Parchment’s numbers do not lie
COLLEGE BASKETBALL: Dominating Cascades guard among Top 10 in all major statistical categories
Here’s the weekend wrap-up of university sports, featuring four fantastic moments involving local schools.
1. PEAKS IN THE VALLEY
Kevon Parchment is two games away from completing one of the most unique regular-season campaigns in recent Canada West men’s basketball history.
The slender 6-foot-3 guard, who scored 33 points Friday and 20 on Saturday as the Fraser Valley Cascades completed a home-court sweep of Kamloops’ No. 9-ranked Thompson Rivers WolfPack (14-4), is on the verge of becoming just the second player to finish in the Canada West’s Top 10 in scoring (sixth, 18.3), rebounds (fifth, 9.6), assists (second, 5.2), blocks (1.3, seventh) and steals (1.8, 11th) in the 15 seasons since the conference began posting full stats online.
Parchment’s production is a huge reason why the Cascades (12-6) not only clinched a playoff berth this weekend, but locked up an opening-round playoff bye.
“All the things he does on the floor make us the team we are,” UFV head coach Adam Friesen said after Saturday’s win.
Fraser Valley winds up its regular season in Calgary on Friday and Saturday against the Mount Royal Cougars.
2. KETT THE JET
It takes an entire team’s inefficiency to surrender a 15-point secondhalf lead the way the Simon Fraser Clan did in Saturday’s 61-56 home floor overtime loss to Seattle Pacific.
Yet, even a weekend split couldn’t put a damper on the season the Clan’s Australian point guard Ellen Kett is having.
In Thursday’s 84-74 win over St Martin’s, Kett tied the Great Northwest Athletic Conference’s singlegame assists record with 16, one shy of former Clan great Andrea Schnider’s all-time SFU record of 17 set in 1991-92.
Over the weekend, Kett played all but eight of the 85 total minutes available and dished 22 assists versus just three turnovers.
She also leads the NCAA Division 2 women’s hoops in three-point shooting at 55 per cent.
3. BIRDS OF A FEATHER
Sure, they already have a place in the CIS Final 8 nationals this March, by virtue of their host status, but just in case you thought that a graduation-depleted UBC Thunderbirds’ men’s basketball team was content to rest on that guaranteed berth, we present a 2015-16 regular season that’s now just one weekend away from completion.
CIS No. 7-ranked UBC (14-4), which capped an impressive sweep at Brandon on Saturday by outscoring the Bobcats 50-28 over the second half en route to an 84-68 win, has now clinched a first-round home playoff berth. Depending on the outcome of its regular-season finalé series this weekend at home to Winnipeg, UBC could finish as high as second place in the Canada West’s Pioneer Division.
This season has been considered one of the best performances by head coach Kevin Hanson in his 16 seasons at the helm.
Not only did he have no carrot to hold in front of his players, but he found success despite the fact that five of the top eight players in his rotation weren’t a part of the team last season.
4. SWEET SWEEP
The CIS No. 6-ranked UBC women’s volleyball team may not carry the same clout as the dynastic edition that won the last of its six straight CIS national titles in 2013, but they are nonetheless finding their form at just the right time.
Danielle Brisebois combined for 28 kills and 15 digs Friday and Saturday at War Memorial Gymnasium as the Thunderbirds (16-6) swept the Saskatchewan Huskies by identical 3-0 scores.
UBC, which has now clinched home court for the Canada West quarter-finals, has dropped just one set over its past 13, and is riding a 4-0 win streak heading into its regularseason finalé this weekend at the Langley Events Centre against the Trinity Western Spartans (19-3).
The Spartans entered this past week at No. 1 but they’re sure to take a dip following a weekend split in Kamloops against Thompson Rivers.
Both the Thunderbirds and Spartans have been very good for a very long time, but for most of the past decade, it’s been UBC that’s been considered the favourite in headto-head match ups.
The big question? Can UBC make the underdog status work in their favour?