VANCOUVER COLLEGE 90 - 103 CHURCHILL聽
Churchill has put all contenders on notice. The Bulldogs are going for the Lower Mainland basketball title Friday night at the Richmond Oval and they intend to follow that with a repeat senior boys AAAA B.C. championship next month in Langley.
With a convincing 103-90 semi-final win over 麻豆传媒映画College Wednesday night, the Bulldogs upheaved a team ranked higher almost all season and one that beat them by a slim margin earlier in the season as well as in the Lower Mainland final a year ago.
鈥淏efore we played these guys, they had one on us鈥� said Churchill six-foot-five forward Harry Lui. 鈥淲e lost to them. One of their guys was talking trash and I was like 鈥� it鈥檚 on. The win feels good because all those losses have been eating me up during the season. We had to get them back.鈥�
Lui downed 27 of his game-high 42 points in the first half and added 10 rebounds for the double-double. He also shot nearly 60 per cent from the field.
With the win, Churchill secured a seat at provincials, but head coach Rick Lopez said back-to-back titles are far from a sure thing.
鈥淲e still have a long way to go and we might run into [麻豆传媒映画College] again and they鈥檒l be even more determined. It鈥檚 one step,鈥� said Lopez.
The first half of the semi-final was like a track meet, with both teams sprinting to the finish line under the hoop. But Churchill built a 22-point lead before the close of the first half on the ceaseless thieving of Lambert Pajayon and Jerwin Ibit. The pair had 10 steals between them, converting most for second-quarter fast-break buckets to build a 52-33 lead at the break.
Lopez rotated his starters through the rest of the game and Churchill hung on to its sizeable lead until the final two minutes of play when 麻豆传媒映画College shrunk the gap by half on a late burst of energy and marksmanship.
Trojans fall, Warriors prevail
In the second AAAA semi-final meeting Wednesday, the results didn鈥檛 favour the unranked Trojans. David Thompson lost 91-48 to Burnaby South, but the season isn鈥檛 over the underdogs. They play again Thursday in an elimination game for a chance to play in the third-place game, which awards the final berth to the B.C. championship.
The Trojans will play Windermere after the Warriors narrowly eliminated the New Westminster Hyacks 68-63. Ravi Basra and a clutch defensive play to defend a three-point lead with only seconds to go in the game.聽
