It’s the clichéd calm before the storm, or where rubber meets the road.
And while the New Westminster senior boys basketball team is putting in a lot of practice hours this week in preparation for next week’s playoffs, it’s hard to forgo the anxiety and seriousness that awaits.
For the Hyacks, a lot of good has unfolded over the past few months, and signs that they belong in the mix with a shot at a possible B.C. 4-A basketball championship tourney trip.
Close but no cigar just won’t cut it this year.
“It’s a different environment going from here now,” remarked New West head coach Arno Richter. “My seniors, who were in a decent run last year, know how much fun it is, how exciting it is to win (playoff) games. I can see it in them, they want to go as far as we did last year and they want to get as close as possible where the outcome of the game decides if we get to the provincial championships or not.”
After a solid 6-2 record in Burnaby-New West league play, where they peeled off comfortable wins for the most part but came up a little short against both Burnaby South and Byrne Creek, the gap has closed.
Richter has had to weather the past five weeks without a healthy Ramadan Ali, the Grade 12 point guard who has been a sparkplug for the attack much of the season. Due to an ankle injury, Ali has been used sparingly, but characteristically pushed to get in the tougher games despite not being 100 per cent, Richter noted.
“He’s the same old player but (played) with a tender ankle (last week against Byrne Creek). He doesn’t quite move with the same explosiveness as he normally does, I notice it for sure. But he has a super-high compete level so he makes up for it in other ways,” said Richter.
It makes this week essential, where a heavy game schedule gives way to practice, with league playoffs starting Monday, when New West, as No. 3, plays a yet-to-be determined No. 6, 4:30 p.m. The site had not been determined by Recorddeadline.
Richter said the past week’s results, which saw New West go 1-2 at the Victoria Police tournament, wasn’t the success he had hoped. Although they launched it with a 61-52 win over host St. Michael’s, the squad didn’t have the same energy level. It also showed in the other two games – losses to Shawnigan Lake and a Manitoba team.
It was followed by last Wednesday’s loss to Byrne Creek, a 79-62 decision that offered as much constructive evidence on how close the Hyacks are to a possible breakthrough, as another tough loss against a league rival.
“We had a really nice second quarter and brought it to a two-point game late in the quarter. I think it was 40-34 at the half and I was really happy,” said the New West coach. “(Byrne Creek is) obviously a really nice team. Their guard, Martin Djunga, he is a wonderful player. His ability to get in the lane and attack the paint, and he has a terrific jump stop finish. He gave us fits.”
In the end, Byrne, which ended up clinching top spot with a victory over Burnaby South on Monday, had enough to stave off a late New West rally.
“We hung around for long enough before they drew away from us. It was a good game for us and another measuring stick. Eventually, we have to win those, though.”
On Monday, they wrapped up the regular season with a 70-52 decision over Burnaby Mountain – a win without Ali and where the Hyacks utilized their bench to full effect. A week earlier, they topped Burnaby Central 101-44.
It’s in closing that gap with the Byrne Creeks and Burnaby Souths that is the next challenge, as well as clinching a spot at the Lower Mainlands in a few weeks. Should they earn one of the league’s passes to the regional tourney, things ramp up quickly for the 16-8 Hyacks. They will get but a few chances for one of three berths to the B.C.s.
It puts the focus purely on bridging more gaps, with each step incrementally smaller but more precise in its importance. Richter says the team has taken the task to heart.
“It’s the little things for us. The plays without the ball (are) where we need to
improve. This week is about closeouts, rebounding; it’s about free-throw shooting – it’s all those things that are difference makers in a game when it comes down to it,” he said. “More often than not the teams that beat us don’t have more talent, but they do the little things better than we do.”
One of the leaders this year has taken it that extra step and set an example, Richter added, that others are following. Six-foot-two forward Luka Cuk has made an impression on his coach in the way he’s working on his game and applying the lessons at practice when the game’s on the line.
“(Cuk’s) willingness to make plays without the ball has in some cases changed the game for us,” said Richter. “It wasn’t a one-off. The game against Burnaby North (a 70-61 win on Jan. 10) is the perfect example where we had a really, really poor first half, they were up comfortably and then he began to make defensive plays that turned the game for us.
“He’s had the commitment to make the play without the ball, whether that’s defensively, whether it’s rebounding. He just does it all. The thing I love about it is I can see he has decided to play that way.”
A number of other players have enjoyed solid runs of late, including shooting guard Klyde Macahilo and Grade 11 guard Simon Cruz. Yet getting over the next hurdle requires their biggest team effort ever, if they hope to play at the Langley Events Centre come March.
“We need our starters to be great, we need guys come off the bench and impact the game, you need it all. I was saying last week that for us to beat a Byrne or South we need a perfect game. There’s no facet of the game that can let us down. For us, it means everyone coming on the floor, coming off the bench, they have to impact the game however they can,” said Richter.
