Senior Boys Capture Island Gold!

28 February 2013Jim Ganley

The Senior Boys Basketball team headed to Wellington High School in Nanaimo last Thursday to compete in the Island Championship. The tournament featured an exceptionally deep and competitive field with six of the top 12 provincially ranked teams participating.

In the opener, Brentwood played Mark Isfeld from Courtenay. It was a tightly contested affair with the big, athletic Isfeld team giving Brentwood all it could handle. Austin G sparked the team early to give us a small margin to work with and Hayden F had a monster fourth quarter to help the team secure the 55-47 win. This advanced us to the semi-finals against Victoria rival and #2 provincially ranked SMUS.

Brentwood struggled to contain SMUS’s 6’8” post player in the early going and trailed for much of the first half, but the team managed a late run to tie the score at 26. The second half was all Brentwood as Shalev S and Ulas Z carved up the SMUS defence and Brentwood’s 2-3 zone seemed to stymie the Blue Jags’ attack. Brentwood advanced with a 65-53 win.

In the final, Brentwood faced the host Wellington Wildcats who have been surging up the rankings late in the season. Early on, Brentwood struggled on the defensive boards but Harrison B and William L knocked in two triples each to spark Brentwood and help us build a 9 point lead at the half. Wellington countered with some terrific shots in the second, but Jason T and Jordan C always seemed to have an answer as the boys held on for a well-deserved 66-56 victory.

It was a great weekend of basketball and the result was a tribute to the efforts of the entire team. Ulas Z and Jason T were recognized as 2nd team Allstars for the tournament while Shalev S captured 1st team honors (for the second consecutive year!) and Captain Jordan C claimed the tournament MVP award.

The team next heads off to Kamloops to participate in the AA Provincial Championship running March 6-9 at Thompson Rivers University. Good luck to the boys!

Mr. Blake Gage, Coach

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