The pollsters got it right at the B.C. high school AAA boys’ basketball championships.
There were no surprises to the top-eight finishers on the final day of provincial championship play with No. 7 seed St. Thomas More placing eighth overall following a 65-56 loss to No. 8 Nanaimo District at the Langley Events Centre on Saturday.
The remaining top-six schools all fell into place on Saturday, including No. 2 Fleetwood Park winning its first-ever provincial banner over top seed Sir Charles Tupper 73-65 in the championship final.
“Clearly, it’s not how we anticipated or wanted to finish our season. … It’s not always about winning provincial titles. A lot of things have to fall into place to have that happen,” said STM head coach Aaron Mitchell.
But to have four teams in the past five years finish in the top eight, and of those, three placing in the top four, is a testament to the commitment of the school and the players, added Mitchell.
STM stumbled out of the gate on opening day of the championships, eking out a 52-50 win over Wellington.
In the quarter-finals, the Knights were up by four points with 13 seconds left to play against Fleetwood Park, but “Didn’t close it out,” in overtime, said Mitchell.
Junior Cam Morris had a game-high 21 points and Grade 11 guard Terrell Jana added 19 against the eventual provincial champions.
On Day 3, Abbotsford downed STM 86-77 to advance to a berth in the fifth-place matchup with Robert Bateman, while the Knights slotted in against Nanaimo for seventh and eighth place.
“It showed in our last two games,” said STM’s returning guard Edward Ju, who had eight points and eight rebounds in the final game against Nanaimo. “We were a bit off in our mindset.”
Jana led the Knights with 15 points and senior J.J. DesLauriers added 13 in the loss to Nanaimo.
Player of the game Max Reed and Tyus Barfoot of Nanaimo both netted 23 points for the mid-Island school.
But with three starters returning next season and graduates from the junior varsity team that placed sixth at the recent junior boys’ provincials moving up, things remain bright for the Knights’ basketball program.
“We’re still going to be playing back here for provincials,” said Ju.
Mitchell agreed.
“The program was here before them and it’ll be here after them. It’s all about leaving the jersey in a better place than it was before. The jersey says Knights. It’s come a long way,” he said.
