Those calling Saturday’s Douglas College Royals’ shutting down of the Vancouver Island Mariners an upset can check it at the door.
While others may have seen the Royals as underdogs having finished third overall during league play, their efficient 96-85 triumph over the top-ranked Mariners in the PacWest men’s basketball final proved otherwise.
And head coach Joe Evevoldson feels there were plenty of reasons why to expect it, with the way Douglas came to play.
“I was pretty confident going into it. We have an older group of guys who weren’t caught up by VIU’s bit of mystique, for a lot of teams couldn’t solve them through the course of the year,” said Eveoldson.
Yes, Vancouver Island entered as the No. 3-ranked team in the nation and had only one loss all year – to the Royals on Jan. 26. The New West-based Royals ended the regular season with a disappointing 92-88 to Capilano.
Prior to that, Douglas rolled up five wins in February and had a resolve that would serve them well in the final.
The top weapon at their disposal was defence, and it came into play as they held the Mariners to just 32 per cent from the field, and held a heavy advantage on the glass, with 12 more rebounds than their opponent.
“We did a very good job on the glass, especially on the defensive glass,” said Enevoldson. “(VIU is) a team that crashed very hard and we held them to six or seven offensive rebounds and beat them by 12 on the glass. That’s always been our focus all year, defence and rebounding – we want to make sure we hold other teams to one-and-done.”
It came to fruition in the final, where but for a short time in the first quarter, the Royals were in the driver’s seat, expanding on a seven-point halftime lead with a strong third quarter.
“I don’t think we ever viewed ourselves as underdogs to be honest. I think we knew where we were at and agreed that we kind of underachieved during the regular season, we thought we were better than our 11-7 record showed,” remarked the coach.
Grant Campbell, one of the team’s five fifth-year players, cashed in 24 points and five assists and four rebounds, while collecting four steals. He was chosen the final player of the game as well as tourney MVP.
Burnaby’s Reese Morris, a fourth-year forward, contributed 17 points and eight boards, while Noah DeRappard-Yuswack tallied 11 rebounds.
Douglas began the provincials by clipping Quest 79-65, then dispatched Langara 96-85 in the semifinals. Both DeRappard-Yuswack and Morris recorded double-doubles, with 19 points apiece.
Contributing steady support off the bench through the series was New West native Sylvester Appiah.
Kameron Johnson and Morris were named to the PacWest all-star team. They now head to Montreal, where they will play Alberta champion SAIT on March 15.
