The Byrne Creek Bulldogs made doubly sure no upsets would occur on its home floor.
The Bulldogs allowed the New Westminster Hyacks a favourable start it their BurWest high school boys' basketball league game, before clamping down on the district giantkillers with a swarming and effective defence en route to a 67-44 win at Byrne Creek on Wednesday.
Two days earlier, the unranked Hyacks knocked off the No. 8-ranked Burnaby South Rebels 57-50 at South.
Starter Regan Eberding scored New Westminster's first two baskets and Hasrit Sidhu drained a three-pointer to give the Hyacks some early life, but that soon faded against the Byrne Creek press.
Byrne Creek senior Kennedy George served notice that a similar upset result would not be tolerated in the doghouse.
George scored 11 of his game-high 24 points in the opening quarter, setting the tone for the remainder of the match.
The 6-4 George also led Byrne's withering press that baffled the harried Hyacks all game long, creating multiple turnovers in the midcourt.
"We weren't ready to play at all. It was a different intensity level to play Byrne Creek than it was for Burnaby South," said Sidhu. "We just weren't ready for their aggressiveness.
George, who subbed out for all of the fourth quarter, had 19 points and half of his 10 rebounds by half time.
Byrne Creek led 35-17 at the interval and extended that lead to 24 points after three quarters.
"We had some good moments of execution that helped a lot. We took a little bit of their spirit. The mental part was there for us to execute," said Byrne Creek head coach Wayne Best.
That moment came early late in the opening quarter for the Bulldogs.
George stole the ball and broke to the basket, finishing with an emphatic dunk and a subsequent three-point play at the foul line.
The Bulldogs opened the second quarter on a 10-0 run and never looked back.
Byrne Creek keyed on New West's Masood Walli, holding the long-ball specialist to just one bucket in the entire game.
Manvir Gandham was high man for the Hyacks with nine second-half points. Anthony Schonberger came off the bench to add six points and four rebounds in the final stanza, including two buckets on putbacks.
"That was key. The guys are understanding what we need to do," Best said. "But the work is not done."
South and Byrne Creek will face each other next week in the season finale at a date and time to be determined.
