The road map may still have a few blank spots, but the New Westminster Hyacks are aware of what’s ahead as they hunt for one of the few berths to the provincials.
Falling to Burnaby South 94-64 on Monday in the Burnaby-New West senior boys basketball league playoff final, New West will need to come better prepared if it hopes to weather the storm at the Lower Mainland tournament, head coach Ted Cusick said.
“(Burnaby South) put it to us. They played well and we didn’t,” noted Cusick. “We started the game off with a dunk, and I thought ‘Well, here we go,’ but Burnaby ran up the next 12 points.”
Although they only trailed by six after one quarter and 11 at halftime, the Hyacks had no answers against the Rebels’ two post players, Sasha Vujisic and Aidan Wilson, and were thrown for a loop by some strong three-point shooting.
“We struggled against their big guys, and then they lit it up with something like 11 threes,” added Cusick. “I didn’t prepare for that.”
In the third quarter the two teams combined to rustle the netting for 50 points – unfortunately Burnaby South cashed in 31 points of those to run away with it.
“Our game plan didn’t come to fruition, unfortunately,” Cusick said. “We came out flat and nervous and just didn’t play well.”
Ethan Rivas counted 16 points for New West, while AJ Chol netted 12 points and six rebounds, and Mo Al-Ghreibawi added 11 points. The team was without Luke Burton, who had been one of their steadier players in the team’s earlier playoff wins, 89-64 over Cariboo Hill, and 89-84 over Byrne Creek.
Both Chol and Rivas were named to the playoff all-star team.
Cusick said both were deserving of the honour.
“Chol has really come along. I try to get him to work inside at post but he likes to take the ball outside and come in. He’s still getting better.”
Finishing second in the Burnaby-New West league guarantees an opening home game for next Tuesday (Feb. 19), although the seeding for the 12-team Lower Mainlands won’t be completed until Sunday.
Cusick expects ranked rivals Burnaby South (No. 2), Vancouver College (No. 3), Kitsilano (No. 4) and St. George’s (No. 8) will be seeded one-to-four as reigning league champions and top independent program in the zone, also receiving a bye to the second round. After that, he’s hoping New West is spotted either fifth or sixth, guaranteeing the Hyacks a home game next Tuesday.
Also advancing from the Burnaby-New West league are Burnaby North, which finished fourth after getting bumped 95-59 by 3-A Byrne Creek, Moscrop and Burnaby Central.
After one round on higher-seeded team's court, the tournament shifts to Kitsilano, for consolation bracket, and the Richmond Oval for the 4-A final on March 1.
