Brentwood wins thrilling alumni final
It was a game that many local high school basketball fans wanted to see — the No. 1-ranked double-A boy’s team in B.C. against the No. 1 quadruple-A squad — but don’t include Bruno Chan in that watching group.
The smooth Brentwood College guard fouled out of the game with 1:51 remaining and his team down 84-81 to the Oak Bay Bays, but Chan’s teammates pulled through in a thrilling come-from-behind 89-85 victory.
It gave undefeated Brentwood College the University of Victoria Vikes alumni tournament championship in the six-team affair, with the championship final attracting about 225 spectators to CARSA Performance Gym on Saturday afternoon.
The Bays were up 85-81 as Caelan Scott made one of two free throws, but a short jump-hook shot from Somto Dimonachie, followed by Brendan Sullivan’s steal and layup knotted the game up at 85-85 with 50.4 seconds to go.
A three-point shot from Oak Bay’s Diego Maffia, who had already hit seven shots from beyond the arc, bounced off the rim. Then, another Bays turnover led to a Jonathan MacDonald layup and the champs closed it out with two free throws from Ian Grabher.
No one was more nervous than Chan, named the tournament MVP, who had to watch the final 1:51 from the bench.
“That was tough, being on the bench for those last two minutes,” said Chan, who finished with 20 points, while Dimonachie had 25 for the victors with eight of those from inside in the last few minutes.
“We have a good team though. We play for each other and I know when I’m off every one is going to play for each other and together and that makes a difference. We got some stops when we needed them.”
An errant cross-court pass from Tyler Hills, which led to Sullivan’s crafty steal, and Scott’s turnover — as he lost his footing for Oak Bay while driving the hoop down 87-85 — were costly for the Bays. But credit also went to Brentwood.
“We had a couple of guys make some great plays defensively. Bruno is usually our catalyst that way, so it was neat to see other guys step up and make great reads, jumping a couple of lanes,” said Brentwood coach Blake Gage.
“It was a good thing, too, because Oak Bay did a good job of taking things away that we like to do. We had to manufacture some buckets and it seemed to be our defence that did that.”
It was a game of runs, as Brentwood opened up a 14-5 lead early on. Oak Bay clawed back to 18-18, but trailed 23-18 after the first quarter. The Bays then went on an 11-0 run to start the second and led 46-39 at halftime.
The game swung back to Brentwood’s favour with a 6-0 and 14-5 start to the third quarter, which ended 65-62 to Brentwood’s advantage.
Scott and Cam Henderson both sat with three fouls each during the last half of the third quarter for Oak Bay.
Then, at 85-81, many thought the game was over with the Bays ahead and Chan on the bench. Not so, however. “They made good plays. They went strong to the rim, got it inside late and full credit to them. They made good plays down the stretch,” said Oak Bay coach Chris Franklin.
Franklin was obviously disappointed by his team’s lack of composure down the stretch, but was glad to be involved in the entertaining South Island matchup against the Mill Bay-based opponent and defending B.C. double-A champion.
“It was a game, that I would say, of the 24 kids involved in this game, all wanted to play in,” Franklin said.
“A good portion of these kids have played together. They’re friends, they all know each other and it was an enjoyable situation to see them compete in.”
Chan was named MVP, while Dimonachie was player of the game in the final and a tournament all-star, along with Oak Bay’s Maffia and Scott, who finished with 28 and 20 points, respectively in the final.
Jack Cruz-Dumont and Cam Wright of Vancouver College rounded out the all-star selections.