In the opening round: …………………………………………………… The Nelson L.V. Rogers Bombers defeated the North Delta Huskies 77-56. The Bombers laid back in a zone defence against the Huskies, daring them to shoot, and North Delta couldn’t do it, connecting on just 22-78 (.282) from the floor, while the Bombers hit .509. The Bombers pushed the tempo on offence and when they couldn’t, pounded the ball inside to 6-10 grade 11 post Sean Denison, who scored 19. Guards Matthew Fuhr and Josh Sampson had 20 and 17, respectively. Guard Sunny Dhillon led the Huskies with 22. Charles Acomppanado added 13. “They came out strong and had no fear of being aggressive,” Huskies coach Simon Dykstra told the Vancouver Sun. “They’re strong in the post with Denison, but have a balanced team with productive scoring throughout.” The Huskies led 39-38 in the third quarter but the Bombers closed out the frame with a 14-6 run and opened the final quarter with a 10-0 run. Huskies coach Tyler Kushnir told the Surrey Leader that “we were never really playing our game. Our game is to pound the ball inside and score there. We can’t depend on our outside shots. … We were intimidated by their big guy (6-10 Denison). Bottom line is they took our game away from us, just by the mere presence of the guy. They got in our heads a little bit.” The Huskies (coached by Kushnir) also included Mike McKay, Charles Acompando, James Anderson, Mat Lee, Carl Funk. …………………………………………………… The Vancouver St. George’s Saints thrashed the Esquimalt Dockers 84-40 as Cam McDonald scored 21 and Adam Jolly 15. Michal Osusky and Colin Sims each noted 8 to pace Esquimalt. St. George’s shot .479 from the floor. The Dockers (coached by Dave Burden) also included Mike Lyseng, Mike Williams, Jeff Eden, Sunny Basi, Mike Osusky, Colin Sims. …………………………………………………… The Prince George Polars dumped the Vancouver West Point Grey Greyhounds 64-58 as Amrit Nijjer scored 21. Sean Townsley added 16 and Chris Vanderlee 15, along with 16 boards. Ranko Vukovic paced the Greyhounds with 17. The Greyhounds also included Acer Huang, Saad Sadl-Alla, Max Zipursky. …………………………………………………… The Surrey Fleetwood Park Dragons stomped the Terrace Caledonia Kermodes 67-51 as Tyler Kinnear scored 19, nabbed 9 boards, dished 4 assists and stole 2 balls. Pat Samson added 16 and Hartez Gill 15. Sean Dusdal and B.J. Gill each scored 13 to pace the Kermodes. The Kermodes also included Terry Bal, Bryan Matthews.
In the second round: …………………………………………………… The Victoria Claremont Spartans defeated the Vancouver College Fighting Irish 70-67. Claremont, paced by Ryan Vetrie’s 25 points, held a 29-15 halftime lead. Vancouver College stormed back in the last 10 minutes of the game, outscoring the Spartans 29-18 only to come up short. Brian Crowe added 13, along with 17 boards. Anthony Lao led the Fighting Irish with 30. Fighting Irish guard Corey Anderson had his three-point attempt with eight seconds left roll around the rim and bounce out. Vancouver College had trailed by 15 points at 63-48 with 3:45 to go and had been outscored 12-4 in the first quarter after shooting just 2-16 (.125) in the opening frame. “You always have dreams of glory,” Vancouver College coach Greg Zavediuk told the Vancouver Province. “The kids have played hard all year. Today, they came out and had a tough one for a long time and they still almost pulled it out.” The Fighting Irish (coached by Zavediuk and Geoff Smythe, managers Jonathan Phang, David make and Anthony Ngo) also included Anthony Lao, Chad Howse, Jimmy Rogers, Jeremy Chan, Enrico Cunanan, Daryl Lardizabel, Matt Blunt, Frank Woods, Kevin Jagger, Sergio Ferreira, Galen Allen, Alex Duford and Ray Sawada. …………………………………………………… The North Vancouver Carson Graham Eagles dumped Vancouver St. George’s Saints 76-61 as Tony Strong and Sina Khoshroo each scored 21. Cam McDonald led the Saints with 26. The Saints led 36-34 at the half. The Saints (coached by x, assisted by Karlo Villanueva) also included Brock Nicholson. …………………………………………………… The top-seeded Vancouver Kitsilano Blue Demons whipped the 16th-seeded Nelson L.V. Rogers Bombers 89-69 as Chris Porteous scored 30, nabbed 6 boards and dished 5 assists. Kitsilano centre Levon Kendall won the duel of the ballyhooed big men. The 6-foot-9 Kits senior had 17 points and 14 rebounds. The Bombers’ 6-foot-10 junior Sean Denison had 7 points and 14 rebounds. Miles Bridge added 15 for the Blue Demons. Steve Moe led the Bombers with 18 on 4-6 from the arc. Only a late 20-5 run by the Bombers made the score seem even vaguely respectable. The Blue Demons led by as many as 37. “We thought that, comparing the scores of the games we played against the same teams as Kits, we could give them a close game,” Bombers guard Mike Vance told the Vancouver Sun. “But Chris [Porteous] was unstoppable.” Bombers coach Dean Studer added that “we expected their man-to-man defence would be really intense. And that’s what happened. We also expected more points from our big guy [Sean Denison].” Blue Demons coach Simon Dykstra said he’d been worried his troops would succumb to the jitters. “It’s been a tough two weeks, waiting for this tournament to start. We had a good Lower Mainland final, but there has been some tension. Our guys were anxious. They wanted to get going. So, yes, I was a worried they [L.V. Rogers] would be sharper than us. I was concerned we’d be a bit flat offensively.” The Bombers (coached by Dean Studer) also included Matt Fuhr, Josh Sampson. …………………………………………………… The Abbotsford Yale Lions crushed the Prince George Polars 92-56 as Tyson Klein scored 27 and nabbed 23 boards, John Locht 20, Chris Laurie 12 and John Payne 12, along with 10 boards. The Lions led 49-26 at the half. Payne told the Abbotsford News that “we came in and did what we wanted to do. We got a lead early. And it’s hard to shoot in here but we got the ball to the guys we needed to.” Klein said “it was a lot of fun. I started getting some rebounds and got my confidence up.” Chris Vanderlee led the Polars with 13. Amrit Nijjer added 11. The Lions hit .430 from the floor. The Polars also included Jeff McLeod, Sean Townsley. …………………………………………………… The 11th-seeded Port Coquitlam Terry Fox Ravens defeated the 6th-seeded Burnaby South Secondary Rebels 76-65. “You get out of the Valley and you’re tournament-tough already,” Ravens co-coach Rich Chambers told the Vancouver Province. “We played five games in six nights [at the Valleys] and every game was a battle. The most we won by was three and we lost in overtime and lost to Yale by seven. But we were tied with four minutes to go. The Fraser Valley tournament is just so tough.” The Ravens blasted Burnaby South by a 23-8 count in the second quarter to take a 38-26 lead into the lockers. The Rebels rallied briefly in the second half before point guard Alek Radjenovic fouled out. The Ravens promptly pulled away. Terry Fox point guard Raj Mander scored 30, including 5-8 from the arc, 5 steals and 3 assists. Sukhpaul Kingra added 12, Adam Choy 10, and Matt Francisco 9, all on treys. Centre Jon Thomson led the Rebels with 27. Radjenovic added 15. “No one is expecting us to do much here, so we’ll just have to keep plugging along and hopefully surprise some people,” Mander told the Vancouver Sun. “We’re the kind of team that has to run a lot because we’re not very big. South is big inside, but I think we made them run a little bit more than they like to today.” Thomson said “second-shot opportunities are what killed us. That and not boxing out. They knew what to do with our zone defence.” Losing Radjenovic didn’t help, he added. “Yeah, for sure — he’s our floor general and the most intense player we’ve got. The unfortunate thing is that we don’t have a natural back-up point guard. Alex has pretty much been the main man for us there all season.” The Rebels also included Mirza Havic, Vlad Ruzic. …………………………………………………… The Surrey White Rock Christian Warriors thrashed the Victoria Oak Bay Bays 76-59 as point guard Donald Burton scored 25. The Warriors used 10 long bombs, including 6 treys by Donald Burton, in the romp. Sean Stewart added 19, along with 6 boards, and Jordan Craig 15. Nolan Miles sparked the Bays with 16. Matt Tanner, who left after the game for the world junior rugby championship today, added 13. The Bays (co-coached by Gary Mols and Gary Taylor, assisted by Mike Metcalfe) also included Chris Bailey, Eric Gallie, Brett Jackson, Andrew Charlton, Dylan Fraser. …………………………………………………… The Surrey Enver Creek Cougars pasted the Victoria St. Michaels University Blue Jaguars 95-54. Sital Purewall and Justin Van Loo each netted 24 to lead the Cougars. Brent McLaren added 13, Dalbir Dosanjh 13 and Adam Sodhi 13. Ryan Willms led the Blue Jaguars with 24. The Blue Jaguars (coached by Ian Hyde-Lay, assistant Rick Humphries, assistant Cam Clark) also included Mark Quinlan (Quindon?), Jeffrey Downs, David Spicer, Mike Pyke, Logan Smythe, Adam Cochrane, Craig Cavin, Dave Jawl, Boone Avasadanond, Christopher Kim, Sidney McLaughlin, Owen Parrot, Chris Ufford, Mathew Cho, Fraser Lee, B Brunner and Adrian Cochrane. …………………………………………………… The Penticton Lakers nipped the Surrey Fleetwood Park Dragons 69-67. Marc Roots paced the Dragons with 19. Hartej Gill added 19. The Dragons also included Dan Knezetic, Kelly Truman, Pat Samson, Sean Kelly, Tyler Kinnear, Ben Gray.
In the quarterfinals, the 5th-seeded Surrey White Rock Christian Warriors dominated the 4th-seeded Penticton Lakers 67-47. “Our goal all season was to be in the final four and now we’ve accomplished that,” Warriors coach Scott Allen told the Vancouver Sun. “Did I think we’d be this good? Perhaps not. But now that we’ve accomplished our goal, we can just sit back and relax. After you get to the final four, anything can happen. We’ve got nothing to lose.” Grade 11 point guard Donald Burton scored 26 to lead the Warriors as he dominated the floor, bombing from the perimeter and breaking down the Lakers defence with the penetration dribble. He also nailed 4-7 from beyond the arc. “It’s something I’ve always worked on since I’ve played the game,” said Burton. “Our main objective is to get the ball inside and if the shot’s not there, we kick it out to the perimeter.” Allen said Burton “is an anomaly for us. Because he shoots well from the perimeter and he also penetrates inside, he makes everyone around him a better player. He’s definitely stepped up his game this year.” Penticton closed to within 37-35 at the half but the Warriors opened the second frame with a 12-4 run to take command and then iced it when Burton scored 8 straight, including a pair of treys. “Our game plan was to try and keep them off the boards,” said Stewart. “When we went on that run late in the third quarter it seemed to put a dagger in them. I always knew we could be good, but you have to do it on the court. The key was we did a lot of work over the summer. That’s when we made a lot of improvement.” Allen said “we played great team defence today. That’s what won it for us.” He told the Vancouver Province “we have a lot of dedicated kids. They’re dedicated and they’re on shooting programs and that’s the bottom line. We’re not as athletic as other teams, by far. Our kids can stand and shoot the ball and it works. We’ve never had the athletes that could penetrate. Donald is an anomaly for our school” Burton biggest damage was from the perimeter, as he hit a pair of treys 30 seconds apart early in the fourth quarter that put the Warriors up 55-39. The Warriors hit 25-52 (.481) from the floor, while the Lakers hit 19-58 (.328). “It’s hard work and practice,” said Stewart, who scored 14. “It’s always been part of the program. We’ve never had a really big guy, like a 7-footer or a 6-foot-10. Everybody on our team can shoot it. We work on it a lot.” Dan Bouchard led the Lakers with 17. Drew Kuzminski added 10. They trailed 30-23 at halftime but White Rock Christian went on a 15-4 run to finish the third quarter and take a 49-37 lead into the fourth. Sean Stewart added 14 points and 15 boards for the Warriors. The Lakers (co-coached by Doug Scotchburn and Dave Nackoney) also included Aaron Surkan, Robert Dino, Paul Sauter.
The 11th-seeded Port hCoquitlam Terry Fox Ravens defeated the 3rd-seeded North Vancouver Carson Graham Eagles 70-63 as Raj Mander scored 32 and dished 6 assists. “We wanted to come into the game and get right into Carson’s face,” Mander told the Vancouver Sun. “Tonight’s game was between two teams with a lot of speed and athleticism, but not much height. So, yeah, it was a bit of a track meet and I guess we hit the finish line first.” Tony Strong led the Eagles with 21 points and 16 boards. The Eagles lost starting forward Steve Schmidt and post Chris Watt to fouls, at a time when they were within 5 points. “It was 18-6 in fouls and that was the difference,” said Eagles coach Rick Mark. “Fox played great, especially their number six [Mander], but it’s not fair to play for six months and get this far and find officiating like that at this level. Our kids played too hard for the officials not to show up.” Eagles guard Sina Khoshroo, who scored 14, was whistled for a travelling violation as he crossed centre line with 45 seconds remaining and the Ravens leading 63-61. The Ravens notched 15, free throws, including 10 from Mander, while the Eagles got 1. “The idea was to use our speed to best advantage and try to draw Carson into a lot of fouls,” Mander said. “I think it worked and we took advantage of it at the free-throw line.” Ravens coach Rich Chambers said “I told my players before tonight’s game to not get excited and play their game because we’ve got to get ready for tomorrow night. I’ve had confidence in my kids all the way through this tournament.”
The top-seeded Vancouver Kitsilano Blue Demons defeated the 8th-seeded Surrey Enver Creek Cougars 75-70. Kitsilano needed a 23-16 third quarter run to pull out the win. Guard Chris Porteous scored 36, while post Levon Kendall had 16 and 13 rebounds before getting in foul trouble. Aman Sodhi paced the Cougars with 34, while Dalbir Dosanjh nabbed 13 boards. The Cougars led 37-36 at the half. The Cougars (coached by Rob Turenne) also included Brent McLaren, Sital Purewal, Justin Van Loo, Aman Braich.
In the last quarterfinal, the 7th-seeded Victoria Claremont Spartans defeated the 2nd-seeded Abbotsford Yale Lions 71-58. Seth Cunningham nabbed 16 boards. After the win, the Spartans raised their mascot “the goonie” at midcourt and cheered. The mascot, which looked like a chunk of a broken tail light, had been picked up after a loss in the Victoria city championships. The Spartans hadn’t loss since. “It’s making us win,” Spartans star Ryan Vetrie, son of UVic Vikes coach Guy Vetrie, told the Vancouver Province. “I’m not going to tell you [its story] now. We love this Goonie. It’s all about the Goonie.” Riding 14 points from Vetrie, Claremont jumped out to an 18-13 first-quarter lead. Yale rallied with a 17-10 run to take a 30-28 lead at the half. But they failed to score in the first four minutes of the second half, while the Spartans took control with a 9-0 run. Yale went on a late run and got within three, at 53-50, early in the fourth but Claremont never panicked. Vetrie finished with 27 points, 5 boards and 3 steals. Colin Lundeen added 17 and Brian Crowe 13. John Locht paced the Lions with 20. Chris Laurie added 11, Jeff Payne 10 and Tyson Klein 10, along with 13 boards. Lions assistant Bob Burgess told the Abbotsford News that “we were real flat. The kids looked very nervous” and the team was hampered by Locht’s suffering a sprained ankle in the first quarter. “He couldn’t play and dribble for the rest of the game.” Yale led 30-28 at the half but the Spartans opened the third quarter with a 9-0 run. The Lions (coached by Al Friesen) also included Adam Henkel, Marshall Scanlan, Ryan Collinge.
In the semi-finals, the 7th-seeded Victoria Claremont Spartans defeated the 11th-seeded Port Coquitlam Terry Fox Ravens 72-66. “I can’t believe this,” Spartans guard Brian Crowe told the Victoria Times-Colonist. “This is a dream come true to be playing in the B.C. final. We won tonight because of our defence and rebounding.” The Spartans were playing without primary rebounder Seth Cunningham, who was on a family vacation in Mexico. “With the loss of Seth, we had to rebound as a team,” said Claremont’s Ryan Vetrie. “When the season started, I knew we had a good team but we did have some shaky moments. My goal coming here was to finish in the top four but after we started playing, I thought we could reach the final.” Crowe scored 27 and nabbed 11 boards. Vetrie added 25, while Colin Lundeen scored 13 and nabbed 15 boards. “We came to play tonight,” said Claremont coach Milt MacNeil. “With Seth out of the lineup, everybody stepped up their game. That is the way this team has played all year.” Claremont led 16-11 after the first quarter as Crowe dominated. Vetrie took over in the second quarter as Claremont built a 38-29 lead. The Spartans, who led by as many as 14, went cold late in the third quarter, allowing the Ravens to rally. But the Spartans held off the three-point assault in the fourth quarter. Raj Mander paced the Ravens with 17 on 3-13 from the arc. MacNeil, who’d coached for 27 years, said that “at the start of the year, I knew I had some very competitive kids who were very coachable. These kids really like each other and want to win. It has also helped us that we have a very good point guard (Vetrie). If you don’t have one of those (point guards), you are in trouble. … We have stayed focused since Game 1. When we did get into trouble, the team has not got flustered. They have handled the pressure really well. In the quarter-final against Yale, we just did not panic. Our offence was patient and we attacked them. It also helped that Lundeen, Crowe and Cunningham all had huge games. Winning a championship has not come too often for me. I’m really enjoying this year.” Vetrie told the Vancouver Sun that the Spartans had come into the tournament as unknowns. “It’s probably because we haven’t played any Lower Mainland teams this year until this event. Everybody’s doubted us all season. But I always knew we had a good team. …. We miss Seth a lot. He’s a big part of our team. But he had to go. I can’t look down on him for it. We used it as a motivation. We wanted to win for him.” Crowe said “defence was the difference. Nobody thought we could get this far. But we believed in ourselves.” McNeil said “our guys came to play. The Seth issue was a non-topic with us. Our guys just accepted it. Like we’ve done all year, when somebody is out of the lineup, somebody else steps up.” Chambers said “Claremont played well. We didn’t get the execution we were looking for. We’re such a small team we have to hit all of our shots. They forced us to play poorly.”
In the other semi, the top-seeded Vancouver Kitsilano Blue Demons dumped the 5th-seeded Surrey White Rock Christian Warriors 55-50. “It was a knock-out, drag-’em-out type of game,” Blue Demons coach Simon Dykstra told the Vancouver Sun. “The refs let the players play and they decided to gut it out. We didn’t execute as I wanted us to execute and we’ll certainly have to pick up our game if we’re going to be successful against Claremont in the final.” Levon Kendall paced the Blue Demons with 19 points, 8 boards and 6 blocks. Chris Porteous added 11 before fouling out. Jordan Craig led the Warriors with 21. Donald Burton added 18, along with 5 assists, but star 6-5 post Sean Stewart missed most of the second half with foul trouble. “It was tough playing White Rock, but we gutted out the win and are going into our second straight provincial final,” said Kendall. “Them losing Stewart for most of the second half was definitely to our advantage. Our game plan from the start was to go at him with the ball and try to make him foul us.” The Blue Demons led 35-24 at the half. Warriors coach Scott Allen said “both teams played well defensively. The difference was they hit a couple more shots than we did at the end. It’s a disappointing loss, but it bodes well for us next year. Kits is a very impressive team with a lot of Grade 12 players. But our guys battled well.” The Blue Demons hit .404 from the field, while the Warriors hit .246.
In the bronze medal match, 5th-seeded White Rock Christian Warriors defeated the 11th-seeded Port Coquitlam Terry Fox Ravens 88-71 as Sean Stewart scored 26. White Rock built a 49-20 halftime lead and never looked back. Donald Burton added 22. Raj Mander led Terry Fox with 11. “It wasn’t our ultimate goal to start the season, but to get third place is certainly an accomplishment,” Warriors coach Scott Allen told the Vancouver Sun. “Over-all this group here didn’t do too badly for a bunch of misfits. We ended up with a pair of hockey goalies [James Rowley and Jordan Cryer] and a pair of skinny guards running the team.” Stewart said “we were disappointed about [the semi-final loss] but we were really motivated to win this one. It’s great to be in the final four and third place is very respectable.” The Warriors led by as many as 35. Ravens guard Raj Mander said “after losing to Claremont we weren’t into it tonight. They came out hitting their shots and we were stone cold.” Terry Fox coach Rich Chambers said “our guys took a long time to come out of the dressing room after the loss to Claremont. It was not a very good effort on our part and not typical of Terry Fox teams.” The Ravens (coached by Chambers) also included Al Quezada, Adam Choy, Alex Stanculescu, Jesse Penner.
In the final, before 4,600 fans at the PNE Agrodome, the top-seeded Vancouver Kitsilano Blue Demons thrashed the 7th-seeded Victoria Claremont Spartans 81-52. Levon Kendall paced the Blue Demons with 31 points on 15-19 from the floor. He added 11 boards and 8 blocks. Chris Porteous scored 18 on 7-15 from the floor and 4-7 from the line, while grabbing 10 boards and dishing 7 assists. Jackson Todd scored 7, Brendan McEwen 6, Miles Bridge 4, Tom Beetleston 3, Ben Lightburn 2, Chris Blachut 2 and Robin Fraser 2. The Blue Demons shot 35-63 from the floor, 9-18 from the line and 2-3 from the arc, while grabbing 52 boards, handing out 22 assists and committing 15 fouls. Ryan Vetrie led Claremont with 24 points on 7-29 from the floor, 2-7 from the arc and 8-9 from the line. Dave Morrison and Warren Pratt each added 6, while Lucas MacNeil scored 4, Keith Shaw 4, Colin Lumsden 2, Brian Crowe 2 on 1-15 from the floor, Sean Tassel 2, James Dergousoff 2, Andy Galewitz 0, Eddie MacArthur 0, Seth Cunningham 0, Joe Hall 0. The Spartans shot 17-67 (.254) from the floor, 6-22 from the arc and 12-18 from the line, while grabbing 28 boards, handing out 10 assists and committing 5 fouls. The Blue Demons put on an exceptional shooting performance in the first half, hitting 19-28 from the floor and .857 from the arc as Kitsilano took a commanding 44-19 lead at the break. The 29-point final margin was the greatest in the history of the event. “When I got the team together after the game, it was easy to see why we lost,” said Claremont coach Milt MacNeil. “Kitsilano shot the lights out in the first half and we couldn’t hit much. Kits as a very strong team and they are well coached. I’m very proud of this team and I really couldn’t have asked for any more from them. They handled their first trip to the B.C. championship with great composure. After looking at the stats, Ryan Vetrie said: it was not bad to finish second in the province to a team like that. I have to agree.” Blue Demons guard and tournament MVP Chris Porteous told the Vancouver Province that “we played our hearts out and we won the championship. That’s what we wanted. Doesn’t matter the score. If we would have won by one, it wouldn’t have made a difference.” The Blue Demons finished undefeated on the season while capturing their fourth provincial title in seven years. Kits coach Simon Dykstra noted that “it’s been the best group of kids I’ve ever had the opportunity to work with. Everything is there for continued success. There’s strong junior coaching, a lot of support from the community and at the school and it’s a tradition now. So now, there’s a tradition to follow. And those two guys were just unbeatable tonight.” Dykstra added that the key was hitting the early perimeter shots to soften the Spartans’ 2-3 zone. “We knew we had to take some shots. So tonight, we came out early and I was feeling very confident when we got easy looks and we knocked them down.” Vetrie scored the game’s first points but the Blue Demons took over from there and totally dominated. Kitsilano took a 22-8 first-quarter lead mainly on the strength of a smothering defence led by 6-foot-9 centre Levon Kendall. The second quarter was much the same story, more Kitsilano defence and some hot shooting from Kendall and guard Chris Porteous as the Blue Demons took a 44-19 halftime lead. Vetrie and Brian Crowe, the main offensive threats for the Spartans, were held to a total of nine first-half points, including seven by Vetrie. Kendall had five blocks in the first half. In the third quarter, Kits extended the lead to 71-31 and made it look easy on offence, hitting shots from all over the court. Early in the fourth quarter, with the game clearly out of reach for Claremont, Kitsilano rested their gunners — Porteous and Kendall. “In the first half, the ball just wasn’t going into the hoop for us,” Claremont coach Milt MacNeil told the Victoria Times-Colonist. “We were getting good looks but nothing would fall. Kitsilano has a very good team. They are very mature and experienced. They are also very well coached and a great group of guys.” I’m very proud of our guys. I couldn’t ask for more from them this season. I also have to say how special it was for my team to be playing here. The organizers of this tournament do a fantastic job.” Vetrie told the Victoria Times-Colonist that “Kitsilano put a lot of pressure on us tonight and they were the better team. No. 14 (Kendall) had a great game for them, both defensively and offensively. We played our hearts out.” Porteous was elated. “We played our hearts out and we won the championship. That’s what we wanted. Doesn’t matter the score. If we would have won by one it wouldn’t have made a difference.” The victory, which completed a perfect season for Kits, not only landed them their second straight title but their fourth in the past seven years. “It’s been the best group of kids I’ve ever had the opportunity to work with,” said Kits coach Simon Dykstra. “Everything is there for continued success. There’s strong junior coaching, a lot of support from the community and at the school and it’s a tradition now. So now there’s a tradition to follow. And those two guys were just unbeatable tonight.” The key, said Dykstra, was to set the tone early from the outside to soften the Spartans’ 2-3 zone coverage. “We knew we had to make some shots,” said Dykstra as Kits hit 9-18 from the arc. “So tonight, we came out early and I was feeling very confident when we got easy looks and we knocked them down.” After the game, Vetrie came clean on the goonie mystery, admitting that it was a white road reflector, the kind that separates lanes. Claremont, which was making its first appearance at provincials, had claimed it was Goonie-powered on its run to the Triple A boys’ basketball provincial final last week but steadfastly refused to talk about it, treating it like it was a matter of national security. In their defence, they did win 16 games after going loony for the Goonie. “When the snow plows come, they sometimes knock the reflectors off,” said Vetrie, whose team named their pride and joy after the 1985 kids adventure flick, The Goonies. “Sometimes we will go hunting for them. It was a little game. It was something to inspire us because, you know, Goonies never say die. The Goonie ran out of gas after playing Terry Fox in the semifinals.” Porteous told the Vancouver Sun that “setting the [points-margin] record was nice, but to tell you the truth it never really entered our minds during the game. All we were concerned about was defending our championship and a one-point win would have been just as satisfying.” McNeill said “Our shots just wouldn’t drop in the first half. It was tough for the kids to keep their heads up. We wanted to put pressure on Kits’ shooters and not let them get inside. But boy, were they ever hot in that first half. I’ve got to hand it to Kits. They’re a well-coached team and a great group of guys. The way the whole tourney was run, we don’t have a complaint.” Kendall said “we got more and more confident as the tournament went along. It’s been great playing with Chris in high school. He’s an awesome player and I have no problem with him being named MVP. Game-in and game-out, he’s been our best player this season.” Dykstra said “it’s the best group of kids I’ve ever coached. There’s been a great sense of community around this team all season and I have to pay credit to the parents for supporting these kids during the teachers’ dispute.” Kitsilano finished 40-0 on the season.
The bronze medalist Surrey White Rock Christian Warriors: Sean Stewart; Donald Burton; Jordan Craig; Tyrel Mara; Jordan Cryer; Chrispy Takeda; James Rowley; coach Scott Allen
The silver medalist Victoria Claremont Spartans: Brian Crowe; Seth Cunningham; Ryan Vetrie; Colin Lundeen; Lucas MacNeil; Warren Pratt; James Dergousoff; Sean Tassell; Dave Morrison; Keith Shaw; Andy Galewitz; Eddie MacArthur; Joe Hall; coach Milt MacNeil
The gold medalist Vancouver Kitsilano Blue Demons: Chris Porteous; Levon Kendall; Robin Fraser; Brendan McEwan; Miles Bridge, Jackson Todd; Curtis Walford; Tom Beetleston; Lucas Tisshaw; Ben Lightburn; Austin Zamora; Sean Hill; Chris Blachut; Caleb Wagner; Steve Baert; Mike Hanson; coach Randy Coutts; coach Simon Dykstra