Duchess Park downs D.P. Todd in boys final

The clash of the titans in the City League senior boys basketball championship had all the ingredients to build a barn-burner and that’s exactly how it turned out.

Two of the best teams in the province – the Duchess Park Condors, ranked No. 4 among B.C. triple-A teams, and the D.P. Todd Trojans, the fifth-ranked double-A squad in the province, left it all on the floor in Wednesday’s final at the Northern Sport Centre.

In what turned out a tense thriller from start to finish, the Condors put the wraps on a 64-55 victory, winning the title for the fifth straight year.

Connor Lyons led the Condor cause offensively with 18 points, while Jackson Kuc had 12 and Caleb Lewis shot 12. Cameron Sale put up a game-high 19 points for D.P. Todd while Shane Sandhu hit for 13 and Chris Magrath had a 10-point game.

The teams traded blows in a third quarter that had four lead changes. Trojans forward Magrath, whose knee troubles made him a questionable starter for the final, gave his team a scare when he came up limping off his wonky hinge less than two minutes into the game. But until late in the contest when he had to retire to the bench in pain, he only missed a couple shifts and was dominant under the hoop, utilizing his long reach to generate timely buckets.

Sale and Emir Zejnulahovic did their part finding the net to keep the Trojans close, with Condors guard Kuc finding his range from three-point territory. The back-and-forth quarter ended with a buzzer-beating three from Condor senior Soren Erricson, much to the delight of the Condor supporters who erupted in appreciation for their team’s 53-47 lead with a deafening roar.

The heavyweight duel persisted in the fourth quarter and Lyons continued to inflict damage. He connected on a trey and later scored one off the glass for a 60-52 lead with three minutes on the clock but the Trojans refused to go away. Sandhu’s long shot cut the gap to five but that’s as close as it got for D.P. Todd.

Lyons was the Condors’ most reliable shooter in the first half, collecting 11 points, while Lewis sunk eight. Sale put up nine points in two quarters of work and Sandhu had 10 after 20 minutes, hitting for three triples. The Condors led 30-29 at the half.

The Condors held a 3-1 edge in the season series but the Trojans came into the game knowing in their most recent clash with their cross-town rivals, Jan. 20, they beat Duchess 76-69.

Duchess Park went 5-0 in the City League regular season while the Trojans went 4-1.

The Condors will play next weekend in the North Central zone triple-A boys tournament at Prince George Secondary School. The Trojans are hosting the double-A boys zone championship, starting next Thursday.