The New Westminster Hyacks suffered a first-round defeat at the AAAA Lower Mainland boys’ basketball championships.
The No. 8 seeded Hyacks dropped a narrow 83-80 outcome to No. 9 Windermere Warriors at the East Vancouver school on Tuesday.
The Warriors rode the hot hand of wing Ravi Basra, who put up a game-high 32 points, including 18 in a pivotal final quarter.
Basra nailed back-to-back threes to start the fourth quarter, erasing New West’s 60-58 third-quarter advantage.
“I just tried to step it up for my team,” said Basra after the game. “It was a big game.”
In a back-and-forth matchup, New West opened with a 20-17 first-quarter lead.
Windermere responded with a strong second stanza, outscoring the visitors 24-13 to lead by seven points at halftime.
But New West was not done by any stretch, bouncing back into the game on big third-quarter numbers by Peter Szinku and point guard Darwin Colita.
Both Szinku and Colita finished the game with a team-high 20 points.
In the third quarter, Szinku potted nine points, while Colita led the rally with a dozen more, and scoring six more to start the fourth quarter before fouling out early.
Without Colita at the helm, New West appeared to lose some its steam, allowing Windermere to lead by as much as six points with just two minutes left on the clock.
Drake Traverse nailed an arching three-pointer to close the deficit to three points with a half a minute remaining, but he was unable to find the range on two further attempts in the dying seconds.
“Sometimes it’s who gets the last run,” said New Westminster head coach Brian Sommfeldt. “We were down by seven a couple of times and didn’t give up.”
With the loss, New West will face No. 7 seed David Thompson in the back-door draw at Winston Churchill today (Friday). Game time is 3 p.m.
In other Tuesday 4A action, Burnaby Mountain fell 56-38 to No. 5 Richmond, while Moscrop was edged 75-70 by Thompson.
Both Mountain and Moscrop will play later games at Churchill today.
On Wednesday, Burnaby South advanced to the semifinals following a 112-51 victory over No. 7 seed David Thompson. Jermaine Haley led the Rebels with 19 points in little over two quarters, while Tyus Batiste also netted 19 off the bench.
Burnaby South’s bench played Thompson even in the fourth quarter (18-18) in a strong display of team depth.
Martin Bogajev also scored 17 points for the No. 10-ranked Rebels, including four three-pointers.
South will take on Vancouver College in a quad A semifinal at the Richmond Olympic Oval on Wednesday, Feb. 26 at 7:30 p.m.
In AAA play, Byrne Creek advanced to the quarter-finals following a 79-49 win over Gladstone. Burnaby Central fell to the backside of the draw after losing 72-61 to Lord Byng.
Later, Byrne Creek was relegated to the consolation bracket after falling 72-51 to No. 3 seed McMath. Byrne will take on Magee today (Friday) at Winston Churchill. Tipoff for that one is 4:45 p.m.
On Wednesday, St. Thomas More advanced to the semifinals with a 57-38 win over Hugh Boyd.
The Knights will play No. 4 seed McNair in the AAA semifinals also to be played at the Richmond Oval on Feb. 26.
