In the opening round, held at the PNE Agrodome: …………………………………………………… The Cranbrook Mount Baker Trojans stunned the Prince Rupert Rainmakers 86-84 as Sascha Bouzaara stole the ball and hit an 8-foot jumper with two seconds remaining on the clock. “If I gave you a dollar for every last-second shot he’s hit, you could buy a nice meal,” Mount Baker coach Rob Dowswell told the Vancouver Province. Bouzaara scored 25 on 10-14 from the field, including five three-pointers, to hold back the Rainmakers who rallied from 19 points to tie the game 84-84 with 31 seconds left. “We have nothing to lose,” said Bouzaara. “I expect them (North Delta) to be in my face, but we’re loose.” The Trojans ripped off 11 straight points during a span of 2:55 to lead 37-19 midway through the second quarter. “We just came out tight,” admitted Rupert head coach Mel Bishop. “But I think the guys can be proud of the way they played in the second half.” Bouzaara, Corey Baker, Todd McAdam and Evan Scriver, four of the Trojans five starters, played all 40 minutes in the win. Baker scored 22 and McAdam 20. Kevin Campbell led the Rainmakers with 23. Jeremy Quast added 14. The Rainmakers also included James Lyon. …………………………………………………… The North Vancouver Handsworth Royals upset the Kelowna Owls 76-75 as Jeff Sharma hit an off-balance 7-footer bucket at the buzzer, Sharma, a 10th grader who missed most of the year recovering from a broken leg told the Vancouver Province that “I reached back and just put it up. It was instant euphoria.” Kelowna had rallied back from a 39-33 halftime deficit to lead 75-74 on a pair of free throws by Jeremy Westering, but Owls coach Mickey Welder said some key misses down the stretch did his team in. Alex Rzepa paced the Royals with 25. Robbie Ferguson added 20. Mike Fuller led the Owls with 27.
In the second round: …………………………………………………… The top-seeded Victoria St. Michaels Jaguars defeated the Williams Lake Columneetza Cougars 101-46 as Steve Nash scored 25, Jamie Miller 16, Martin Nash 14, Brendan Barry 12, Mark Grist 9, jan Schmidt 8, Ryan Van Roode 6, Jeremy Harris 4, Milan Uzelac 3, Chris Isherwood 2 and Ryan Green 2. “There was no conscious effort to run up the score,” said SMU coach Ian Hyde-Lay told the Vancouver Province. “I don’t think we pressed Columneetza the whole game. I’d be disappointed if (Columneetza co-coach) Sean Sullivan felt we tried to run it up.” The Cougars were co-coached by Sullivan and Jack Burgar, quickly lost on the consolation side as well and sent home, having spent thousands to attend the event. “The draw has to be looked at,” Sullivan, a rookie coach and RCMP officer told the Vancouver Province. “They are penalizing kids from the boondocks. Where are the Cinderella stories going to come from? They have forgotten about the little guys. They are so wrapped up in themselves. It’s a Lower Mainland-Island tournament. But our kids have every right to be here. They won the right. … They’re good kids. I wouldn’t trade any one of them. Not even for Steve Nash.” Randeep Uppal paced the Cougars (coached by Sean Sullivan) with 13. Jason Eichenberger added 7, William Blair 7, Aaron Solly 6, Trevor Vanderfluit 3, Sukhjeet Jagpal 2, Carson Isfeld 2, Ambrose Weigart 2, Grant Gustafson 2 and Kuldeep Gill 2. …………………………………………………… The defending provincial champ Richmond Colts defeated the Abbotsford Panthers 71-60. The Colts put 5-11 Adam Debray on 6-9 Panther post Jake Curley. And it worked. Debray was left shaking his head. “I wasn’t expecting this. I kept thinking that after a while I’d be checking a guard,” he told the Vancouver Province.” But Colts head coach Bill Disbrow kept the 10-inch mismatch going, and Debray helped key a wave of frustration that swept over Abby and their standout forward. “We dragged Adam out of a PE class at school,” said Disbrow. “This is really his first year of basketball. But he’s a phenomenal athlete.” Curley drew his third foul of the game with one second left in the first half trying to slow a driving Debray. He finished with 17 rebounds, but only three came on the offensive glass where he and 6-foot-6 teammate Mitch Trotman do most of their scoring. Debray and Andy Latchford effectively contained Curley. “They really sewed us up on defence,” said Curley, who scored 9. “They wanted to play a bump and hack game and we just got really frustrated.” Curley and Trotman shot a combined five-for-15 in the first half while Debray ended the first 20 minutes at 4-5 en route to a 13-point, three-assist, two-steal performance. Matt Anthony led Richmond with 25. Debray added 13, Ryan Tyler 10, Lee Craven 8, Les Leonhardt 7, Andy Latchford 6, Bryan Schwatz 1 and Zach Hutchison 1. Drisbow told the Vancouver Sun “I really respect this squad – they really work hard. In some ways this win is more satisfying than others in the past because people – even at our own school – don’t expect that much out of them. The attitude seems to be: They’re not ranked No. 1 so there must be something wrong with them.” Drisbow added that “Debray certainly had an outstanding game. “Curley didn’t score that many – not when it counted.” Panthers coach Jinder Sarowa said “We missed a lot of shots. We didn’t make a lot of shots inside. We must have gave up 25-30 turnovers.” Trotman paced the Panthers with 20. Raj Brar added 12, Jake Curley 9, Nigel Strilchuk 7, Eric Lightfoot 6, Kevin O’Donnel 2, Ken Smith 2 and Raj Randhawa 2, while Jatinder Heer was scoreless. …………………………………………………… The 7th-seeded Victoria Belmont Bulldogs defeated the 12th-seeded Port Coquitlam Terry Fox Ravens 90-88 in double-overtime. Donovan Walters’ free throw with a second left in the first extra session tied the game 82-82, and his driving lay-in with 1:09 left in the second OT took a fortunate roll. “Luck was on my side with that roll,” Walters, who scored 34, told the Vancouver Province. The game was the second straight in double overtime at the tourney for Belmont. In 1991, Walters hit a three-pointer with eight seconds left in the second overtime to lift the Braves to an 84-81 win over the Vancouver College Fighting Irish and third place at the tournament. “He handled the ball well, penetrated well and made the clutch shots,” said Belmont co-coach Muzz Bryant. The Ravens handled every Brave except Walters. “This was a game where we weren’t even supposed to be in the same gym as them,” said Terry Fox coach Don Van Os. “But it’s hard to get this (game) off your mind. You always want so much for your kids.” Amrit Lalli added 16 for the Bulldogs, Keith Gibson 12, Cory Boyd 11, Rob Willmhurst 8 and Chris Olsen 7. Mark Slater paced the Ravens (coached by Don Van Os, assisted by Wade Loukes) with 34. Bret Anderson added 27, Chris Szarka 12, John Murphy 4, Steve Penner 4, Andy Wright 3, Terry Dennett 2, Orson Choy 2 and Steve Hanson 2, while Bill Nadelin, Darren leong and Aaron Iverson were scoreless. “We knew they (Terry Fox) were going to be good. We were prepared to play them hard, but this,” Belmont co-coach Muzz Bryant told the Vancouver Sun. “Double overtime two years in a row. … that’s too much.” The Ravens rallied from a 62-53 third-quarter deficit and were trailing 75-70 with 50 seconds to play when Bret Anderson nailed a trey with 28 seconds to play and a bucket with 5 seconds remaining to force overtime. In the second extra session, the Ravens led by six before Belmont responded with an 8-0 run. “The kids played hard,” Don Van Os told the Vancouver Sun. “They just seemed to lose focus a bit at the end.” …………………………………………………… The 8th-seeded West Vancouver Highlanders stunned the 4th-seeded Vancouver Prince of Wales Walesmen 79-69. The Highlanders had five new starters on the season but they developed from pine-boys to prime-timers on the season. “Last year I was pulling splinters out of my butt I was on the bench so much,” senior guard Matt Coyne, who scored 25, including four first-quarter treys, told the Province. “No one expected anything from us. We’ve been underdogs all season.” Coach Bruce Holmes noted that “poise is what got us here. Whether we were down by three at the half or up by seven in the second, it was the poise of our seniors.” Holmes told the Vancouver Sun that “we had a game plan and we stuck to it. We knew we were underdogs; the kids kept up their intensity the entire game. That was the difference.” Tom Story added 17 for the Highlanders, Todd Humphries 14, Matt Englebert 7, Steve Jeffrey 7, Chris Caldow 5 and Lachlan Patterson 4. Matt Strand led the Walesmen (coached by Ross Marshall) with 22. Mike Posnikoff added 20, Andrew Mackay 11, Jamie Storrow 7, Eric Butler 4, Rob McKee 4 and Jason Ross 1, while Jeremy Laker, Steve Hall, Kevin Schultz and Aaron Rutledge were scoreless. …………………………………………………… The 2nd-seeded Vancouver College Fighting Irish stole the ball 23 times while pummeling the North Vancouver Handsworth Royals 92-44 as Tyler Thompson scored 18, Paul Williscroft 13, Mica Federal 11, Steve Doherty 9, Pat Inglis 8, Craig Campbell 8, Gerald Cole 7, Dan Norton 5, Chris Franks 4, Gary Lam 2, John Dumont 2, Tyler Federal 2, Brain Carino 2 and Kevin Waterhouse 1. “This was very good for us,” Irish coach Don Corbett told the Vancouver Sun. “We got the jitters out of our system.” Alex Rzepa led the Royals with 14. Robbie Ferguson added 8, Chris Allison 6, Jeff Sharma 4, Brian Washbrook 4, Patrick McCrea 2, Adam Derkach 2, Stephan Ziotnik 2 and Mehran Kavosi 2, while Jamie Walker, Jamie Commerford and Andrew Snead were scoreless. …………………………………………………… The 5th-seeded North Delta Huskies stomped the Cranbrook Mount Baker Trojans 106-54. “We just wanted to take them out of their game,” said Huskies guard Chris Pershick told the Province. Pershick scored 37, including 11 treys. Schaelen Hungar added 23, Troy Greenridge 20, Sean Ramjagsingh 6, Neal Aven 4, Matt Hofford 4, Peter Vall 3, Craig Rettied 2, Shane Davies 2, Steve Gwilliam 2, Grant Frend 2, Chris Taylor 2 and Kenny Amissah 1. Todd McAdam paced the Trojans with 15. Sacha Bouzhara added 12, Evan Scriver 9, Corey Baker 6, Richard Crouch 6, Chad Kabatoff 5, while Ed Dowson and Matt Waterer were scoreless. …………………………………………………… The 6th-seeded Pitt Meadows Marauders dumped the 9th-seeded Salmon Arm Gold 78-57 as Scott Walton scored 37 (alternately reported as 36). Jason Moody led the Gold with 21. Gold coach Brian Gibbons told the Salmon Arm Observor that “they were the better team.” The Gold (coached by Brian Gibbons) also included Sean Drummond, Dachs Blackburn, Chris McDonald, Casey Sedgeman, Dan Snoek, David Nardi and Shaun Begg. …………………………………………………… The 3rd-seeded Port Alberni District Armada rolled to an 81-60 win over the 17th-seeded New Westminster Hyacks as Pat Cannon scored 25 and Darren Simpson 19. “We didn’t take New Westminster lightly and we knew they were an aggressive team, but I was more worried about being in awe of the whole B.C. tournament thing,” Armada coach Jim Mayo told the Province. Wade Chan-Kent led the Hyacks with 19. The Hyacks also included Michael Chong, Patrick Kuan, Todd Lefebvre, Jason Tuberes, Steven Porter, Paul Griffiths.
In the quarterfinals, top-seeded Victoria St. Michaels Jaguars defeated the defending champion Richmond Colts 85-74 as Steve Nash scored 24, Milan Uzelac 16, Brendan Barry 16, Jamie Miller 10, Chris Isherwood 7, Jeremy Harris 6, Martin Nash 6, Mark Grist 2, Ryvan Van Roode 2 and Jan Schmidt 2. The Blue Devils opened a 50-30 lead early in the second half and romped but coach Ian Hyde-Lay wasn’t thrilled with their defence. “I don’t think we’ve given up that many points in a half this season,” he told the Vancouver Province. “I thought they (the Colts) played exceptionally well.” St. Michaels built a 23-15 first-quarter lead behind the on-court wizardry of star guard Stephen Nash. “I like to get into the heart of the defence and then dish it off if there’s no shot,” said Nash who shot 8-11 from the field in the opening half and finished with a game-high 24 points. He also dished 7 assists and grabbed 10 rebounds. “I think a lot of teams under-rate Richmond. They have excellent coaching and a lot of heart. We didn’t take them lightly. … We lost our composure in the second half.” Colts coach Bill Drisbow told the Province his troops “played as well as they could. I don’t think anybody will play them any better. … (The Jaguars) are one of the best teams ever. They’re my favorites to win it. I hope they go all the way. We’re never lost to a team (on the winner’s side of the draw) that didn’t win the tournament.” Hyde-Lay noted “I hope that comes true again.” Drisbow told the Richmond Review that “they’re one of the best teams ever. We had to have an A game to beat them and they had to have a C game. We probably had a B-plus, and they had better. I hope they go all the way. They’re a classy team, well coached and they’ve got a good group of kids.” Matt Anthony paced the Colts with 21. Andy Latchford added 20, Adam Debray 15, Lee Craven 10, Ryan Tyler 5, Les Leonhardt 2 and Paul Hamaguchi 1. The Colts (coached by Drisbow) also included Dave Morgan, Bryan Schwarz, Zach Hutchison.
The 2nd-seeded Vancouver College Fighting Irish rallied from a 30-13 second quarter deficit to nip the Victoria Belmont Bulldogs 70-66. “If you want to win this tournament, everyone has to survive a day like this,” Irish coach Bob Corbett told the Vancouver Province. The Irish outscored Belmont 23-8 in the third quarter to tie the game 51-51 after 30 minutes. With Paul Williscroft scoring 12 in the second half, the Irish ended the “Kardiac Kids” two consecutive double-overtime victories. “We took our defence to a new level,” said Corbett. “And on offence we just started taking it to the hoop.” Tyler Thompson paced the Fighting Irish with 17. Williscroft added 14, Mica Federal 12, Pat Inglis 10, Gerald Cole 7, Steve Doherty 6 and John Dumont 4. Amrit Lalli led the Bulldogs (coached by Muzz Bryant and Gary Mols) with 27. Donovan Walters added 12, Chris Olsen 10, Rob Willmshurst 6, Keith Gibson 6 and Cory Boyd 5.
The 6th-seeded Pitt Meadows Marauders edged the 3rd-seeded Port Alberni District Armada 66-64 in a battle of 6-8 big men as Scott Walton outscored Patrick Cannon 37-16. “This is the third time they’ve met and I’d have to give this one to Walton,” Alberni coach Jim Mayo told the Vancouver Province. Walton scored 37 points for the second straight game. “Walton’s been performing unbelievably at this tournament,” Pitt coach Rich Goulet told the Vancouver Sun. “He had to do it all for us. We don’t have another big guy to come off the bench.” Armada star Pat Cannon fouled out with just over a minute to play, which quelled a late Armada rally. Bruce Duthie added 9 for the Marauders, Arpag Zsold 8, Jay McBride 4, Marty Tanner 4, Brad Roberge 2 and Keith Swift 2. Goulet said his squad was aided by familiarity. “Unfortunately for them we played them three times this year and they won the first two. There’s still room for a little coaching in this tournament.” Alan Seredick paced the Armada with 18. Pat Cannon added 16, Darren Simpson 16, Dave Tuckey 7 and Kevin McMillen 7. The Armada (coached by Jim Mayo) also included Steve Seredick, Ryan Netzer.
In the last quarterfinal, the 8th-seeded West Vancouver Highlanders edged the 5th-seeded North Delta Huskies 63-61 as Matt Coyne scored 20, Todd Humphries 18, Tom Story 7, Steve Jeffery 6, Matt Englehart 4, Lachlan Patterson 4 and Dave Sugden 3. Peter Vall paced the Huskies with 17. Tory Greenidge added 13, Chris Pershick 11, Scahelen Hungar 10, Matt Holford 8 and Sean Ramjagsingh 2. Huskies coach Tyler Kushnir told the Surrey Leader that “we got the shots we wanted but we just didn’t shoot well.” The Huskies (coached by Tyler Kushnir, assisted by Chad Johnston) also included Neal Aven, Craig Rettie, Shane Davies, Steve Gwilliam, Grant Frend, Chris Taylor, Kenny Amissah.
In the semi-finals, the Saint Michaels University Blue Devils defeated West Vancouver Highlanders 94-57 as Milan Uzelac scored 25, Steve Nash 16, along with 9 rebounds, 9 assists and 7 steals, Jeremy Harris 16, Jamie Miller 9, Martin Nash 7, Mark Grist 6, Chris Isherwood 5, Brendan Barry 4, Brent McLay 2, Damian Grant 2 and Jan Schmidt 2. Todd Humphries led the Highlandes with 16. Matt Coyne added 14, Tom Story 12, Matt Englebert 5, Lachlan Patterson 4, Chris Caldow 2, Steve Jeffrey 2 and Dave Sugden 2. Saint Michaels coach Ian Hyde-Lay credited the Highlanders with ‘fantastic” play. “At the beginning of the season, if anyone had said West Vancouver would make the final four,” he told the Vancouver Sun. West Vancouver coach Bruce Holmes, a former national team player, noted his Highlanders “play with a lot of heart.” Indeed, they had to put up $1,400 each to play during the season. “Sure, the school is in an affluent part of town. But no money in the world can buy you the character you need to play this game. It has to come from within. The kid still has to make the decision. Am I going to Whistler for the weekend or am I going to Sunday morning practice? You still have to bust your ass.”
In the other semi, the 6th-ranked Pitt Meadows Marauders nipped the 2nd-ranked Vancouver College Fighting Irish 74-73 after surviving a fourth quarter rally which saw the Irish come from 11 behind at the three-quarter mark to close within one on the shooting of guards Steve Doherty and Gerald Cole. Pitt Meadows was paced by Scott Walton’s 44 points, 11 rebounds and 8 blocks. Arpad Zsold added 14, Bruce Duthie 8, Marty Tanner 5, Jay McBride 2 and Keith Swift 1. Steve Doherty paced the Fighting Irish with 21. Tyler Thompson added 18, Paul Williscroft 15, Gerald Cole 9, John Dumont 6 and Pat Inglis 4. “What can you say,” Marauders coach Rich Goulet told the Vancouver Sun. “You only have to win by one.”
In the bronze medal match, the West Vancouver Highlanders outscored the 2nd-seeded Vancouver College Fighting Irish 43-35 over the final 20 minutes to pull out a 74-70 win. “I’m ecstatic,” Highlanders coach Bruce Holmes told the Vancouver Sun. “I knew we could do it. I believe in these guys.” Tom Story paced the Highlanders with 21. Lachlan Patterson added 15, Steve Jeffrey 12, Matt Coyne 9, Todd Humphries 7, Chris Caldow 6 and Matt Englebert 4. Tyler Thompson led the Irish with 22. Gerald Cole added 14, Steve Coherty 13, Paul Williscroft 11, Mica Federal 6, Dan Norton 2 and John Dumont 2. The Irish (coach Bob Corbett, assistant Al Falk, assistant John Levring, managers Ian Rivas, Kynan Cheng and Jeff Fajardo) also included John Robertson, Chris Franks, Pat Inglis, Kevin Waterhouse, Craig Campbell, Brian Carino and Gary Lam.
In the final, Santa Clara University-bound Steve Nash took MVP honours while leading his Victoria-based St. Michaels University Blue Devils to a 76-48 victory over the Pitt Meadows Marauders. The Blue Devils were coached by Ian Hyde-Lay, who’d played for the University of Victoria and Ken Shields from 1976-1980 and later served as an assistant to Shields from 1983-84. In his second year as head coach of St. Michaels, Hyde-Lay was accused of “recruiting”, as both Nash and Miller had transferred from public schools to the private school and sat out a year for having done so. Both insisted they had transferred strictly for academic reasons. Over the course of their four tourney games, St. Michaels outscored their opponents 356-225. The final was the most lopsided in the 47-year history of the tournament. “We struggled in periods during the tournament and we were feeling the pressure in the early afternoon,” Nash told the Vancouver Province. “But in the second half we just came out and played our style of basketball.” Pitt Meadows had been ahead 14-11 after the first quarter but St. Michaels had rallied to take a 31-28 lead at the half when Nash went to work and thoroughly dominated the second half. But the patented SMU press piloted by Nash steered a course straight for the Pitt Meadows basket and ripped off a 20-0 run over a span of 7:31 between the third and fourth quarters. “They just played better than we did,” Marauders post Scott Walton told the Province. Walton entered the game needing 32 points to set the one-year tournament scoring record of 149 points set in 1980, but fell seven short with 25, while nabbing 11 boards. “It was a normal press but we just didn’t react to it.” Walton had scored 37, 37 and 44 points in his first three games and appeared well on his way to breaking the record and keeping Pitt in title contention when he finished with 18 points at the half. But a helping SMU defence that collapsed as many as three-strong in Walton’s face, limited him to only three fourth-quarter points. Nash meanwhile, took command, dictating the tempo, while scoring 31 and notching 11 boards, 8 assists and 4 steals. “This just feels so great,” said Nash. “My guys were exhausted,” said Marauders coach Rich Goulet. “(SMU) just came out and executed. We just got beat by a better team.” Jeremy Harris added 13 for the Blue Devils, Milan Uzelac 9, Jamie Miller 7, Mark Grist 6, Jan Schmidt 5, Brendan Barry 4 and Martin Nash 2. Bruce Duthie added 13 for the Marauders, Marty Tanner 5, Jay McBride 4 and Arpad zSold 2. The final constituted a reunion, of sorts, for St. Michaels and Pitt Meadows head coaches. In 1975, Pitt Meadows coach Rich Goulet had steered Burnaby St. Thomas More to an AA crown over a Shawinigan Lake Stags squad led by first-team all-star Ian Hyde-Lay, now the St. Michaels coach. The 6-1 Nash transferred from Mt. Douglas Secondary and said out his entire Grade 11 season but didn’t lose his patented move – a crossover dribble and drive that leaves opposition defenders staring at the No. 9 on the back of his singlet. “It was tough being here last year and not being able to play,” Nash said of sitting on the SMU bench 12 months ago when his team qualified for the B.C.’s. But everything that’s happened this year makes it all worthwhile.” Goulet told the Vancouver Sun “they’re just a great team. I don’t know if we could have done anything better. I really thought we just didn’t have anything left in the second half. Stephen Nash went to work; our kids lost their confidence.” Hyde-Lay told the Sun that the Marauders appeared exhausted by their semi-final win. “Last night took a lot out of them. Never in my wildest dreams did I expect to hold them to 48 points.” Walton said “we gave it our best, but it wasn’t good enough. They just played better than us.” The Blue Devils finished 50-4 on the season, while the Marauders finished 40-11.
After the season the B.C. High School Boys Basketball Association voted to expand the tournament to 20 teams. “We decided to do this to accommodate the out-of-town teams,” BCHSBBA executive assistant Ken Winslade told the Vancouver Province. “Everyone is going to be guaranteed two games now. It won’t be like a Prince Rupert coming down here and then having to go right back.” Initial plans for the five-day tournament, set to run March 9-13, 1993, at the PNE Agrodome, are to have eight of the lower- seeded teams playing on the first day. The winners would then move over to the main side of the draw on the second day and join the tournament’s top 12 seeds. The new concept means teams on the bubble or from smaller zones won’t have to win sudden-death games just to be included in the main draw. “It makes schools like ours feel that we can be a real part of this tournament,” said Nelson V. Rogers secondary coach Alan Burch. The provincial boy’s tournament has been a 16-team affair since 1948.
The bronze medalist West Vancouver Highlanders: Matt Coyne; Todd Humphries; Tom Story; Lachlan Patterson; Matt Englebert; Steve Jeffrey; Chris Caldow; Dave Sugden; coach Bruce Holmes
The silver medalist Pitt Meadows Marauders: Scott Walton; Bruce Duthie; Marty Tanner; Arpad Zsold; Jay McBride; Marty Tanner; Brad Roberge; Keith Swift; John Szogi; Al Stewart; Peter Gill; Jason Boldt; Dave Lockett; Curtis Mepham; Jason Owen; coach Rich Goulet
The gold medalist Victoria St. Michaels Jaguars (then the Blue Devils): Steve Nash; Jeremy Harris; Milan Uzelac; Jamie Miller; Mark Grist; Jan Schmidt; Brendan Barry; Martin Nash; Chris Isherwood; Ryan Van Roode; Stuart Kerr; Edward Crothall; Jeremy Harris; Ryan Green; Aaron Clark; Renton Leversedge; Matthew Franklin (Geddes); Hywel Jones; Damian Grant; Brent McLay; coach Ian Hyde-Lay; assistant Bill Greenwell