For a showdown for first place, Monday’s tilt between the Burnaby Central Wildcats and New Westminster Hyacks was a little under the radar.
The senior girls matchup admittedly wasn’t a Superbowl mix based on a big build-up – despite the fact that both teams entered the fray with perfect league records.
New West prevailed 76-52, locking up the Burnaby-New West league crown with one game remaining. It means they will hold court next week for the playoffs and earn a bye into the semifinals.
It’s the result head coach Doug Woodward was looking for, but concedes the road only gets tougher from here.
“The big thing for us was (finishing) first -- we get to host the playoffs. That’s a big thing for us,” said Woodward. “We play really well in our gym, we always have, we get the No. 1 seed and from there we get a shot to get in the Vancouver Districts semifinal game – you win that game and you’re in (to the provincials).”
Monday’s tilt demonstrated a lot of the team’s strengths, and the benefit of having a full, healthy lineup.
A strong first half earned New West a 38-18 lead at the half, and during the third quarter they extended it to a 32-point advantage at one point. But the Wildcats pushed back and showed a hot shooting hand early in the fourth, outscoring the Hyacks 17-13 over the final 10 minutes.
Justice Steer returned to the lineup after missing the past month with a knee injury to put up 13 points, while Grade 10 guard Sarah Forgie posted a game-high 26. Madisen Obrovac, with 14 points, also contributed offensively.
“We wanted to throw kind of everything that we had and just expose them for the weaknesses in their game,” remarked Central coach Chris Ducharme. “We didn’t really see a ton (of weaknesses). We saw some stuff that we did that worked, some flaws and some of our girls had a bit of a tough day today.”
The return of Steer was an important addition, Woodward noted, as the 5-foot-7 senior will provide valuable secondary scoring come playoffs.
“She made a couple of threes. Normally (Steer’s) really good with that three-point shot. When we have her, Emma and Sarah then we’re great. One of them is going to shoot it,” noted Woodward.
Burnaby Central’s top scorer was Grade 11 Christine Lin with 18 points, while shooting guard Jalynne Hyuhn counted 10 points, including three treys, all in the third quarter.
The matchup was also an illustration how size matters.
New West boasts four players 5-foot-10 or taller, including a pair of 6-footers in post Rhiannon Leidl and Zoe Roberts. Playable height isn’t part of Wildcats’ attributes, so the battle of the boards was one-sided.
Still, Woodward said the squad can be sharper when it comes to offence.
“Defensively we’re okay. We’ll be able to handle that, but we missed out on a couple of plays. Sarah missed out on one of our zone breakouts, she wasn’t doing it properly… It happens and the horn goes. That’s just discipline and focus, how we run our offence.”
The playoffs begin Tuesday at NWSS with No. 4 Burnaby Mountain playing No. 5 Burnaby South at 5:15 p.m., and No. 3 Byrne Creek taking on No. 6 Moscrop at 6:45 p.m. Burnaby Central and the Hyacks play the winners on Wednesday, with tip-offs at 5:15 and 6:45 p.m. The league final is slated for Feb. 11, 6:45 p.m. in New West.
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The New Westminster junior girls wrapped up the Burnaby-New West regular season a perfect 5-0, capped by a powerful 47-23 victory over previously undefeated Burnaby North.
The pressure defence set the tone early, as New West built its case for league bragging rights on a 28-8 halftime advantage. Leading the offence were Devin Strome, with 19 points and 17 rebounds, and Kaylee Colville, who contributed 12 points and seven boards.
The Hyacks enter next week's playoffs as the No. 1 seed, with their next game 6:45 p.m. in one semifinal. The league final goes 6:45 p.m. on Thursday -- all games scheduled for Burnaby North.
