey Tshibangu 6, Ethan Chen 4, Darren Lin 4, Tinaye Joy-Mujuru 4 and David Dai 2, while Jack Zhang and Bernard Wei were scoreless. …………………………………………………… The 8th-seeded Langley Credo Christian Kodiaks whipped the 9th-seeded Burns Lake Lakes District Lakers 81-58. The Lakers led 12-11 after one quarter. The Kodiaks led 28-23 at the half and 54-42 after three quarters. Ben Vanderhorst paced the Kodiaks with 31. Player of the game Jonathan VanDyke added 17, Ben VanBeelen 11, Jamin Zietsma 8, Jesse Lieuwen 7, Jack Bouldman 5 and Asher Vandelft 2, while Nolen Raap, Gabe Emery, San Vanderhorst, Carsen Lieuwan, Benjamin Yin and Judah Leyenhorst were scoreless. Jake Hansen scored 32 to pace the Lakers. Matthew Wiebe added 9, Hunter Gerow 8, Jaren Hogarth 6 and Clark Borne 3, while Ezra Hogarth, Agrim Arora, Jessen Heron, Cruz West, Layne Berlin and Liddell West were scoreless. The Lakers ((coach Adam Hogarth, athletic director Steve Little) also included Kingston West and Lucas Peters. …………………………………………………… The 4th-seeded Ucluelet Warriors crushed the 13th-seeded Smithers Ebenezer Canadian Reformed Timbers 91-58 after leading 32-15, 48-35 and 79-45 at the quarters. Player of the game Clay Chiovitti paced the Spartans with 24. Riley Gerbrandt added 13, Julien Sylvester 12, Bo Smith 11, Will Star 11, Rafaelo Nixon 6, Simon Hillerby 5, Cole Steven 3, Matthew Jack 2, Liam Manmohan 2 and Kingston Bruno 2 while Eli Morgan was scoreless. Ashton ‘Tony’ Vandenberg paced the Timbers with 24. Blake Stiksma added 10, Spencer Stiksma 6, Caleb Kok 6, George Alkema 4, Keenan Barendregt 4, Hunter Penninga 3 and Thomas Barendregt 2, while Elias Bisshop was scoreless. The Timbers (coach Dwayne Meints, assistant Josh Ostermeier, athletic director Lydia Vandenber) also included Koen Plug, Sawyer Vandergaag, Bradley Verhelst and Jethro Vandeveld. …………………………………………………… The 12th-seeded Kelowna Immaculata Mustangs torched the 5th-seeded Sparwood Spartans 97-58 after leading 13-8, 40-23 and 75-45 at the quarters. Mustangs Mateo Rizzo, Ian Balaszy and Kai Oliveria each drilled five treys. Mateo Rizzo paced the Mustangs with 36. Ian Balazsy added 21, Kai Oliveira 19, Liam Nugent 9, Roman Lencovic 4, Chuby Adaji 3, Nathaniel Pavlic 2, Brayden McLaughlin 2 and Miles De Souza 1, while Brody Melnyk, Dylan Alejandro, Rhett Williams and Carter Vos were scoreless. Lukas Pinchak scored 16 to pace the Spartans (coach Adam Christensen, assistant Bryce Pinchak, manager Megan Christensen). Dane Rybachuk added 13, Matthew White 12, Ethan Doey 6, Duke Weber 3, Ethan Albas 3, Harvie Robertson3 and Callan Oler 2, while Yeha Jang, Nathan Devine, Rashaun Murray, Chase Zuffa and Liam Feltin were scoreless. …………………………………………………… The 2nd-seeded Masset Daaxilgan Sk’adda Nee Thunderbirds dusted the 15th-seeded Dawson Creek Mountain Christian Rams 83-38 after leading 22-1, 51-11 and 66-15 at the quarters. Trace Swain paced the Thunderbirds with 30. Naden Brown added 19, Tayias Penna 16, Zion Onosomuode 13, Brandon Davis 3 and Jeremey Piercey 2, while Tyler Collison and Seth Bellis were scoreless. Alex Ready scored 26 to pace the Rams (athletic director Justin Ready). Sinmi Oyedeji added 4, Jaxon Tanner 3, Commander Keech 3 and Nickolas Harris 2, while Joseph Girard, Chadrick Chaplin, Praise Liju and Aiden Ready were scoreless. …………………………………………………… The 10th-seeded Keremeos Similkameen Sparks dispatched the 7th-seeded Delta Southpointe Academy Titans 81-64 after leading 22-14, 46-34 and 62-49 at the quarters. Balkaran Lidhar paced the Sparks with 24. Krishon Terbasket added 13, Jasdeep Dhaliwal 19, Derrius Wallace 6, Sukh Dhaliwal 6 and Kirn Dulohan 3, while Anoop Grewal, Dilnaaz Brar, Japnoor Brar, Thor Sturgeon, Nash Marven, Txasgin Louis, Olin Parrott and Javraj Lidder were scoreless. Abir Matta and Kameron Macintyre each scored 13 to pace the Titans (coach Tomas Oljaca, assistant Henry Bolar, assistant Justin Roop). Sandro Wang added 11, Dylan Olak 11, Ronald Munsie 8 and Nidhan Brar 8, while Eshan Dharamshi, Cayden Wang, Sauvin Brar, Noah Macey, William Rozmus, Ayaan Dharamshi and Raveer Lally were scoreless. …………………………………………………… The 3rd-seeded Vernon Christian Royals whipped the 14th-seeded New Aiyansh Nisga’a Chiefs 80-56 after leading 20-9, 48-29 and 69-45 at the quarters. The Royals notched 14 treys. J.D. Vass paced the Royals with 32. Oliver Gingrass added 17, Caden Kooger 17, Lukas Reimer 6, Levi Johnson 4, Levi Wright 2 and Luke Porter 2, while Arlyss Molnar, Caleb Smith, Jake Funk, Dalton Lawrence and Luc Viljoen were scoreless. Edward Azak scored 16 to pace the Chiefs (coach Steven Adams, assistant Darlene Hughes, manager Zac Munroe). Xavier Barton added 15, Gavin Watts 8, Omari Stevens 7, Melkis Tavarez 6, Markell Gosnell 2 and Keegan Kerval 2 2, while Anthony Robinson, Nash Stewart-Gurney, Carson Robinson, Brent McKay, Robin Percival, Xavier Benson (Barton?), Connor Moore and Cedar McKay were scoreless. …………………………………………………… The 6th-seeded Maple Ridge Meadowridge Gryphons clipped the 11th-seeded Campbell River Christian Cougars 81-67 after leading 22, 17, 39-36 and 59-50 at the quarters. Player of the game Myles Galazka paced the Gryphons with 25. Rico Xie added 20, Ethan Banack 23, Ryan Hemati-Boroujeni 10, Ronic Bath 7 and Tomi Malovo 6, while Kevin Malo, George Vrabec, Sean Yang, Marcus Vernon, Joshua Oliajiton, Tobi Olabamiji, Andy Guo, Musa Sherazi and George Wang were scoreless. Jacob Manky scored 29 to pace the Cougars (coach Derek Bird). Teo Higgins added 12, Josiah Hart 12, Keon Nguyen 9, Luke Krestinski 3 and Kylen Fisk 2, while Skyler Higgins, Hudson Morris, Josiah Naknakim and Devon Sturhahn were scoreless.
In the quarterfinals, the top-seeded Kitsilano St. John’s School Eagles clubbed the 8th-seeded Langley Credo Christian Kodiaks 82-54 after leading 23-11, 47-25 and 63-40 at the quarters. Eagles coach Jonathan Kinman told Varsity Letters that guard Kian Ashfar was outstanding. “Everybody watches what he does when he passes or how he shoots the ball. Watch him play defence, watch him get in guys’ faces. He is a complete basketball player, all 94 feet. … Credo is long, big. You knew they were going to be ready”, reflected Eagles coach Kinman. “For us, we had to run. We had to contest shots. We matched their physicality.” Douglas Cassidy paced the Eagles with 27. Kian Afshar added 25, Jacob Botham 15, Remi Anderson-Francois 6, Lucas Pawlowski 5, Harry Whyte 2 and Philip Wong 2, while Luke Stokes, Kai von Bergmann, Brandon Lam, Mickey Wang, Mathew Lau, Roop Kahlon, Matthe Lee and Jamie Watt were scoreless. Ben Vanderhorst scored 15 to lead the Kodiaks (coach Justin Vanderploeg, assistant Jackie Vanderploeg, assistant Stephen Klein). Jack Bouldman added 13, Jonathan Vandyke 11, Jesse Lieuwan 9, Jamin Zietysma 3 and Ben VanBeelen 3, while Judeh Leyenhorst, Gabe Emery, Sam Vanderhorst, Asher Vandelft, Carson Leiuwan, Benjamin Yip and Nolen Raap were scoreless.
The 12th-seeded Kelowna Immaculata Mustangs stunned the 4th-seeded Ucluelet Warriors 78-68 after leading 19-10, 37-28 and 57-46 at the quarters. Mustangs coach Brett Boechler told Varsity Letters that guard Mateo Rizzo is “a microwave. The guy can get hot at any time. He’s probably the best shooter I’ve ever coached. He’s a good leader, and he does it all. … We applied ball pressure and just made sure that, offensively, we just get into our zone. We didn’t want to do anything uncharacteristic.” Mateo Rizzo paced the Mustangs with 31.Ian Balazsy added 17, Liam Nugent 10, Kai Oliveira 8, Brayden McLaughlin 6, Miles De Souza 2, Nathaniel Pavlic 2 and Chuby Adaji 2, while Brody Melnyk, Roman Lencovic, Rhett Williams and Carter Vos were scoreless. Riley Gerbrandt scored 20 to pace the Warriors (coach Kevin Nixon, coach Alistair Reynolds). Julien Sylvester added 19, Rafaelo Nixon 13, Will Star 6, Clay Chiovitti 5, Bo Smith 4 and Simon Hillerby 2, while Matthew Jack, Eli Morgan, Liam Manmohan and Kingston Bruno were scoreless.
The 10th-seeded Keremeos Similkameen Sparks stunned the 2nd-seeded Masset Daaxilgam Sk’adaa Nee Thunderbirds 75-69 after leading 20-10, on a late 12-1 run, 39-27 and 56-49 at the quarters. Sparks coach Aaron Kessler told Varsity Letters that Balkaran Lidhar “is just a great, all-around player. He’s a freak athlete. Jas [Dhaliwal] just gives us great composure on offence, and so pairing them together is a great system. … We know [the Thunderbirds] are a really scrappy team. There are a bunch of men out there who compete really hard. The message was we need to step up, meet their physicality, pick up players, and essentially just play through grit and stick to our gameplan.” Balkaran Lidhar paced the Sparks with 28. Jasdeep Dhaliwal added 25, Krishon Terbasket 8, Kirn Dulohan 8, Sukh Dhaliwal 4 and Derrius Wallace 2, while Anoop Grewal, Dilnaaz Brar, Jasnoor Brar, Thor Sturgeon, Nash Marven, Txasqin Louis, Olin Parrott and Javraj Lidder were scoreless. Naden Brown scored 31 to pace the Thunderbirds (coach Calvin Westbrook, coach Desi Collinson, assistant Duane Alsop, assistant Jason Alsop, manager Colin Greenaugh). Trace Swain added 11, Zion Onosemuode 11, Tayias Penna 10 and Jeremy Piercey 6, while Tyler Collison, Brandon Davis and Seth Bellis were scoreless.
In the last quarterfinal, the 3rd-seeded Vernon Christian Royals dispatched the 6th-seeded Maple Ridge Meadowridge Gryphons 75-61 after leading 19-13, 36-22 and 56-41 at the quarters. Royals coach Nick Purvis said Oliver Gingras and J.D. Vass were outstanding. “I want to say it’s on-court, but a lot of it is off-court as well. These guys are community builders. They include everybody in everything. When you have two leaders like that, it brings everyone together. They put in a lot of off-time work, in terms of getting to the gym for early mornings, late nights. These guys have earned the right to shoot the shots that they do, and they do a great job leading us. … Ultimately, it’s the controllables. It’s the defensive effort and intensity. You can’t always control the ball going through the hoop, but we like to build our backbone on the stuff we can control. Defensive intensity and limiting the team to one shot by grabbing the defensive rebound, then going from there.” Oliver Gingras paced the Royals with 31. J.D. Vass added 26, Caden Kooger 8, Lukas Reimer 7 and Levi Johnson 3, while Arlyss Molnar, Caleb Smith, Jake Funk, Dalton Lawrence, Levi Wright, Luc Viljoen and Luke Porter were scoreless. Myles Galaska scored 15 to pace the Gryphons (coach Stephen Just, coach Charles Schofield, athletic director Scott Spurgeon). Ryan Henati-Bourojeni added 13, Ethan Banack 11, Tami Malovo 10, Rico Xie 5, Musa Sherazi 3, Kevin Malo 2 and Ronic Bath 2, while George Vrabec, Sean Yang, Marcus Vernon, Joshua Olajiton, Tobi Olabamiji, Andy Guo and George Wang were scoreless.
In the semis, the top-seeded Kitsilano St. John’s School Eagles whipped the 12th-seeded Kelowna Immaculata Mustangs 73-49 after leading 15-10, 39-26 and 57-39 at the quarters. They bridged the first and second quarters with a 20-4 run. Eagles guard Kian Afshar told Varsity Letters that “last year (at provincials), it was the first time and everyone was really happy. This year, it’s more business, more serious. Winning now is becoming a culture. We’re going to be more prepared.” Eagles coach Jonathan Kinman said “we played them earlier in the year and they’re a 100 per cent different team. They scrap and they have heart and they’re well coached and I don’t think the score was really indicative of the game.” Mustangs coach Brett Boechler said “we got to within six points there at one point and felt pretty good about it, but then it just kind of seemed like there was a lid on the basket. We couldn’t get any easy ones to go in.” Kinman added that Eagle Douglas Cassidy is “just fearless. His feet are set, he’s going to pull the trigger.” Kinman said “we’ve got enough guys that score the ball, so our whole focus all year long has been playing defence and rebounding the basketball because we’re not very big. Holding them to 49 points that’s a credit to our guys because (Immaculata) can score the ball.” Douglas Cassidy paced the Eagles with 24. Kian Afshar added 18, Jacob Botham 9, Remi Anderson-Francois 9, Lucas Pawlowski 8, Philip Wong 3 and Harry Whyte 2, while Luke Stokes, Kai von Bergmann, Brandon Lam, Mickey Wang, Matthew Lau, Roop Kahlon, Matthew Lee and Jamie Watt were scoreless. Mateo Rizzo paced the Mustangs with 20. Kai Oliveira added 11, Ian Balaszy 6, Brayden Mclaughlin 6, Miles De Souza 3 and Liam Nugent 3, while Brody Melnyk, Dylan Alejandro, Roman Lencovic, Nathaniel Pavlic, Rhett Williams, Carter Vos and Chuby Adaji were scoreless.
In the other semi, the 10th-seeded Keremeos Similkameen Sparks stunned the 3rd-seeded Vernon Christian Royals 69-67. The Royals led 21-18, 37-33 and 53-52 at the quarters. They pulled out the win on the heroics of Balkaran Lidhar, who scored 12 in the final frame, including a deep trey that knotted the score at 67. He followed it up with the winner on a roll to basket on a feed from Jasdeep Dhaliwal and then a block on Royal J.D. Vass. “He’s a great player, he’s the leader of our team and he was definitely clutch in that fourth quarter,” said Sparks coach Aaron Kessler. Lidhar said “at the start of the game, I was ice-cold. And I was forcing things . . . passing it around, waiting for the right shot. And in the end, it paid off.” Lidhar added that he wanted to take the clutch shots down the stretch. “Of course. It’s a leader thing.” Royals coach Nick Purvis said “I thought we had it, but props to them.” Balakaran Lidhar paced the Sparks with 24. Jasdeep Dhaliwal added 19, Krishon Terbasket 9, Kirn Dulohan 8, Sukh Dhaliwal 7 and Derrius Wallace 2, while Anoop Grewal, Dilnaaz Brar, Japnoor Brar, Thor Sturgeon, Nash Marven, Txasqin Louis, Olin Parrott and Javraj Lidder were scoreless. J.D. Vass paced the Royals with 29. Caden Kooger added 19, Oliver Gingras 12, Lukas Reimer 4 and Levi Johnson 3, while Arlyss Molnar, Caleb Smith, Jake Funk, Dalton Lawrence, Levi Wright, Luc Viljoen and Luke Porter were scoreless.
In the bronze medal match, the 12th-seeded Kelowna Immaculata Mustangs edged the 3rd-seeded Vernon Christian Royals 61-57 in overtime. The Royals led 14-11 after one quarter and 30-29 at the half. The Mustangs led 47-45 after three quarters. The score was knotted at 52 after regulation. Kai Oliveira pace the Mustangs with 20. Miles De Souza added 11, Brayden McLaughlin 10, Ian Balaszy 6, Roman Lencovic 5, Chuby Adaji 4, Mateo Rizzo 3 and Liam Nugent 2, while Brody Melnyk, Dylan Alejandro, Nathaniel Pavlic, Rhett Williams and Carter Vos were scoreless. J.D. Vass scored 27 to pace the Royals (coach Byron Sayer, assistant Grant Barry, athletic director Jason Reedyk). Oliver Gingras added 16, Levi Wright 6, Caden Kooger 6 and Lukas Reimer 2, while Arlyss Molnar, Caleb Smith, Jake Funk, Dalton Lawrence, Levi Johnson, Luc Viljoen and Luke Porter were scoreless.
In the final, the 10th-seeded Keremeos Similkameen Sparks stunned the top-seed Kitsilano St. John’s School Eagles 75-63. The Eagles led 21-19 after one quarter. The Sparks led 35-33 at the half. The score was knotted at 51 after three quarters. The Sparks closed out the affair with a 15-0 run, including a pair of buckets from Balkaran Lidhar and 8-10 from the line by Jasdeep Dhaliwal. It was the Eagles first loss of the season. Tournament MVP Lidhar told Varsity Letters that “this feels fantastic, it doesn’t feel real. It feels like a dream right now. It feels insane.” Eagle Kirshon Terbasket, who hit a pair of croner treys in the third quarter and added a third in the fourth said “I was feeling it. Whenever I hit one, I always get hot. I knew I’d have to get hot some time, especially since this was the finals.” Sparks coach Aaron Kessler said Dhaliwal was exceptional. “He’s always like that, the most calm, composed guy I know in the last seconds. I don’t need to say anything. He knows exactly what to do.” Forward Sukh Dhaliwal, who nabbed 14 boards and set a bushel of screens said “the rebounding was really important. If we don’t rebound well, we’re not going to win the game, obviously, so rebounding was really crucial for me. … It feels amazing, it still hasn’t sunk in completely yet. It just all feels like a dream.” Eagles coach Jonathan Kinman said that, down the stretch, “man did that bucket shrink. We had lots of looks in the fourth quarter to be honest. We’ve never gone one-for-18 (for the game) from beyond the arc all year. Picked a fine to do that didn’t we? “But credit to them. They played so well and so aggressive, and they reality made it difficult. … And just let me say this, what a great moment for Keremeos and their town. It’s going to sound stupid coming from me, but what a great moment for public schools and the Indigenous community. If I was going to lose, this was going to be the perfect team to lose too.” Balkaran Lidhar paced the Sparks with 27. Jasdeep Dhaliwal added 22, defensive player of the tournament Krishon Terbasket 12, Kirn Dulohan 10 and Derrius Wallace 4, while Anoop Grewa, Dilnaaz Brar, Japnoor Brar, Thor Sturgeon, Nash Marven, Txasqin Louis, Olin Parrott and Javraj Lidder were scoreless. Lucas Pawlowski paced the Eagles with 16. Remi Anderson-Francois added 12, Kian Afshar 11, Jacob Botham 6, Brandon Lam 6, Philip Wong 6, Douglas Cassidy 5 and Harry Whyte 1, while Luke Stokes, Mickey Wang, Matthew Lau, Roop Kahlon, Matthew Lee and Jamie Watt were scoreless.
The all-tournament team featured MVP Balkaran Lidhar (Similkameen); Oliver Gingras (Vernon Christian); J.D. Vass (Vernon Christian); Jasdeep Dhaliwal (Similkameen); Remi Anderson-Francois (St. John’s School); and Kian Afshar (St. John’s School).
The 2nd-team featured: Trace Swain (Daaxigaan Sḵadáa Née); Mateo Rizzo (Immaculata); Brayden McLaughlin (Similkameen); Kirn Dulohan (Similkameen); Douglas Cassidy (St. John’s School)
The bronze medalist Kelowna Immaculata Mustangs: Kai Oliveira; Mateo Rizzo; Brody Melnyk; Dylan Alejandro; Ian Balazsy; Miles De Souza; Liam Nugent; Roman Lencovic; Nathaniel Pavlic; Rhett Williams; Carter Vos; Chuby Adaji; Brayden Mclaughlin; coach Brett Boechler; assistant Bruno Oliviera
The silver medalist Kitsilano St. John’s School Eagles: Jacob Botham; Douglas Cassidy; Luke Stokes; Kai von Bergmann; Brandon Lam; Mickey Wang; Harry Whyte; Kian Afshar; Mathew Lau; Remi Anderson-Francois; Matthew Lee; Philip Wong; Lucas Pawlowski; Jamie Watt; Roop Kahlon; coach Jonathan Kinman; coach Andrew Ilkiw; assistant Patrick Francois; assistant Rob McCall
The champion Keremeos Similkameen Sparks: Jasdeep Dhaliwal; Krishon Terbasket; Anoop Grewal; Derrius Wallace; Dilnaaz Brar; Sukh Dhaliwal; Balkaran Lidhar; Japnoor Brar; Thor Sturgeon; Kirn Dulohan; Nash Marven; Txasqin Louis; Olin Parrott; Javraj Lidder; coach Mishak Potash; assistant Billy Potash; manager Nobal Bhathal; athletic director James Brown