In the opening round, held in Langley: …………………………………………………… The top-seeded Vancouver St. Patrick Celtics dusted the 16th-seeded Nelson L.V. Rogers Bombers 103-49 after leading 32-9, 55-26 and 81-40 at the quarters. The Celtics full-court pressure completely dismantled the Bombers, forcing endless turnovers for runouts. Celtics point guard Kaden Carrion told Varsity Letters that “to be honest, we’ve always been a run-and-gun team. We’re not as tall as other teams, so we have to use our speed to our advantage. We just run and gun, get easy layups, get back on defence – same thing over and over again.” Irish Coquia paced the Celtics with 26. Jornel Ursua added 17, Joey Panghulan 9, Josh Bahena 9, Jovin Sunner 9, Kaden Carrion 7, Diljot Sunner 6, Ethan Santa Juana 5, Kyle Santa Juana 4, Kian Palaganas 3 and Jerome Alojado 2, while Ryan Garcia and John Linder were scoreless. Samuel Orasuk paced the Bombers with 13. Lucas Driedger added 10, Kailash Sanjivi 8, Griffin Phillips 6, Jake Marshall 4, Mika Whitefield 3, Cole Woodward 2, Quinn Kilpatrick 2 and Michael Anderson 1, while Victor Torres Rosal, Calvin Wheeler and Barrett Reid were scoreless. The Bombers (coach Ryan MacKinnon, statistician Matthew Fuhr, trainer John Matosevic, doctor Michael Vance, athletic director Jeremy McComb) also included Tomasso Gasiani and Diego Caprara. …………………………………………………… The 9th-seeded Surrey Princess Margaret Lions edged the 8th-seeded Chilliwack G.W. Graham Grizzlies 63-60 after leading 16-14, 32-28 and 48-43 at the quarters. Lions coach Karmin Dhaliwal told Varsity Letters that “my guys understand their goals, they understand the bigger picture, they put their egos aside, and they just compete and play hard, man. That’s all I can ask for.” The Lions led 42-33 when Grizzlies responded with a 7-0 run. The Lions again rallied, drawing within 61-58 on a pair of Braeden Macdonald free throws with less than two minutes to play. Then Bardia Shokouhi pilfered the ball for a runout layup to cut the margin to 61-60 with 48 seconds on the clock. But player of the game Jal Gatluk notched an offensive putback off a missed free throw with 10 seconds to play to ice the Lions win. Shokouhi missed a trey and then Lion Abdullah Ahmad blocked a Braeden MacDonald trey attempt with 1.1 seconds to play to stymie Chilliwack’s bid to force overtime. Dhaliwal said Ahmad had injured his knee in the second quarter but “was able to get through it, and he made the game-winning block. An incredible effort, and a resilient group of boys. I would say to them, ‘You’ve dealt with real adversity – this is easy’.” Grizzlies coach Jake Mouritzen said “we’ve been shooting it at about 45 per cent from the three-point line, but went stone-cold today, and that was mainly because of the pressure that PM was putting on,” with their 1-3-1 zone. Mouritzen added that “five weeks ago, if you’d asked me, I wasn’t sure we were going to get here. We went on a run and started playing well at the right time, just came up a tiny bit short today. … Hats off to PM. They came out and played hard, and they had a plan.” Jal Gatluk paced the Lions with 19. Ega Sembele added 14, Abdullahi Noor 10, Abdullah Ahmad 10, Beal Kueth 8 and Harkamal Gill 2, while Awais Khan, Manroop Singh, Indraj Dhaliwal, Harjpa Grewal, Mustafa Patel and Herman Lidder were scoreless. Braeden MacDonald paced the Grizzlies with 20. Bardia Shokouhi added 15, Caden Switzer 11, Brody Janzen 5, Jared Hall 4, Keegan Dunn 3 and Sam Goerzen 2, while Sam Mannes, Mitch Young, Serif Elalkamy, Taylor Adams, Gavin Kheleh, Ty Klim, Darien Krys and Ben Ingram were scoreless. The Grizzlies (coach Jake Mouritzen, associate Mark Rahmalo, associate T.J. Klim, associate Bryan Janzen, manager Keegan Wong, manager Kitty Kwong, manager Nevin Jackson) also included Bailor Goertzen, Liam MacRae, Noah Choi, Ryder Wells, Kenyan Reid, Wyatt Stobbs, Micah Vroege, Soloman Harder and Aiden Henderson. ………………………………………………… The 4th-seeded Richmond A.R. MacNeill Ravens clipped the 13th-seeded Vancouver Sir Charles Tupper Tigers 90-83 in overtime. The Ravens led 23-8 after one quarter. But the Tigers notched a 14-0 run as they rallied to a 39-35 lead at the half and 55-52 after three quarters. The Tigers opened the final frame with a 6-0 run but Josh Mayan notched a trey and Marco Esteban capped a 9-0 run with a runout layup as the Ravens knotted the score at 61. Everett Swaim notched a putback-and-one to give the Ravens a 76-74 lead and Esteban added a free throw. But Finlay Chow-White forced overtime, knotting the score at 77 with three free throws after being fouled on attempted trey. Esteban drove the lane in a bid for the winner with 0.4 seconds to play but his shot swatted away by Oscar Hill. Fouled on the play, Esteban missed both free throws, setting the stage for overtime. Mayan and Chow-White had essentially staged a perimeter shooting duel down the stretch. Mayan nailed four treys, while Chow-White hit two and twice drew fouls on trey attempts, hitting 6-6 from the line. Mayan and Cam Pacheco notched back-to-back treys in the extra session as MacNeill pulled out the win. Ravens coach Justin Dye-Pe told Varsity Letters that “first and foremost, props to Tupper. They played a phenomenal game. It went down to the wire – they’ve got a bunch of heart, they’ve got ballers on their team, and they really gave us a scare. In overtime, everyone stepped up. On to the next.” Tigers coach Jason Lum said “I’m really proud of how we fought. We were down big early on, and I’m proud of how they overcame that adversity and weathered the storm. They started playing Tupper Tigers basketball, and that’s all we can ask for. … Fin’s one of our best players – he’s a kid who loves the big moments, he hits clutch shots, and he’s been really big for us. I’m proud of the way he played.” Josh Mayan led the Ravens with 26. Everett Swain added 23, Cameron Pachero 21, Marco Esteban 15, Koyo Matsui 3 and Sean Duques 2, while Josiah Dativo, Miguel Galano-Tan, Anton Isidro, Lance Lara, Josh Felipe, Alan Aziz, M Ahmed, Joaquin Bautista and Andrew King were scoreless. Oscar Hill paced the Tigers with 26. Finley Chow-White added 25, Silas Hussey 22, Dylan Mytenar 5, Rayhaan Ali 3 and Jeremy Roldan 2, while Connor Morgan, Bodhi Scarborough, Eric Thai, Nick Petersen, Liam Doucette, Luke Carter, Kevin Luong, Perry Kullar and Boaz Grunau were scoreless. The Tigers (coach James Lum, associate Patrick Dumuaula, associated Niko Mottus, assistant Warren Liang, assistant Ivan Yaco, manager Adam Gosal, head of operations Jeff Gourley) also included Oliver Wolfe, Jack van Gorkum, Mark Matsalla and Matthew Tam. ………………………………………………… The 12th-seeded Clearbrook Mennonite Educational Institute Eagles dispatched the 5th-seeded Kelowna Okanagan Mission Huskies 75-64 after leading 17-8, 37-20 and 58-34 at the quarters. The Eagles led by as many as 26 in notching the upset, largely by containing Huskie post Wil Zylyk in the blocks. Eagles coach Tim Smith told Varsity Letters that “one of the things we’ve done most of the year is play good defence. It all depends on if we shoot it well or not, and that’s true of most basketball. We’ve had a few games this year where we’ve seen shooters, and we try to deny them the ball and get them frustrated, make someone else beat us. There’s some games where someone else does step up. But he (Zylyk) got in foul trouble and didn’t get many good looks until the fourth quarter when he hit two threes in a row. He’s a good player, man. You don’t want him to beat you.” Chirag Grewal led the Eagles with 18. Sam Brandsma added 15, Gabe Vig 14, Raffya Guirguis 11, Braley Kraemer 8, Jared Huebert 3 and Karn Sidhu 2, while Eli Thiessen, Lucas He, Connor Friesen, Harman Brar, Jaren Esau, Sam Bosch, Amar Grewal and Micah Young were scoreless. Xander Hay paced the Huskies with 18, Will Zylyk added 13, Ryan Dekleva 12, Dave Mulleny 10, Owen Christophe 5, Nathan Loo 2, Justin Andruchow 2 and Ian Wright 2, while Noah Burnett and Luke Stantic were scoreless. The Huskies (coach Lisa Nevoral, assistant Jordyn Pink, assistant A.J. Sandhu) also included Jaxon Hay and Grady Thompson. …………………………………………………… The 2nd-seeded Surrey Elgin Park Orcas spanked the 15th-seeded Campbell River Timberline Wolves 89-71 after leading 30-15, 46-30 and 73-47 at the quarters. Orcas player of the game Adam Olsen told Varsity Letters that “we’ve never really had a basketball team like this. We have one banner in our gym for basketball, hopefully make it two this year. We’ve got four, five, six (for volleyball). … It’s a a lot. I was the starting middle on the volleyball team, along with Kendall Homenick who’s probably going to university to play volleyball, and Nick Johnson, our setter, who’s going to UBC. It was a good team effort today. We hit a lot of threes at the end, and we’ve got a lot of energy going into tomorrow.” Adam Olsen paced the Orcas with 27. Faizaan Shaheen added 18, Kendall Homenick 13, Lucas Egitto 13, Lucas Rolling 8, Evan Castle 6, Cyrus Harrison 6, Cole McDonnell 2, Dallan Montgomery 3 and Mohan Gill 2, while Amitoj Hehar, Sebastian Paul, Nick Johnson and Connor Gordon were scoreless. Brandon McLaughlin led the Wolves (coach Brent Kratzmann, assistant Sarah Nolette, assistant Joe Nicholson) with 18. Jasper Van DeeVlasakker added 15, Ryan Deagle 12, David Stevens 10, Andrew Robinson 10 and O Lagos 6, while G Macdonald, S Blackmun, K Selvraja-Fossett, E Johnson, E Dumont, F.J. Gatall and Z Dobbie were scoreless. …………………………………………………… The 10th-seeded Burnaby St. Thomas More Knights crushed the 7th-seeded Courtenay Mark R. Isfeld Ice 92-74. The Ice led 20-16 after one quarter. The Knights led 36-34 at the half and 61-52 after three quarters. Knights coach Aaron Mitchell told Varsity Letters that “there was a little bit of shakiness at the start. No matter how much we talked to them about it, that experience starting five Grade 11s … It was just about getting them used to it. … Taking 10 (Temwa Mtawali) and 4 (Kye Kotapski-Tinga) was the focus. It’s all we talked about, and then the game starts and we’re all hugging our man and not being in help (position). Once we realized, ‘Oh, maybe we do know what we’re doing,’ we just took it possession by possession and chipped away.” Mitchell added that at various moments, Tristan Schianni, Timmy Gonzalez and Chris Ainsley stepped up on the offensive end of the floor. “I’d never had the opportunity to coach any of these guys (coming into the season). We told them as a coaching staff that everyone’s getting opportunities, and we’ve probably had 15 games where we’ve had 14 guys get in – and decent minutes, not just at the end of the game. We’ve really preached that approach … We feel like we’re a deep team. … Tristan’s first half was brutal, but in the third quarter, he makes a layup, hits a three, gets us going again. It’s a nice thing to have – you don’t know what you’re going to get, but when it does happen … you don’t have to just rely on two or three guys. It’s a nice feeling as a coach, and I hope that they feel like we trust each other. That’s the biggest thing.” Tarrence Booker led the Knights with 21. Timmy Gonzales added 17, Chris Ainsley 17, Tristan Schianni 13, Denayden Lee-Daniel 11, Evan Wang 5, Marcus Morales 4, Marco Giovinazzo 2 and Gabe Piano 1, while Marcus Malanowski, Ethan Ball, Matthew Lee, Dom Kully and Ryan Huang were scoreless. Temwa Mtawali paced the Ice (coach Kent Milburn, assistant Dawson Fox, assistant Hayden Fieret) with 29. Kye Kotapski-Tinga added 23, Jasper Halvorson 7, Finely Lan 7 and Karman Kandola 3, while Duncan Whetter, Timo Kennedy, Leo Blake, Sam Van Tol, Harlow Nield, Jordan Raume, Liam Robertson, Ryder Demonceau and Alex Nowak were scoreless. …………………………………………………… The 3rd-seeded Prince George Duchess Park Condors whipped the 14th-seeded Victoria St. Michael’s University Jaguars 65-47 after leading 15-1, 36-11 and 49-24 at the quarters. The Condors defence totally befuddled the Jaguars. Condors guard Cole Laing told Varsity Letters that defence is “a part of our DNA. We work at practice every single day, and our No. 1 priority is our defence. We take pride in it from the start, and we focus on each possession. … Everybody was talking, the whole bench was loud – just a whole bunch of energy today.” The Condors essentially iced the win in the third quarter when player of the game Laing notched a trio of treys. Cole Laing paced the Condors with 21. Aidan Lewis added 13, Adam Sieben 13, Evgeny Baukin 8, Chris Zimmerman 4, Peyton Briere 3 and Theo Clarke 1, while Jacob Hoskins, Ethan Rex, Euan Murray and Tobey Burbee were scoreless. Cole Pontefract paced the Jaguars (coached by Ian Hyde-Lay) with 18. LeRoy Wang added 15, Oscar Lau 5, D Bains 4, Max Clayton 3 and Alex Liu 1, while K Colgate, Ryan Killornan, Johnathan Nguyen, Quin Kerr and Ryan Wippell were scoreless. The Jaguars (coach Ian Hyde-Lay, assistant Jeff Rud, therapist Hannah Resch) also included Matthew Bennett and Ethan Woods. …………………………………………………… The 6th-seeded Burnaby Byrne Creek Bulldogs defeated the 11th-seeded Vancouver Gladstone Gladiators 69-56. The Gladiators led 18-16, 35-30 and 47-44 at the quarters. The Bulldogs dominated the fourth quarter after Gladiator gun Jordan Hayre fouled out late in the third quarter after being whistled for a technical, ostensibly for flopping an attempted trey. Bulldogs forward Marcell Sherwood told Varsity Letters that “in the first half we were rushing it too much, going for too many one-on-one shots. In the second half, we started to play more as a team. My teammates started to see me, I started to see them outside, and shots started landing. They (Gladstone) kind of had the same players out there the whole time, so we kept pushing and pushing until they tired themselves out.” Sherwood notched 10 down the stretch, including an and-one that gave the Bulldogs a 57-52 lead. The Bulldogs then closed it out with a 12-0 run. “My teammates really started to notice in the fourth quarter that it was a mismatch, whoever was on me, and I just started to go off more,” Sherwood said. “First half, my shots weren’t falling – second half, everything was going in for me.” Marcell Sherwood paced the Bulldogs with 26. Mamad? Jawara added 18, Richard Moses 12, McArthur Hilton 10 and Mohammed Duruly 2, while Mayank Chopra, Justin Pamintuan, K.C. Blair Layco, Clifford Ocampo, Abdi Ahmed Mohamed, Biard Akjoc, J.P. Granja Palma, Atawa Baraba, Cosmos Jonea and Kaisai Rasmid were scoreless. Jordan Hayre paced the Gladiators (coach Onkar Hayre) with 14, Atif Helmy added 13, Michael Rollan 12, Jason Tran 10 and Ruben Inami 7, while Simon Baknichontan? Laurence Sarmiento, Saabith Mohamed, Jonathon Pascua, Jake Alap-Ap, Raymond Nguyen and Harry Ngo were scoreless.
In the quarterfinals, the top-seeded Vancouver St. Patrick Celtics stomped the 9th-seeded Surrey Princess Margaret Lions 74-49 after leading 31-17 after one quarter and 51-32 at the half on a late 8-0 run. The game was called with 1:26 to play in the third quarter when Celtics star Kaden Carrion suffered a broken leg. Celtics coach Nap Santos told Varsity Letters that “we were playing phenomenally. We had a game plan and our players were pretty much going through the whole thing perfectly. They understood what the game plan was, and they knew exactly what the other team was going to do, and that is why the score was what it was. Especially Kaden (Carrion), I told him it was his time, and he performed so well until that unfortunate incident.” Tournament director Mike Hind said “the Princess Margaret coach and kids came up to the St. Patrick kids and said ‘Listen, it’s your game. You got it. You deserve it. You guys played hard and we don’t want you going through this tonight. You are warriors’.” Irish Coquia paced the Celtics with 32. Jornel Ursua added 19, Kaden Carrion 16, Josh Bahena 4 and Joey Panghulan 2, while Diljot Sunner, Ryan Garcia, Ethan Santa Juana, Kian Palaganas, Jovin Sunner, Jerome Alojado and Kyle Santa Juana were scoreless. Jal Gatluk paced the Lions (coach Mike Redford, assistant Dan Van Os, assistant Tanner Sandberg, manager Brian Drobe, trainer Tony Orioli, trainer Susan Olexa) with 21. Beal Kueth added 15, Ega Sembele 10 and Abdullahi Noor 3, while Awais Khan, Manroop Singh, Harkamal Gill, Indrej Dhaliwal, Harjap Grewal, Mustafa Patel, Herman Lidder and Abdullah Ahmed were scoreless.
The 4th-seeded Richmond A.R. MacNeill Ravens clocked the 12th-seeded Clearbrook Mennonite Educational Institute Eagles 93-68 after leading 24-21, 50-33 and 72-49 at the quarters, largely the product of 10 treys drilled during the contest. They noted a 14-3 run in the second quarter and then closed out the frame with a 10-1 run. Ravens coach Justin Dy-Pe told Varsity Letters that “I liked the way we played with pace. I think we did very well on the defensive end, and we knocked down some shots. Really, it’s a collaborative effort. From 1 to 14, our guys were ready right off the bat and they’ve been working at it all year, so we’re just happy to make it into the final four. Josh Mayan paced the Ravens with 23. Everett Swaim added 19, Cameron Pacheco 13, Alan Aziz 13, Joaquin Bautista 7, Josiah Davito 6, Andrew King 3, Anton Isidro 2, Lance Lara 2, Mohamed Ahmed 2, Sean Duques 2 and Migel Galano-Tan 2, while Marco Esteban, Koyo Matsui and Josh Felipe were scoreless. Raffy Guirguis paced the Eagles with 16. Gabe Vig added 14, Sam Brandsma 9, Jared Huebert 8, Braley Kraemer 7, Karn Sidhu 4, Jaren Esau 3, Connor Friesen 2, Amar Grewal 2, Micah Young 2 and Chirag Grewal 1, while Karson Berg, Lucas He, Harman Brar and Sam Bosch were scoreless. The Eagles (coach Tim Smith, assistant Ryan Esqu, assistant Nathan Bosch, assistant Cade Smith) also included Eli Thiessen, Daniel McLean and Manav Khangura.
The 2nd-seeded Surrey Elgin Park Orcas crushed the 10th-seeded Burnaby St. Thomas More Knights 88-67 after leading 19-3, 45-33 and 62-48 at the quarters. The Orcas dominated early and then quelled a Knight rally in the third quarter while ripping off a 12-0 run after St. Thomas More had closed to within 48-43. They iced the win a game-closing 14-2 run. Orcas coach Kirk Homenick told Varsity Letters that “we told our guys before the game this how STM plays. They’re really well-coached, and they’re very resilient. We knew they were going to come back and we told the players even in the huddle when we were up big in the first quarter, ‘They’re coming. They’re coming guys, be ready for it.’ The thing with our guys is that they’ve learned that same resilience over the last few years and they really powered through that. I’m very proud of how they reacted to it. … We had our moments today on defence, that’s for sure. We gave up 30 in the second quarter but in the second half, I think we did a great job of reigning it in. Outside of a couple of fast-break layups, STM didn’t have many easy ones so hats off to our guys for that competitiveness.” Adam Olsen paced the Orcas with 26. Cyrus Harrison added 19, Lucas Rolling 17, Lucas Egitto 14, Kendall Homenick 8 and Evan Castle 4, while Faizaan Shaheen, Amitoj Hehar, Sebatian Paul, Cole McDonnell, Nick Johnson, Dallan Montgomery, Mohan Gill and Connor Gordon were scoreless. Marcus Morales led the Knights (coach Aaron Mitchell, assistant Karol Cybula, assistant Denzel Laguerta, assistant Dominic Zimmermann, manager Sarah Ogatis, manager Kailiee Elliott, manager Courtney Castres) with 35. Tarrence Booker added 22, Timmy Gonzales 19, Chris Ainsley 12, Tristan Schianni 6 and Evan Wang 3, while Denayden Lee-Daniel, Gabe Piano, Marcus Malanowski, Ethan Ball, Matthew Lee, Marco Giovinazzo, Dom Kully and Ryan Huang were scoreless.
In the last quarterfinal, the 3rd-seeded Prince George Duchess Park Condors whipped the 6th-seeded Burnaby Byrne Creek Bulldogs 81-58 after leading 20-9, 44-24 and 65-35 at the quarters. The Condors dictated the tempo and generated a raft of runouts off their pressure, while Aidan Lewis kept draining treys in half-court sets. They essentially iced the win with a 10-0 run midway through the third quarter as Cole Laing and Evgeny Baukin nailed treys and Jacob Hoskins and Adam Sieben notched runouts. Condors coach Jordan Yu told Varsity Letters that “they’re a much faster, more athletic team than us, and we knew that. We really just wanted to slow them down and not get into the up-and-down with them as much as we could, at least on the defensive end. Our press really slowed them down – we got them working eight, 10 seconds off the clock before they got into their offence, and that was a big key for us. On offence, we wanted to get as many easy layups as we could – that’s how you win in high school basketball. We wanted to push the tempo, steal as many easy ones as we could, and then just execute.” Yu added that Laing is “a baller, he’s a gamer. We trust him with the ball in his hands and with making good decisions. He sometimes will call off a play that I call, but he usually executes pretty well. I thought he shot very well in the first half and that was a big reason we broke open the game.” Cole Laing paced the Condors with 23. Aiden Lewis added 17, Evgeny Baukin 14, Gabriel Malfair 9, Adam Sieben 6, Jacob Hoskins 5, Chris Zimmerman 4 and Peyton Briere 3, while Ethan Rex, Euan Murray, Tobey Burbee and Theo Clarke were scoreless. Marcel Sherwood led the Bulldogs (coach Balraj Dhillon, assistant Nigel Palma, assistant Shaun Hake) with 23. McArthur Hilton added 9, Mamad Jawara 9, Richard Moses 7, Justin Pamintuan 3, Kaisai Rasmid 3, J.P. Grandja Palma 2 and Atawa Baraba 2, while Mayank Chopra, KC Blair Layco, Mohamed Duruly, Clifford Ocampo, Abdi Ahmed Mohamed, Salam and Biar Akjoc were scoreless.
In the semis, the top-seeded Vancouver St. Patrick Celtics torched the 4th-seeded Richmond A.R. MacNeill Ravens 91-61 after leading 26-13, 48-23 and 65-42 at the quarters. The Celtics told Varsity Letters that the win was dedicated to teammate Kaden Carrion, who’d broken both a tibia and a fibula in one leg during the quarterfinals. Coach Nap Santos said “we went to the hospital two hours before the game, as a team we went to see him and he gave us the inspiration to do this for him … He had his surgery scheduled for 6 p.m., so he got to watch the first part of the game. … They did it with passion, with heart … all for Kaden.” The Celtics took total command with a 15-2 run in the third quarter. Santos said the Celtics built an early lead by “getting our hands everywhere and being annoying. We didn’t want to let (MacNeill) settle down.” Irish Coquia paced the Celtics with 28 on 11-23 from the floor, 2-10 from the arc, 4-4 from the line, 19 boards, 5 assists and 3 steals. Joey Panghulan added 18 on 8-16 from the floor, 2-6 from the arc, 8 boards, 2 assists and 2 steals. Josh Bahena notched 16 on 6-10 from the floor, 1-3 from the arc, 3-4 from the line and 6 boards. Jornel Ursua scored 14 on 4-12 from the arc, 2-2 form the line and 7 boards. Diljot Sunner added 5 on 2-3 from the floor and 1-2 from the arc. Jovin Sunner scored 4 on 2-5 frm the floor, 0-2 from the arc, 0-2 from the line and 7 boards. John Linder added 3 on 1-2 from the floor, 1-1 from the line and 2 boards. Ethan Santa Juana scored 3 on 1-1 from the arc, while Ryan Garcia, Kian Palaganas, Jerome Alojado and Kyle Santa Juana were scoreless. The Celtics hit 35-74 (.473) from the floor, 11-37 (.297) from the arc and 10-13 (.769) from the line, while garnering 48 boards, including 8 on the offensive glass, 21 fouls, 12 assists, 7 turnovers and 8 steals. Everett Swaim paced the Ravens with 23 on 10-27 from the floor, 1-6 from the arc, 2-3 from the line, 17 boards and 4 steals. Josh Mayan added 16 6-13 from the floor, 2-8 from the arc, 2-3 from the line and 6 boards. Marco Esteban notched 7 on 3-11 from the floor, 1-4 from the arc, 0-6 from the line, 4 boards and 2 assists. Anton Isidro scored 4 on 2-2 from the floor. Cameron Pacheco added 4 on 1-13 from the floor, 0-5 from the arc, 2-3 from the line, 6 boards and 2 assists. Josiah Davito scored 2 on 1-2 from the floor. Mohammed Ahmed added 2 on 1-3 from the floor. Joaquin Bautista scored 2 on 1-1 from the floor and 2 boards. Migel Galano-Tan added 1 on 1-2 from the line, while Koyo Matsui, Alan Aziz, Sean Duques and Andrew King were scoreless. Matsui nabbed 3 boards and Duques 2. The Ravens hit 25-74 (.338) from the floor, 4-24 (.167) from the arc and 7-20 (.350) from the line, while garnering 42 boards, including 14 on the offensive glass, 14 fouls, 6 assists, 11 turnovers and 5 steals.
In the other semi, the 2nd-seeded Surrey Elgin Park Orcas defeated the 3rd-seeded Prince George Duchess Park Condors 75-63 after leading 27-16, 48-35 and 60-49 at the quarters. The Orcas capitalized heavily on Condor fouls in coasting to the win. Orcas coach Kirk Homenick told Varsity Letters that “these kids have grown so much in the last five years of high school and they have taken their licks. This team, they’ve had their losses where they have collapsed or someone hit a Hail, Mary against us to win, They have learned about resilience and character, and I mean, I am so proud of these guys. Orcas guard Cyrus Harrison said that “our game plan taking it at them, at their bigs and getting them to foul, and then just getting back on defence.” Condors coach Jordan Yu said “everything that could have went wrong, went wrong today, and Cole picking up those two early fouls was huge.” The Condors rallied to within two possessions in the second half but tired down the stretch. Yu said Cole Laing “has been our leader all year long and we rely on him to have the ball in his hands and make good decisions and digging a hole against that team? It was really tough to come back.” Homenick said Laing and Evgeny Baukin’s foul trouble was “huge. … It helped us set the rhythm and the tempo. We wanted to cause a little bit of a challenge getting the ball up and down the court, and that was really helpful. … I am a defence-first guy and I am a big guy too, and I like protecting the paint, so if you can’t play defence, you can’t be on the court with us.” Cyrus Harrison paced the Orcas with 29 on 11-19 from the floor, 1-4 from the arc, 6-9 from the line and 10 boards. Adam Olsen added 15 on 5-13 from the floor, 3-8 from the arc, 2-2 from the line, 4 boards and 2 assists. Lucas Egitto added 12 on 4-10 from the floor, 0-5 from the arc, 4-6 from the line and 7 boards. Kendall Homenick notched 8 on 3-5 from the floor, 0-2 from the arc, 2-2 from the line and 9 boards. Lucas Rolling scored 8 on 3-9 from the floor, 2-2 from the line, 11 boards and 2 assists. Cole McDonnell added 3 on 1-5 from the floor and 1-4 from the arc, while Evan Castle was scoreless and nabbed 2 boards. The Orcas hit 27-61 (.443) from the floor, 5-23 (.217) from the arc and 16-23 (.696) from the line, while garnering 43 boards, including 15 on the offensive glass, 15 fouls, 6 assists, 10 turnovers and 1 steal. Evgeny Baukin paced the Condors with 29 on 12-26 from the floor, 3-6 from the arc, 2-3 from the line, 6 boards, 3 assists and 3 blocks. Cole Laing added 14 on 5-12 from the floor, 1-5 from the arc, 3-5 from the line and 2 boards. Chris Zimmerman notched 6 on 3-4 from the floor and 3 boards. Peyton Briere scored 5 on 2-2 from the floor and 1-1 from the arc. Gabriel Malfair added 4 2-3 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc and 5 boards. Adam Sieben scored 3 on 1-5 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 2-3 from the line, 6 boards, 3 assists and 3 blocks. Aidan Lewis added 2 on 1-11 from the floor, 0-8 from the arc and 5 boards, while Theo Clarke and Jacob Hoskins were scoreless. The Condors hit 26-63 (.413) from the floor, 5-22 (.227) from the arc and 6-12 from the line, while garnering 25 boards, including 8 on the offensive glass, 23 fouls, 6 assists, 5 turnovers, 3 blocks and 6 steals.
In the bronze medal match, the 4th-seeded Richmond A.R. MacNeill Ravens dispatched the 3rd-seeded Prince George Duchess Park Condors 68-59. Everett Swaim led the Ravens with 30. Josh Mayan added 12, Marco Esteban 11, Cameron Pacheco 7, Joaquin Bautista 6 and Koyo Matsui 3, while Josiah Davito, Migel Galano-Tan, Anton Isidro, Lance Lara, Josh Felipe, Alan Aziz, Sean Duques and Andrew King were scoreless. Cole Laing led the Condors (coach Jordan Yu, assistant Leewai Yu, assistant Sam Zhang, athletic director Joe Luong) with 19. Aidan Lewis added 13, Evgeny Baukin 13, Gabriel Malfair 6, Jacob Hoskins 4, Chris Zimmerman 2 and Adam Sieben 2, while Ethan Rex, Euan Murray, Tobey Burbee, Peyton Briere and Theo Clarke were scoreless.
In the final, the top-seeded Vancouver St. Patrick Celtics edged the 2nd-seeded Surrey Elgin Park Orcas 56-52. The Orcas led 23-8, 29-23 and 40-34 at the quarters. But the Celtics ripped off a decisive 17-4 run in the fourth quarter to pull out the win, largely keyed 15 points and a pair of assists from tournament MVP and player of the game Irish Coquia. Coquia said “it came late but it clicked at the right time.” Celtics coach Nap Santos told Varsity Letters that “I told (Coquia) with about five-and-a-half minutes to go ‘It’s your time’. I told him ‘You have put in all the work when no one was watching, so now it’s you turn. Go ahead and get the ball and do your thing.’ … It was just ‘Go’. We didn’t even run plays.” Coquia ignited the run with a no-look dish to teammate Jornel Ursua for a lay-up to cut the lead to 46-40. Then, a steal, a lay-up and a free throw to complete an and-one play made it 46-43. He stripped the ball for a reverse lay-in to give the Celtics a 49-48 lead with 38 seconds to play and capped the performance four free throws in the final minute to ice the win. Teammate Kaden Carrion, watching from a wheelchair after having undergone surgery on his right leg, having broken both a tibia and a fibula in the quarterfinals, noted “we were losing, throughout the whole game. And then Irish turned up, and the tears started coming down. From the time we came out of our last time out, I knew we had it. … The support was crazy and it’s good to know that everybody looks out for me. At the end of the day, all of my brothers playing on the court here, they did it for me.” Coquia said Santos “He told me it was my time. He came up to me and he said ‘Go out there and hog the ball if you need to.’ Nothing was working so I went back out there to work. But Elgin? That is a good team. I guess we just had the heart and the fans support? That meant everything. And that is why St. Pat’s is St. Pat’s.” Orcas coach Kirk Homenick said “whether we won or lost tonight, it was going to be one of the saddest nights of my life because I was going to be saying good-bye to 10 great kids.” Irish Coquia paced the Celtics with 29 on 11-28 from the floor, 2-11 from the arc, 5-5 from the line, 6 boards, 3 assists and 6 steals. Joey Panghulan added 13 on 5-12 from the floor, 1-5 from the arc, 2-4 from the line, 7 boards and 3 steals. Jovin Sunner notched 5 on 2-6 from the floor, 0-2 from the arc, 1-2 from the line, 3 boards and 2 steals. Josh Bahena scored 4 on 1-6 from the floor, 1-5 from the arc, 1-2 from the line and 6 boards. Jornel Ursua added 3 on 1-11 from the floor, 0-9 from the arc, 1-2 from the line, 2 boards and 2 steals. Diljot Sunner scored 2 on 1-1 from the floor, while John Linder and Kyle Santa Juana were scoreless. The Celtics hit 21-64 (.328) from the floor, 4-32 (.125) from the arc and 10-15 from the line, while garnering 2 5boards, including 7 on the offensive glass, 17 fouls, 6 assists, 8 turnovers and 14 steals. Lucas Rolling paced the Orcas with 16 on 7-11 from the floor, 2-5 from the line and 12 boards. Adam Olsen added 14 on 5-17 from the floor, 4-9 from the arc and 8 boards. Cyrus Harrison notched 10 on 4-12 from the floor, 0-3 from the arc, 2-2 from the line and 10 boards. Lucas Egitto scored 8 on 4-10 from the floor, 0-4 from the arc and 3 boards. Kendall Homenick added 4 on 1-5 from the floor, 0-2 from the arc, 2-3 from the line, 13 boards, 2 blocks and 3 steals, while Faizaan Shaheen, Evan Castle, Cole McDonnell and Nick Johnson were scoreless.
The all-tournament 1st team featured MVP Irish Coquia (St. Patrick’s); Adam Olsen (Elgin Park); Everett Swaim (A.R. MacNeill); Tarrence Booker (St. Thomas More); Cole Laing (Duchess Park) and Will Zylyk (Okanagan Mission).
The 2nd-team featured Evgeny Baukin (Duchess Park); Josh Mayan (A.R. MacNeill); Joey Panghulan (St. Patrick’s); Temwa Mtawali (Mark R. Isfeld); and Cyrus Harrison (Elgin Park).
The bronze medalist Richmond A.R. MacNeill Ravens: Josh Mayan; Josiah Davito; Marco Esteban; Anton Isidro; Koyo Matsui; Cameron Pacheco, Lance Lara; Josh Felipe; Alan Aziz; Mohamed Ahmed; Sean Duques; Joaquin Bautista; Migel Galano-Tan; Andrew King; Everett Swaim; Paul Bauml; coach Ben Mayan; assistant Bali Sandhu; assistant Justin Dy-Pe; assistant Steward Siy; manager Anson Chow; manager Justin Chow; manager Justin Wang; media manager Miko Macapagal; manager Jake Dy; video coordinator Russel Swaim
The silver medalist Surrey Elgin Park Orcas: Cyrus Harrison; Lucas Egitto; Evan Castle; Kendall Homenick; Cole McDonnell; Adam Olsen; Lucas Rolling; Faizaan Shaheen; Amitoj Hehar; Sebastian Paul; Nick Johnson; Dallan Montgomery; Mohan Gill; Connor Gordon; coach Kirk Homenick
The gold medalist Vancouver St. Patrick Celtics: Irish Coquia; Diljot Sunner; Ryan Garcia; Kaden Carrion; Ethan Santa Juana; Kian Palaganas; Jovin Sunner; John Linder; Jerome Alojado; Jornel Ursua; Josh Bahena; Joey Panghulan; Kyle Santa Juana; Liam Jaymalin; coach Nap Santos; assistant Luigi Carrion