The Douglas College Royals will be the host and a dark horse at this week’s PacWest provincial basketball championships.
The men’s and women’s Royals, sixth- and fifth-place finishers during the regular season, will both open play in the quarter-finals at the New Westminster campus on Thursday.
The Royal men lost all three starts against its quarter-final rival Quest in league play this season.
The Douglas women took one game from quarter-final foe Capilano during the regular season.
The women are also coming off an important win in their final league game, knocking Langara out of the post season by a 64-45 score.
Shanice Fuoco-Guy led the Royals with 10 points, nine rebounds and four assists. The second-year guard finished the season third in assists, averaging 2.9 helpers per game.
New Westminster’s Jettie McLaughlin added six points and three boards against Langara.
On the men’s side, Douglas was overwhelmed 102-59 by regular season champion Langara in its final league game.
Grant Campbell had a team-high 12 points, including six-of-six from the foul line.
The Royals Andrew Baron finished in the top 10 in the PacWest in scoring, rebounding and assists per game, including placing third in the province in total rebounds with 177 boards.
The provincials get underway at 1 p.m. with Quest University playing Kwantlen Polytechnic in women’s hoops.
Medal games will be played all day Saturday, beginning at 1 p.m. with the women’s bronze final.
