The Argyle Pipers powered past the top-ranked Carson Graham Eagles 70-64 Wednesday night to win the North Shore senior girls AAA basketball title.
While it’s not much of a surprise that an Argyle team would accomplish such a feat, it is quite remarkable that this particular Pipers team was able to get to this point after a tough start to the season.
“It’s been a tough year, we lost a lot of games at the beginning of the year,” said Pipers head coach Anthony Beyrouti. “We lost to a lot of people, and we weren’t sure there was hope.”
The list of teams that beat the Pipers includes Carson Graham, who whipped Argyle by 36 points back in mid-December. The Pipers, however, never stopped working as they battled through North Shore league play and into the playoffs, said Beyrouti.
“The answer has always been put in more work, and they’ve done it consistently and it’s been great to watch.”
The work all paid off Wednesday when Argyle went onto Carson’s home court, took an early lead and then held off run after run from the Eagles to claim the North Shore banner in front of a full house. The Pipers were led by their star Grade 12 Georgia Swant, bound for Simon Fraser University next year, who put up 26 points, seven rebounds, six steals and five assists.
“Georgia Swant has really taken a huge leadership position with the team and led the troops,” said Beyrouti, adding that it’s been great to see the dynamic between Swant, who took 36 shots during the game, and her teammates. “Sometimes you have a player and your teammates are envious or jealous of your success, but her teammates actually want her to have more success. It’s a testament to her work ethic that she has and the person that she is off the court, because the players really rally around her and they want her to shoot more, not shoot less.”
Laura Holt scored 17 points with 18 rebounds while Chloe Walton was a huge factor on defence, helping the team slow down Carson Graham stars Tanis Metcalfe and Alex Walker.
“She guarded their best player and really made her earn everything,” said Beyrouti. “She was unbelievable. She didn’t really show up on the scoresheet but she made a huge impact in the game. People like that, senior leadership, it makes a big difference in a game like that.”
Metcalfe, a 6-2 forward, still managed to put up 15 points and 17 rebounds, while Carson’s Chloe Brebner had a monster game, hitting seven three pointers on her way to 27 points and eight rebounds.
These Argyle and Carson teams have been battling for several years, with Carson claiming last year’s North Shore title with a tight win over the Pipers on Argyle’s home floor.
“It’s serious,” Beyrouti said with a laugh, when asked about the rivalry. “It’s not playing games. When I started coaching at Argyle I didn’t really understand. I was like, ‘Guys, this is just another game.’ But every year there’s more tension in the air. These groups have been battling each other in the North Shore playoffs for Grade 8, 9, 10, 11, 12. Every year.”
Carson Graham head coach Cameron Nelson complimented Argyle on their strong defence in the final.
“Argyle came ready to play a very tight defensive game,” he said, adding that he hoped the teams would meet again in the Lower Mainland championships. “We knew after our upset win last year over Argyle they would come ready to battle, and now we were the ones to lose. But this will only set us up for a better run in the upcoming Crehan Cup where we hope to meet Argyle again in the finals.”
The Crehan Cup Lower Mainland championships start this weekend at Lord Byng Secondary, moving back to the North Shore for playoff games next Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The final is scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 17 at 7:30 p.m. at Carson Graham.
Three automatic provincial berths will be up for grabs at the Crehan Cup, and Beyrouti is hoping that his Pipers can continue their late-season push through the Lower Mainland playoffs.
“We’ve got a lot of seniors, and they played hungry,” he said of his team’s late-season surge. “I think anything is possible, but realistically we just need to take care of the next one, and if we take care of that, good things will happen.”
Complete schedules and results for the Lower Mainland championships can be found here.
