March to the Madness at LEC continues
Cinderellas and underdogs always make the march to March Madness extra special, and in that regard the field which makes up the 2015 B.C. senior boys Quad A provincial basketball draw is chalk full of them.
The Lord Tweedsmuir Panthers lead the pack. The Surrey school last made the provincial tournament in 1953, the 62-year drought standing as the longest absence between return trips of any school playing at the Quad A level this season.
The Panthers were set to face Abbotsford’s Yale Lions in Saturday’s Fraser Valley championship final at the Langley Events Centre but along with the Lions, had already been guaranteed one of the zone’s six B.C. berths by virtue of a 75-68 win earlier in the week over Walnut Grove. In semifinal games Friday, Lord Tweedsmuir beat Semiahmoo 96-79, while Yale beat No. 1-ranked Terry Fox of Port Coquitlam 107-95.
Terry Fox, Semiahmoo, Heritage Woods of Port Moody and Walnut Grove of Langley are Fraser Valley’s other four qualifying teams.
At the Lower Mainland championships, defending B.C. champion and pre-season No. 1 Sir Winston Churchill Bulldogs of Vancouver topped the pre-season No. 2-ranked Burnaby South Rebels 94-84 at the Richmond Oval on Friday. “It’s been an up-and-down year and the kids have really persevered with a ‘next-man-up’ mentality,” said Churchill head coach Rick Lopez.
“It’s all about family for us, and when it’s your turn, to be ready to go.” Another underdog also emerged to earn its first B.C. tournament berth since 1968.
East Vancouver’s David Thompson Trojans got 38 points from tournament MVP Harry Brar to beat Vancouver College 74-63 on Friday and claim the Mainland’s third-and-final B.C. tournament berth.
“To be quite honest with you, the kids and I never really spoke about strategy,” said Thompson head coach Jimmy Choi.
“What we had to do was give (Vancouver College) different looks on defence throughout the game. We had to take away time and space, make them put it on the ground and keep them off the boards.” Other B.C. qualifiers:
Victoria’s Oak Bay Bays and Nanaimo’s Dover Bay Dolphins were set to battle Saturday evening for the Vancouver Island title. The winner would gain automatic entry to the B.C.’s while the second-place team faces a potential challenge from the third-place finisher.
The Kelowna Owls topped crosstown rival Mt. Boucherie 79-55 on Friday in the Okanagan final to claim the zone’s only B.C. berth.
The West Vancouver Highlanders beat North Van’s Argyle Pipers 74-54 to win the Howe Sound tournament and claim the North Shore’s only B.C. tourney berth.
Queen Charlotte (North West) and Cranbrook’s Mt. Baker (Kootenays) receive automatic berths as their zone’s only Quad A teams.
The draws for the B.C. Single, Double, Triple and Quad A championships, all set to be played at the LEC March 11-14, will be unveiled during a live webcast Sunday (1 p.m.) at TFSETV.ca.