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THE VANCOUVER COURIER FRIDAY, MARCH 2, 2012
sports & recreation
Winning teams will travel to Langley for B.C. tourney
Six city teams vie for five AAA spots Megan Stewart Staff writer
Burnaby is out, New West is out, Richmond is out and all six Vancouver teams are vying for one of five spots to the Telus senior boys AAA basketball championships March 11 to 17 at the Langley Events Centre. The game of high school hoops takes centre court again for the next two weeks as the political, personal and near litigious game that played out before the zone tournament is momentarily pushed aside. The tournament’s unusual 13-team draw is a temporary “compromise,” and the B.C. boys basketball association must address the Lower Mainland berthing conflict at the AGM later this month. Basketball was the point Wednesday at Vancouver College, one of two host schools for the AAA Lower Mainland championship. In two semifinal match-ups, Kitsilano and St. George’s downed their opponents and claimed decisive, double-digit wins. They meet at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at St. George’s for the championship final. The Kitsilano Blue Demons, Vancouver’s public school city champions this year after falling twice to the Tupper Tigers in 2011 and ’10, beat their East Side rival 85-59. The St. George’s Saints cracked the case that is the Vancouver College Fighting Irish to win 85-59. The Irish were missing key contributing player Erickson Evangelista. The Churchill Bulldogs and Point Grey Greyhounds both lost in the first round of action and both kept their hopes alive with a win Wednesday. The Bulldogs pulled out a gutwrenching overtime win thanks to a clutch three-point bucket from the corner by Nick Atwal and eliminated Burnaby’s Byrne Creek 64-63. The Bulldogs play Vancouver College 6 p.m. Friday at St. George’s.
Kits beats Tupper 85-59 in repeat of city championship Megan Stewart Staff writer
Kitsilano’s Justin Sze handles the ball in traffic. The Kits Blue Demons defeated the Tupper Tigers 85-59 in a Lower Mainland boys photo Dan Toulgoet AAA semifinal Feb. 29 at Vancouver College. The winner is guaranteed a spot at provincials, and the loser must win its next game to claim the fifth and final seed. Point Grey beat Steveston-London 73-55. The Greyhounds meet Tupper 4:30 p.m. Friday at St. George’s. The winner moves on and
the loser faces a must-win meeting against the loser of the BulldogsCollege game, which is set for Saturday 4:30 at St. George’s. mstewart@vancourier.com See photo gallery at
vancourier.com
The Tupper Tigers brought their characteristic roar and filled the stands Wednesday at Vancouver College’s Alumni Gym with screaming red T-shirted fans, but on the court they were no match for the Kitsilano Blue Demons. The Demons—with more breadth, depth and width—rolled to the Lower Mainland senior boys AAA basketball championship with an 85-59 win over the Tigers. In the first quarter, Tupper’s Gavriel Corpuz slipped a sweet inside pass to Cameron Smythe as the slick sevenfoot high schooler cut through the key for a lay-in. Smyth led all players with 21 points. “Tupper is a very good team,” said Kitilano head coach Randy Coutts. “We never underestimate their abilities.” Still, it would have been a different night for the Tigers if they’d played like that through four quarters but their depth doesn’t compare to Kitsilano’s. Tupper turned over the ball 14 times in the second quarter and scored only 11 points as Kitsilano bucketed 25 to end the half with a 16point advantage. Luka Zaharijevic, the Demon’s 250pound, six-foot-six 16-year-old centre, had 18 points before he fouled out in the fourth quarter. Tupper kept pace in the third quarter and outscored the Demons 21-20 to pull within 15 points. With their brawny post player on the bench, Kitsilano was still strong in the key and also increased their margin from the outside. In the second half, David Burton chimed in with four buckets from deep and ended the night with 20 points. Tupper: Yashu Sharma 1, Gavriel Corpuz 5, James Caraang, Rajb Belleza 6, Daniel Kim 15, Cam Smythe 21. Kitsilano: Justin Sze, Stefan Sokic 8, Noah De Rappard, 9, Alex Vidic, 10, Dawson Perron 14, Luka Zaharijevic 18, David Burton 20.
St. George’s Saints beat Vancouver College Fighting Irish 65-49 in clash of B.C.’s No. 3 and 4 teams Visiting the Alumni Gym at Vancouver College Wednesday night, the Saints defeated the Fighting Irish in front of their own faithful, winning 65-49 to take the Lower Mainland boys AAA semifinal. Dozens of fans wearing Irish purple and Saints red stood in the frigid night air outside the gym and waited for a seat in the stands. As the seconds ticked down to tip-off, the game’s animated announcer called the Saints-Irish meet-
ing the tournament “final.” It wasn’t. But it felt like it. Saints ended the regular season ranked No. 3 in B.C. The Fighting Irish were No. 4. The Saints won a hardfought defensive game that saw both teams push the ball and their intensity. “We held them under 50,” said Saints head coach Guy da Silva. “That’s probably, if not the best scoring team province in the province, one of the top three.”
VC’s Isiah Solomon and Saint Bradyn Smith kept each other in check. “They’re both great athletes,” said da Silva. “I thought neither of them had great games tonight, probably because they’re playing so hard against each other and they know each other so well. Both of them played an average game but we neutralized them and that was the most important thing.” Solomon swished a cool-as-ice basket from deep to end the second quarter
but the Irish trailed by five at the half. The Saints outscored the Irish 37-26 in the second half to win by 16 points. Vancouver College: JC Horton 2, Ben Kaardal 2, Justin Sanvido 3, Abu Khan 4, Christian Mair 6, Isiah Solomon 10, Gogi Kumanan 10, Cole Penman 12. St. George’s: Sajen Gill 2, Chad Payne 2, Lucas MacFayden 4, Bradyn Smith 8, Tylon Barker 8, Adam Hildebrand 8, Milan Mitrovic 19, Deklan Chung 12. mstewart@vancourier.com
DAVID BERNER
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