Douglas College’s playoff dash for a provincial silver medal came as no surprise to interim basketball coach Courtney Gerwing.
The fifth-place Royals made an impressive run to the final, knocking off regular season champion Vancouver Island University in the semifinals before settling for second place following a 69-52 loss to Quest University in the title game at Douglas on Saturday.
Douglas began the final tentatively and it cost, despite a rally in the second quarter.
“Youth and inexperience played a part,” said Gerwing, who shared in three CIS national basketball championships with Simon Fraser University and was also an assistant coach for the Clan women the past two seasons. “We approached the first four minutes like we didn’t deserve to be there. But we fought through a lot of adversity this season, and we fought back in the second quarter and gave them a game. The silver medal is a phenomenal accomplishment for our team.”
The Royals earned a playoff spot in the PacWest regular season, beating Langara to lock up fifth place.
Douglas opened the provincials with an emphatic 82-58 upset over fourth-place Capilano University on Feb. 27.
The Royals jumped out to a 44-25 halftime lead and kept their feet on the gas pedal, adding another 26 points in the ensuring quarter.
Nanaya Miki led the Royals with 21 points, five rebounds and one assist.
“I think it was one of our better games, but we had been steadily improving,” Gerwing said regarding the team’s renewed emphasis on defence.
In the semifinal, Douglas put up that stout defence to upset the league No. 1 Mariners 50-47 in overtime.
“They showed that against VIU. We tried to make it a defensive battle,” said Gerwing. “Others were surprised, but I think because we had made a steadily improved climb, there was more surprise outside our circle than inside it.”
Trailing by five points with three minutes left to play, Chloe Kennedy hit a clutch three-pointer with just under two minutes left on the clock. A minute later, Mackenzie Brenner sent the game into extra time with the game-tying bucket.
In OT, Kennedy took the ball down the court to score the game-winning basket with only 16.3 seconds to play.
Miki received her second player of the game honour, finishing the contest with 19 points, six rebounds and two assists.
In the championship final, Adelia Paul and Miki helped Douglas regain its footing in the second quarter, shaving a double-digit deficit to 28-24 at the interval.
But the Kermodes, which had won all three regular season games against the Royals, outscored their hosts 27-13 in the third quarter to take control.
Paul earned the Royals’ player of the game, registering seven points, five rebounds and seven assists.
Kennedy posted a double-double in the final game, netting 15 points and 10 rebounds.
Miki, who joined Kennedy on the PacWest all-tournament team, chipped in with 10 points and seven boards.
New Westminster’s Jetti Mclaughlin had five points and three boards for Douglas.
Quest guard Andrea Eidsvik, a Byrne Creek Secondary grad, helped her cause with 11 points and four assists.
On the men’s court, Douglas dropped its opening quarter-final 97-61 to Quest.
Andrew Bacon was named the Royals’ player of the game with eight points, 11 rebounds and six assists.
Quest went on to take the bronze medal with a 95-77 victory over Capilano University.
STM grad Andrew Morris was the Capilano Blues player of the game with 18 points and six rebounds.
Langara College won the men’s gold medal, downing league runner-up Vancouver Island 90-84.
