Brentwood gets over jitters to take title
Brentwood College’s trip to the provincial double-A senior boys’ basketball final will be a memorable one for coach Blake Gage and his crew from the Mill Bay school.
Brentwood outscored the St. Michaels University School Blue Jags 17-5 in the pivotal fourth quarter and 34-13 in the second half to lay claim to the B.C. title with a 54-44 victory at the Langley Events Centre.
Down by 13 points early in the second quarter, Brentwood looked like a jittery crew up against the Blue Jags, who were competing in their fourth straight provincial championship game, looking for a second win over that span.
But Brentwood secured a 41-40 lead with just over six minutes to go and squeezed out the win.
“They are a pretty special bunch of guys. We talked about family all year and they stuck together all year and saw a lot of adversity on the floor, but they never stopped believing and they turned it up when they needed to,” said a teary-eyed Gage.
Brendan Sullivan led the way with 19 points, including a pair of three-pointers down the stretch one from long range that hung on a hope and prayer. Sullivan was named the player of the game and a first-team all-star, along with SMUS’s Jamison Schulz-Franco and Ryan Hindson.
Bruno Chan and Aaron Shulga, of Brentwood, claimed the most valuable and top defensive player awards, respectively.
A 9-0 run by Brentwood early in the third quarter closed to a 37-34 SMUS advantage. An inability to protect the ball and a lacklustre offence cost the Blue Jags dearly down the stretch.
The Jags had won the championship in 2015 and finished runners-up in 2014, 2016 and now 2017. This weekend also marked the 25th anniversary of a Steve Nash-led SMUS crown at B.C.’s.
This one just wasn’t meant to be, despite the Blue Jags holding a 14-6 lead after the low-scoring first quarter and a 31-20 advantage at the half. Not many teams can say they’ve competed in four straight provincial finals.
Jags coach Ian Hyde-Lay said: “Fatigue and Brentwood’s fine defence made the difference. We could not make a key shot or get a key rebound in the fourth quarter. The better team won.”
Brentwood defeated No. 4 G.W. Graham 85-63 in their semifinal on Friday night, while SMUS outlasted No. 2 King George 59-55
In the fifth-place game Saturday, the No. 5 Lambrick Park Lions calmed the No. 11 St. Patrick Celtics 80-56 as three Island teams finished in the top five, which speaks to the strength of senior boy’s basketball in the region.
“I’m proud,” Lambrick coach Ed Somers said. “It was a nice way to end. We had a tough draw, but no complaining.”
Calvin and Austin Somers were both named second-team all-stars.
At the quadruple-A level, the No. 3 Oak Bay Bays lost 58-46 to No. 5 Holy Cross in the bronzemedal game. In consolation play in triple-A, Nanaimo District peppered Wellington 85-49 in an allIsland matchup for ninth place; Mark Isfeld squeaked by Charles Hays 68-67 to finish 13th; Brookswood downed Carihi 65-58 in the 15th place game. Belmont lost 80-61 to Lord Tweedsmuir in the ninth-place game.
In single-A, Similkameen defeated St. Andrews 66-59 for ninth place while Duncan Christian hammered Mulgrave School 68-48.