The top-ranked Handsworth Royals were pushed to the limit by the Sentinel Spartans in the always intense Howe Sound AAAA double knockout tournament, needing a final do-or-die win Thursday to take the title. Handsworth claimed comfortable wins over Carson Graham and Argyle to make the final but their championship bid took a hit when Sentinel scored a 65-55 win Wednesday to force the deciding game.
“They came out fighting,” Handsworth head coach Cam Mowat said of Sentinel’s strong showing. “They deserved that win. … When your back is against the wall you tend to get up for those games.”
One night later the same two teams duked it out for all the marbles and Handsworth left little to chance, racing out to a 12-0 lead to start the game and pushing their advantage to 35-12 at halftime.
“Our guys came out fighting,” said Mowat. “It was all defence. We were really clicking on the defensive end, which makes offence a lot easier. … It was forcing turnovers, it was steals, it was everything – and then get easy buckets as a result of the defence.”
Sentinel made it interesting in the third quarter, outscoring the Royals 21-9 in the frame and coming within single digits, but the Royals pulled away in the fourth for a 71-47 victory.
“It’s amazing how much growth we’ve had in the past month, even as recently as two weeks,” said Mowat. “The kids seem a little more focused in practice and it’s resulted big for us in the games. We’ve come a long way in the last two weeks.”
Point guard Blake McLean led the way in the final, racking up 16 points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals to earn player of the game honours.
“We always look to Blake for big buckets when we need them, and he has a knack for delivering those,” said Mowat, adding that the Grade 11 player was on the court for the entire game. “Just to have the motor to keep going for 40 minutes and really deliver buckets when we needed them down the stretch … we’re asking a lot of him and being in Grade 11, he’s really stepped up to that. It’s been quite impressive.”
Grade 12 centre Amir Hajisafar anchored the interior for the Royals and was named tournament MVP.
“He was a beast,” said Mowat. “Even in our last game he didn’t stats-wise have the most impressive line, but totally changed the game for us. He was running the defence, communicating the most for our team. He was really a game changer for us.”
Ben Grant, the league’s co-player of the year with Sentinel’s Andrew Davis, battled through illness in the Howe Sound tournament but still collected 11 points and nine rebounds in the final win, while forward Stanley Choo added 18 points for Handsworth.
The Royals will now set their sights on the provincial AAAA championships running March 8-11 at Langley Events Centre.
“We’re looking to make waves for sure,” said Mowat. “We kind of see ourselves as the underdogs, we haven’t been ranked or honourable mention provincially this year, and so we do feel like we’ve been overlooked. That’s not necessarily a bad position to be in – we’re hoping to come in and surprise some people.”
