In the opening round: …………………………………………………… The top-seeded Vancouver St. Patrick Celtics v the 16th-seeded Cranbrook Mount Baker Wild 126-57 after leading 33-21, 67-31 and 103-38 at the quarters. The Celtics quickly wore down the Wild, who automatically earn a berth in the provincials by virtue of being the only Triple-A school in the Kootenay zone. Wild coach Shaun Penner told Varsity Letters that “I mean, we played Quad-A and Triple-A basketball across Alberta and B.C.. We played some of the top teams and we have never seen pressure like that. So all credit to the St. Patrick Celtics.” Dhyne Cotin paced the Celtics with 24. Jericho Labrador added 23, Jemuel Castro 23, Riley Santa Juana 15, Jayden Henwood 12, Dion Gonzales 11, Jaiden Quan 10, Christian Balubar 6 and Marcus Santos 2, while Heracles Mai was scoreless. Daylen Vogt scored 19 to pace the Wild. Theo Comeau-Willms added 12, Detroit Canuel 12, Jaxson Whittaker 3, Josh Salomons 3, Bradley Thielen 2, Kayden Chapmess 2, Alex DeAngelis 1 and Nolan Driver 1, while Eli Baldwin, Nicholas Jantz and Benedict Kipphardt were scoreless. The Wild (coach Shaun Penner, assistant Dav Sudsbear, athletic director Sean Sinclair) also included Dane Stahl and Haiden Foxworthy. …………………………………………………… The 9th-seeded Sooke Edward Milne Wolverines edged the 8th-seeded Burnaby St. Thomas More Knights 62-60. The Knights led 13-11 after one quarter. The Wolverines led 33-22 at the half and 57-41 after three quarters. “That was a little too exciting,” Wolverines coach Trevor Bligh told Varsity Letters. “I think our ability to switch defences on them was a key. It took them until almost the third quarter to figure out what we were doing and then they countered it, so we had to double change which was confusing for 17-year-old boys. … This group of kids, I have had since the fourth grade. So it’s a seven-, eight-year relationship and we don’t get here without that long-term togetherness and working together.” Brody Sutherland paced the Wolverines with 17. Malakai Hills added 17, Waylon Jonson 13, Luke Hoffman 6, Amir Barzkar 3, Parker Bligh 3 and Ryland Davis 3, while Kieran Jackson, Mateo Hills, Talin Quinton, Walker Bobbitt, Riley Smith, Duncan Malcolm and Oscar Hobson were scoreless. Diego Gonzalez, Jaden Piamonte and Vidak Nikolic each scored 14 to pace the Knights (coach Denzel Laguerta, assistant Timmy Gonzales, assistant Aaron Mitchell, assistant Dominic Zimmerman, manager Gio Piano, manager Jash Kothary, manager Steven Nicklin, manager Carlo Pinske). Logan Ball added 13, Isaac Pham 2, Mac Steurart 2 and Elijah Magrata 2, while Jack James, Martin Chaparro, Tej Ladhar, Mark Abera, Jason Leung and Landon Isog were scoreless. …………………………………………………… The 4th-seeded Victoria Lambrick Park Lions dusted the 13th-seeded Penticton Lakers 73-54 after leading 13-2 early and 22-11, 32-19 and 48-38 at the quarters. “It was kind of a scrappy game,” Lambrick Park assistant Chris Ball told Varsity Letters. “Penticton played hard and we didn’t execute like we wanted, but we know it’s not always going to be pretty. … We like to get the ball up the court and push the tempo. Penticton did a good job getting us out of that today. I think the pace today was more towards them. But with that being said, we’ve got to be able to win in different ways. Today we did that.” Blake Pye paced the Lions with 25. Ohm Chaisongkram added 15, Adam Shi 13, Damian Orr 11, Aydin Malik 6, Nyjal Sing 2 and London Buck 1, while Wes Kolb, Petar Garic, Khumalo Mucina, Joey Ball and Billy Brice were scoreless. Liam Reid scored 16 to pace the Lakers (coach Russ Reid, assistant Jake Erikson, assistant Brian Hurst, manager Liam Hyland, athletic director Brett Lantz). Evan Sanders added 9, Daxton Moon 9, Graydon Kulak 6, Miller Jurdic 5, Ronin Kanazawa 4, Lincoln Byers 3 and Brad Kuechle 2, while Aadvik Saini, Kyden Hurst, Kelan Sawyer and Kai Rippy were scoreless. …………………………………………………… The 5th-seeded North Vancouver Argyle Pipers whipped the 12th-seeded Prince George College Heights Cougars 75-54 after leading 21-10, 48-25 and 63-41 at the quarters. Argyle assistant Luigi Carrion told Varsity Letters that Illia Maydan is “our main guy. We run our offence and run our looks around Illia’s movement. He’s our best ball-handler and our best attacker downhill. He creates so many problems with his footwork. He allows us to get going really early, to get downhill and open up the court for the rest of our guys. And he did that especially well today, especially in the first half.” Maydan said “when I first started playing basketball I was a centre, obviously, because I was tall. But then I kind of hated playing centre, so I just started trying to develop my skills, my dribbling, and now I just stick to point guard.” Carrion said the Pipers size was key. “It benefits us because we close out passing pockets very well. It makes it very difficult for a team to pass over the top of us.” Illis Mayden paced the Pipers with 29. Nathan Szpak added 17, Jayden Szpak 16, Dominic Belsito 6, Justin Smiley 3, Ethan Mercer 2 and Aiden Chernenkoff 2, while Kyler Anderson, Nate Litowitz, Ryan Sardari, Sahai Sangha, Marcus Boal and Ethan Manarovici were scoreless. Dillon Piddocke scored 17 to pace the Cougars. Tolu Bankole added 11, Jeonn Gill 9, Caleb Fuller 5, Christian Lucarelli 4, Carson Connelly 3, Matthew Van Adrichem 3 and Jovan Jhander 2, while M.J. Kim Hunter Moleski and Hadley Doris were scoreless. The Cougars (coach Jordan Yu, assistant Dan Connelly, assistant Wade Loukes, assistant Tanner Cruz, athletic director Cheryl Piddocke) also included Angus MacFarlane and Darrien Padilla. …………………………………………………… The 2nd-seeded Surrey L.A. Matheson Mustangs, making their first appearance in the provincials, dusted the 15th-seeded Winfield George Elliot Coyotes 106-54 after leading 41-8, 65-25 and 87-33 at the quarters. “We just wanted to take it one game at a time. We’re not taking any opponents lightly. I told the guys that how we play in this first game is going to define how we play for the rest of the tournament. So we really wanted to make a statement in that first quarter and I think we did a good job of that,” Mustangs coach Tyler Ram told Varsity Letters. Jovan Sanghera paced the Mustangs with 25. Damien Onokpite added 24, Jaiden Shergill 14, Alvik Paglinawan 12, Angad Kang 7, Jaron Caparas 6, Jason Hothi 6, Jashan Mahal 5, Bayo Ayodele 3, Harsahib Cheema 2 and Imran Mann 2, while Arsh Mann, Ishan Sohi and Romeo Boley were scoreless. Quintin Dion scored 8 to pace the Coyotes (Coach Sean Roberts, coach Dan Vicaretti, assistant Robert Danveents). Clayton Evans added 6, Xander Cochran 6, Quinton Matassa 6, Isiah Ferguson 5, Evan Cursons 5, Denver Jory 5, Jesse Zaufenberger 5, Jayce Darbyson 3, Lukas Jakab 2 and Eli Clements 1, while Chris Davis and Ben Swallow were scoreless. …………………………………………………… The 7th-seeded Mill Bay Brentwood crushed the 10th-seeded Burnaby Byrne Creek Bulldogs 78-56 after leading 22-16, 39-27 and 60-45 at the quarters. Brentwood’s ball movement proved the difference. “Just trying to be us. So doing the things that we do well and that’s when we play together, when we’re unselfish and we’re battling,” Brentwood coach Blake Gage told Varsity Letters. Containing Chuku Mabeny was tricky, he added. “Well, I feel like we planned and planned and it didn’t really work. I don’t know what he had, but he had a lot. He’s really good. Hats off to him. We couldn’t stop him.” Jaxen Lust paced Brentwood with 25. Jackson Lenarcic added 18, Lair Hill 15, Miguel Navarro-Perez 8, Nathan Colquhoun 5, Kang Cho 5 and Tiger Liu 2, while Tee Thamrongnawasawat, Rudolph (Rudolf?) Kruger, Fiyi Akin-dada, Orion Lefebre, John Ojedukon, Ben Akindipe and Timi Adin-dada were scoreless. Chuku Mabeny scored 41 to pace the Bulldogs (coach Balraj Dhillon, assistant Nigel Plam, assistant Shaun Hake). Jakerry Okot-Bitek added 8, Joshua Dankwa 2, Kelvin Mencia 2, Matej Zemancik 2 and Lance Monis 1, while Omar Osman, Clarence Richardson, Miguel Pangalianan, Jayden Nicholas, Akuoch Akuoc, James Dirilo, Mohammed Farhat, David Juridic and Josiah Nbubeme were scoreless. …………………………………………………… The 3rd-seeded Abbotsford Mennonite Educational Institute Eagles torched the 14th-seeded Surrey Salish Wolves 62-46 after leading 25-15, 36-24 and 54-31 at the quarters. The Eagles struggled early against the Wolves’ zone but coach Mike Lee told Varsity Letters that “over this year, we’ve been working a lot on our sets. In the last few months, we’ve been working on just playing basketball. When teams take you out of your stuff, you have to be able to just play. I think our guys did a pretty good job of that tonight. Instead of trying to run through our stuff, they were able to just play and find each other.” Lee added that guard Gabe Headley “bailed us out. He hit some big shots. He can get hot. He can get streaky. He can get going. And we need that. We need him to hit a good amount of those.” Wolves coach Tom Connolly said that the school’s first tournament appearance was educational. “If we wanted to continue going, it had to be all 13 of us. It couldn’t just be five. It couldn’t just be one. We just had to keep pushing, keep trusting each other, and just keep believing. And it got us here. … We were all pumped. We were obviously hoping for better, but we fell short a little bit today.” Gabe Headley paced the Eagles with 27. Mercer Thiessen added 13, Caleb Dyck 8, Kaden Vandervelden 7, Jayce Sidhu 3, Jaiden Buttar 2 and Keegan Strachen 2, while Mason Berg, Ezra Sperling, Micah Jacob, Elijah Amendt, Taj McIassac and Nicky Krueger were scoreless. Senkyi Kyei paced the Wolves with 13. Ram Grewal added 11, Zach Krampitz 5, Jaden Surai 5, Wyatt Schweizer 4, Kamsi Victor-Amushie 3 and Owen Gregory 3, while Adi Mann (Maan?), Isaiah Samson, Oliver Watson, Grady St. James and Chidubem Ezenwaka were scoreless. The Wolves (coach Tom Connolly, assistant Cam Connolly, assistant Jeremy Calder, assistant Henry Kyei, athletic director Kevin Mueller) also included Ty Pauga, Aki Akinbobola, Bryden Binette and Wilson Wu. …………………………………………………… The 6th-seeded Surrey Enver Creek Cougars pounded the 11th-seeded Vancouver Sir Charles Tupper Tigers 82-62 after leading 22-16, 40-24 and 68-47 at the quarters. Cougars coach Greg Reid told Varsity Letters that “our message was: ‘have each other’s backs, offensively and defensively’. Always having that next level of support, covering up each other’s mistakes, getting rebounds, boxing out, putting everything on the line for your teammates.” Reid added that post Sahaj Hans “faced two big guys in there, really worked well off the ball, really hustled to wall up on defence and made it an emphasis to get rebounds. … This is our third time playing them, and just understanding if we could limit them to one shot, we could frustrate some of their shot selection, get out and run.” Reid added guard Harshaan Toor, “with his spacing and being ready off the ball to shoot, was so valuable today. He hit some big threes for us.” Harshaan Toor paced the Cougars with 29. Sahaj Hans added 28, Smeer Sandhar 9, Avi Khanna 7 and Gabriel Tsimoshkin 6, while Armaan Nagra, Jarvarus Akinkeyeur, Kabir Gill, Gurshaan Dillon, Simrat Lotey, Aryan Narayan, Gurshan Banger, Kirat Lotey and Dilbagh Johal were scoreless. Tristan Carter paced the Tigers with 27. Axel Greaves added 23, Dylan Parekh 4, Hiroki Thomson 4, Jacob Casem 2 and Elijah Anoy 2, while Guinlan Band, Jon Barker, Avram Gaingian, Jonathan Nebres, Holden Sawatzky, Tyler Goldstraw and Halin Ganju were scoreless. The Tigers (coach Ranell Sebastian, assistant Edward Hoang, assistant Niko Mottus, assistant John Dizon, assistant Luke Tobias, manager Ken Nguyen, manager Branden Bradford, manager Dre Geisel, athletic director Allison Koyanagi, athletic director Elisa Wong) also included Marcus Wong and Floyd Tuting.
In the quarterfinals, the top-seeded Vancouver St. Patrick Celtics spanked the Sooke Edward Milne Wolverines 81-48 after leading 16-0 early and 18-8, 41-16 and 52-28 at the quarters. Celtics coach Nap Santos said his troops were able to play the game at their tempo. “A lot of run-and-gun, a lot of pressure on defence, and we have guys who want to do all that. We’re not posting anyone up because we don’t have the size, so we’re executing all our offence and making sure we run the floor. Sometimes teams don’t get back on defence – well, we’re going to take advantage. That’s why we’ve been so successful the last number of years.” Dhyne Cotin paced the Celtics with 25. Jemuel Castro added 21, Jaiden Quan 14, Riley Santa Juana 8, Jerico Labrador 7, Dion Gonzales 3, Heracles Mai 2 and Jaywood Henwood 1, while Marcus Santos and Christian Balubar were scoreless. Malakai Hills scored 15 to pace the Wolverines (coach Trevor Bligh). Parker Bligh added 9, Amir Barzkar 6, Ryland Davis 5, Waylon Johnson 4, Kieran Jackson 3, Duncan Malcolm 2, Brody Sutherland 2 and Oscar Hobson 2, while Mateo Hills, Talin Quinton, Walker Bobbitt, Riley Smith and Luke Hoffman were scoreless.
The 4th-seeded Victoria Lambrick Park Lions torched the 5th-seeded North Vancouver Argyle Pipers 80-49 after leading 28-15, 42-24 and 70-35 at the quarters. Lambrick Park co-coach Colton McKee told Varsity Letters that point guard Blake Pye was dominant. “His basketball IQ is one of the highest we’ve ever seen. In fact, sometimes coaching him is a bit funny, because he knows the game better than anybody, including us (as coaches), I’m sure. He finds guys, he can see pockets. He can see where they (the other team) is, and he can see where guys should be or are going to be before they get there. … When he needs to turn it on, he’s had a couple of 50-point games this year, and then he’ll have a game where he has 12 points, but he’s also got 10 assists and 10 rebounds. He guards the best guys when we’re in man, and he’s one of our low guys when we’re in zone. He’s one of the more dynamic players.” Pye said “I’ve really got to thank my teammates for yesterday’s game, it was really on them for the win. But I was ready for today. I really wanted this win. I know the time I’ve put in, so I just trust that work. It’s really a brotherhood. We’re a family on and off the court, and that brings us energy and togetherness in the game. We put in a lot of work off the court, in our own time, and we were really ready for this moment. We came prepared, we were watching film earlier. We were well-prepared, overall.” Blake Pye paced the Lions with 36. Adam Shi added 20, Ohm Chaisongkram 9, London Buck 9 and Damian Orr 6, while Aydin Malik, Nyjal Singh, Wes Kolb, Petar Garic, Khumalo Mucina, Joey Ball and Billy Brice were scoreless. Nathan Szpak scored 14 to pace the Pipers (coach Jamie Oei, assistant Luigi Carrion, assistant Matt Sommerville, manager Sandee Sangha, video Rylan Ng). Illia Mayden added 9, Ethan Mercer 9, Aiden Chernenkoff 8, Jayden Szpak 6 and Dominik Belsito 3, while Kyler Anderson, Nate Litowitz, Ryan Saradri, Sahai Sangha, Marcus Boal, Ethan Manarovici and Justin Smily were scoreless.
The 2nd-seeded Surrey L.A. Matheson Mustangs defeated the 7th-seeded Mill Bay Brentwood College 70-66. The Mustangs led 19-15 after one quarter and 40-31 at the half. The Mustangs led by 13 in the third quarter but Brentwood rallied to knot the score at 49 heading into the final frame. But Brentwood rallied with a 2-2-1 zone press and Jaxen Lust began punishing Matheson in the blocks. Joven Sanghera answered a pair of buckets in the paint and Jason Hothi drove for layup to give the Mustangs a 70-64 lead and they hung for the win. Mustangs coach Tyler Ram told Varsity Letters that “this is a very player-led team. I obviously do my job, managing all the personalities, but they are so player-led. They hold each other accountable – they lift each other up, and sometimes they tear each other down . . . but it works for us. We have great leaders on this team, and they know how to stay composed and execute when they need to.” Ram added that the Mustangs were fired up by a series of second quarter dunks. “We really thrive off energy, and when we see those kinds of things happen? That’s what really caused us to surge in the second quarter. … They (Brentwood) did a nice of job slowing us down. We were getting out in transition in the first half and getting easy looks, and they threw on a bit of a press and a zone, and slowed us down a bit. I was a little bit surprised, because we’ve seen that a lot this year, so I thought we would have executed. It’s something we’ve practiced a ton, but sometimes they need little reminders, right? They’re teenagers.” Damien Onokpite paced the Mustangs with 22. Joven Sanghera added 20, Jason Hothi 10, Jaiden Shergill 10, Jashan Mahal 5 and Alvin Paglinawan 3, while Jaron Caparas, Arsh Mann, Ishan Sohi, Harsahib Cheema, Bayo Ayodele, Angad Kang, Imran Mann and Romeo Boley were scoreless. Jaxen Lust scored 23 to pace Brentwood. Jackson Lenarcic added 12, Kang Cho 12, Tiger Liu 9, Miguel Navarro-Perez 5, Nathan Colquhoun 3 and Ben Akindipe 2, while Tee Thamrongnawasawat, Lair Hill, Rudolph Kruger, Fiyi Akin-dada, Orion Lefebre, John Ojedukon and Tim Akin-dada were scoreless. Brentwood (coach Blake Gage, assistant Vito Pasquale, manager Robin Gage) also included Tanaka Madzimure.
In the last quarterfinal, the 6th-seeded Surrey Enver Creek Cougars edged the 3rd-seeded Abbotsford Mennonite Educational Institute Eagles 62-60. The Eagles led 20-15 after one quarter. The Cougars led 34-31 at the half. The score was knotted at 48 after three quarters. Senior forward Sheer Sandhar chased down his own from beyond the arc with 16.4 seconds to play, faked his defender and nailed the winning trey for the Cougars. “I kept on shooting with confidence,” Smeer told Varsity Letters. “Just because I missed one didn’t mean I wasn’t going to shoot again. I knew I was going to hit it when I got the ball.” Cougars coach Greg Reid said “the whole season, it’s been about all 11 as a team, one group… everyone having each other’s back through the ebbs and flows of the game, continuing to battle, knowing that if we come together, anything could happen. Tonight you saw incredible hustle from 14 (Gabriel Tsimoshkin) and when we ran into foul trouble how our Grade 9 centre came in and he played like a grown man. All guys battling, having each other’s back, and when they got beat back door the next guy stepped up. Shots went up and they hustled and they rebounded. They made the extra play. … I mean, the leadership that Sahaj showed, cheering the guys on. He had 28 in our first win yesterday (over Sir Charles Tupper), but in this game, he knew his entire focus was on walling up and playing defence and rebounding. And he focussed on what it took to win instead of what it took to get stopped.” Harshaan Toor paced the Cougars with 23. Smeer Sandhar added 15, Avi Khanna 15, Dilbagh Johal 4, Gabriel Tsimoshkin 3 and Sahaj Hans 2, while Aikan Atwal, Jarvarus Akinkeyeur, Kabir Gill, Gurshaan Dhillon, Rivier Velasco, Simrat Lotey, Aryan Narayan, Gurshan Banger and Kirat Lotey were scoreless. Kaden Vandervelden scored 21 to pace the Eagles. Mercer Thiessen added 20, Gabe Headley 7, Jaiden Buttar 5, Taj McLassac 4 and Elijah Amendt 3, while Mason Berg, Ezra Sperling, Micah Jacobs, Jayce Sidhu, Keegan Strachen, Nicky Krueger and Caleb Dyck were scoreless. The Eagles (coach Mike Lee, coach Matt Thiessen, director operations Anthony Friesen) also included Asher Lenshyn and Bryce Taylor.
In the semis, the top-seeded Vancouver St. Patrick Celtics clubbed the 4th-seeded Victoria Lambrick Park Lions 122-82 after leading 34-22, 70-47 and 97-66 at the quarters. “We were ready … We’ve been ready,” Celtics coach Nap Santos told Varsity Letters. “We knew what they were gonna do and we have so many sets that we’re ready to run.” The Celtics shot 14-29 from the arc. They buried the Lions when point guard Blake Pye took a break with two minutes to play in the first half, ripping off a 16-2 run, featuring a Riley Santa Juana trey, a pair of treys by Dhyne Cottin, and runouts by Cotin and Lemuel Castro. “I knew that they needed to sub out give Blake a little bit of a breather and usually you do it at the end of the half,” Santos said. “And that’s when we turned it up. We turned up our defence like crazy. And we made shots too.” Dhyne Cotin paced the Celtics with 28. Riley Santa Juana added 24, Jemuel Castro 24, Jaiden Quan 21, Jayden Henwood 11, Jericho Labrador 10, Marcus Santos 2 and Heracles Mai 2, while Christian Balubar and Dion Gonzales were scoreless. Blake Pye paced the Lions with 35. Damian Orr added 16, London Buck 11, Adam Shi 5, Ohm Chaisongkram 3, Aydin Malik 3, Wes Kolb 3, Khumalo Mucina 2, Billy Brice 2 and Joey Ball 2, while Nyjai Singh and Petar Garic were scoreless.
In the other semi, the 2nd-seeded Surrey L.A. Matheson Mustangs clipped the 6th-seeded Surrey Enver Creek Cougars 85-78 after leading 29-17, 48-34 and 64-52 at the quarters. They hit eight treys in the first quarter, led by as many as 19 in the third before surviving a furious Cougars rally despite having had star point guard Jason Hothi foul out after being assessed a technical for flopping on a trey attempt. The Mustangs capped the affair with a pair of treys from reserve Avlik Paglinanwan, who’d come in to replace Hothi, to bury the Cougars. “It feels great,” Mustangs point guard and player of the game Jashan Mahal told Varsity Letters. “We’ve been working towards this all season. Last year in March, when we didn’t make it (to provincials), we all sat together collectively and we said, ‘Next year, we’re going to be here. And not only are we going to be here, we’re going to win it all’.” Mustangs coach Tyler Ram said “that’s a hell of a basketball team, and we’ve had the craziest rivalry. These guys know each other inside and out. We ended up just making more shots in the first half, and that was the difference.” Ram said Paglinawan “knows I have confidence in him to shoot those shots, and he was just ready and he let it fly, right?” Cougars coach Greg Reid said “it’s been a battle with them all five years. … And they shot lights-out in that first quarter. That’s the best they’ve shot in probably a year and a half against us. So trying to weather that storm, we put ourselves in a hole. Other games, it’s us doing that to them. So it’s one of those ebb-and-flow things. For us, the emotional energy we spent against MEI last night, we just didn’t have that edge that got us through yesterday to start the game (today). And then when they took it to us early, we got out of our stuff. Instead of shortening the run and limiting the damage, we let it go a little bit longer than it should have, and it hurt us. You saw the resiliency in the second half – we got it to a two-possession game. We just couldn’t overcome that deficit.” Jason Hothi paced the Mustangs with 22. Damien Onokpite added 19, Jashan Mahal 15, Jaiden Shergill 10, Alvik Paglinawan 9, Joven Sanghera 8 and Angad Kang 2, while Jaron Caparas, Arsh Mann, Ishan Sohi, Harsahib Cheema, Bayo Ayodele, Imran Mann and Romeo Boley were scoreless. Sahaj Hans paced the Cougars with 24. Smeer Sandhar added 23, Avi Khanna 10, Harshaan Toor 8, Gabriel Tsimoshkin 8, Gurshaan Chillon 3 and Dilbagh Johal 2, while Aikan Atwal, Armaan Nagra, Jarvar Akinkeyeur, Simrat Lotey, Aryan Narayan, Gurshan Banger, Kirat Lotey and Rivier Velasco were scoreless.
In the bronze medal match, the 4th-seeded Victoria Lambrick Lions edged the 6th-seeded Surrey Enver Creek Cougars 95-90 after leading 25-23, 54-44 and 75-72 at the quarters. Blake Pye paced the Lions with 43. Adam Shi added 22, Damian Orr 15, London Buck 12 and Ohm Chaisongkram 3, while Aydin Malik, Nyjal Singh, Wes Kolb, Petar Garic, Khumalo Mucina, joey Ball and Billy Brice were scoreless. Avi Khanna paced the Cougars with 21. Harshaan Toor added 20, Smeer Sandhar 19, Sahaj Hans 19 and Gurshaan Dhillon 11, while Aikan Atwal, Armaan Nagra, Javarus Akinkeyeur, Riviere Velasco, Gabriel Tsimoshkin, Simrat Lotey, Aryan Narayan, Gurshan Banger, Kirat Lotey and Dilbagh Johal were scoreless. The Cougars (coach Greg Reid, coach Sat Toor, athletic director Steven Wang) also included Isaac Erinle, Kabir Gill and Eknoor Khera.
In the final, the top-seeded Vancouver St. Patrick Celtics mauled the 2nd-seeded Surrey L.A. Matheson Mustangs 94-67 to capture their third provincial crown in five years. The Mustangs led 13-6 early but the Celtics ripped off a 12-0 run and led 18-15, 40-30 and 71-51 at the quarters. The Celtics burned the Mustangs with speed. “We have to,” Celtics coach Nap Santos told Varsity Letters. “We’re not posting anyone up. … I’ve said it before. We’ve got to use our speed, use our strength to our advantage. That is our advantage, to go, go, go.” Celtics guard Jayden Henwood said “we’re always undersized when we play almost any team, so we’ve just got to run and it always works out in the end for us.” Santos said “they don’t get tired. Our practices are really, really hard. Then, the game is easy.” Tournament MVP Riley Santa Juana said “it just feels so good to win with this group. Me and my guys have been working for this so long.” Santos said “they put in so much hard work when nobody was watching. They put in hours and hours, six o’clock in the morning, they’ll go to another gym, not at St. Pat, another gym, just to shoot around. That’s not really a secret. You’ve got to put in those hours. They’re all so dedicated.” Mustangs coach Tyler Ram said “it’s a really well coached team. They have one gear and it’s go, right. … We got into foul trouble (26 free throws for the Celtics), but even with that we just turned the ball over too much. You’re not going to win any basketball games turning the ball over that much (26 for the game).” Riley Santa Juana paced the Celtics with 29. Defensive player of the tournament Dhyne Cotin added 23, Jaiden Quan 18, Jayden Henwood 11, Jemuel Castro 7, Jericho Labrador 3 and Christian Balubar 3, while Marcus Santos, Dion Gonzales and Heracles Mai were scoreless. Joven Sanghera paced the Mustangs with 23. Jaiden Shergill added 16, Alvik Paglinanwan 10, Damien Okopite 9, Jashan Mahal 6 and Jason Hothi 3, while Jaron Caparas, Arsh Mann, Ishan Sohi, Harsahib Cheema, Bayo Ayodele, Angad Kang and Imran Mann were scoreless. Jaiden Quan was chosen player of the game for the Celtics, while Joven Sanghera earned the laurels for the Mustangs.
The all-tournament team featured MVP Riley Santa Juana (St. Patrick); Avi Khanna (Enver Creek); Damien Onokpite (L.A. Matheson); Jemuel Castro (St. Patrick); Dhyne Cotin (St. Patrick); and Blake Pye (Lambrick Park).
The 2nd-team featured Sahaj Hans (Enver Creek); Illia Maydan (Argyle); Jaxen Lust (Brentwood); Joven Sanghera (L.A. Matheson); and Mercer Thiessen (M.E.I.)
The bronze medalist Victoria Lambrick Park Lions: Blake Pye; Ohm Chaisongkram; Aydin Malik; Tobais Lee; Adam Shi; Nyjal Singh; Wes Kolb; London Buck; Petar Garic; Khumalo Mucina; Joey Ball; Damian Orr; Billy Brice; coach Ed Somers; coach Colton McKee; coach Chris Ball
The silver medalist Surrey L.A. Matheson Mustangs: Jaron Caparas; Jashan Mahal; Jaiden Shergill; Alvik Paglinawan; Arsh Mann; Ishan Sohi; Jason Hothi; Joven Sanghera; Harsahib Cheema; Damien Onokpite; Bayo Ayodele; Angad Kang; Imran Mann; Romeo Boley; coach Tyler Ram; assistant Marik Sandhu; assistant Sukhjot Bains
The champion Vancouver St. Patrick Celtics: Jericho Labrador; Marcus Santos; Jaiden Quan; Riley Santa Juana; Christian Balubar; Dion Gonzales; Jayden Henwood; Jemuel Castro; Heracles Mai; Shane Ahyeng-Vasquez; Cayce Bukid; Dhyne Cotin; Russa Ryan-Bovey; coach Nap Santos; assistant Mike Reyes; assistant Payja Santos