King George Dragons 58 鈥� 56 Lord Byng Grey Ghosts
CHURCHILL SECONDARY 鈥� 鈥淲ho wants it?鈥� 鈥淲e do!鈥� 鈥淲ho wants it?鈥� 鈥淲e do!鈥�
This was the call-and-answer chant spurred by King George coach Darko Kulic a few minutes before half time in a senior boys AA/AAA semi-final at Churchill secondary Wednesday afternoon.
The irrepressible coach was already reprimanded once for coming too far onto the court from his prescribed pen on the sidelines. A referee pointed Kulic back to his place, and the coach would interact with the stripes for the rest of the night, tracking up and down the court like a warden on the look out for the Dragons in his charge. He said one of the teenage opponents lipped off at him.
I wouldn鈥檛 say it wasn鈥檛 testy, but Kulic was never disrespectful. Just relentless.听
The energy lifted King George to knock off high-ranked Lord Byng, a team that debuted at No. 3 on the AAA B.C. rankings that beat the Dragons only two weeks ago.
In overtime, the AA Dragons beat the AAA Grey Ghosts 58-56 to advance to the public school city championship Friday night. They play the Windermere Warriors who eliminated the John Oliver Jokers 82-60 in the earlier semi-final
The Dragons and Grey Ghosts kept the score close for 40 minutes and through the extra five. Lord Byng started with an early lead and spread that into a 10-point difference, but King George came back with a 30-26 half-time advantage in a contest that saw the lead change 11 times.
In the low-scoring game, Byng鈥檚 Nathan Bromige led all players with 21 points. The six-foot-seven forward showed his versatility handling the ball, blocking shots and pulling down rebounds at both end of the court.
With two minutes left in the fourth quarter, Byng held a 45-41 lead before Dragons Yoel Teclehaimanot scored on a fast break and Shayne Sweder hit a fade-away jumper from the baseline to tie the game.
Grey Ghost Bromige answered single-handedly by carrying the ball from end to end to slash through traffic for a lay-up and take back the lead.
Sweder tied it again, and the rest of the scoring was a war of marksmanship from the line. Lord Byng went two for four and King George two for two. The score was tied at 49 with 31.1 seconds on the clock and the ball in the Dragons鈥� possession. Dual six-foot-seveners Bromige and Declan Herbertson shut down the Dragons inside, and King George was called for a shot-clock violation. Lord Byng took the inbound, but couldn鈥檛 connect in 1.1 seconds.
In overtime, Bromige broke the deadlock with an offensive rebound followed by a put-back bucket. Nikan Najafi repeated the feat for the Dragons.
Lord Byng had their last lead of the game when fast-handling Peter Chae cut inside for a lay-up before Kyle Guerrero drilled a three-pointer for a 54-53 lead the Dragons would not relinquish. The game ended 58-56.
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Championship schedule
The AA/AAA and AAAA city championship finals are Friday night at Churchill secondary.
AA/AAA Final
In this city championship, the 11-0 Windermere Warriors play the King George Dragons (8-3 regular city season). Tip off is 5:45 p.m. at Churchill.
AAAA Final
The host Churchill Bulldogs (5-0) seek their third consecutive championship. They play the Kitsilano Blue Demons (4-1) at 7:30 p.m.听
To reach the final, the Bulldogs defeated Killarney Cougars 88-58, and the Blue Demons beat the David Thompson Trojans 86-49.
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AA/AAA semifinal photos
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