It was double delight for two straight nights for North Shore basketball fans as the Howe Sound senior boys championship finals raged in a new doubleheader format hosted by Sutherland secondary.
In the end the host Sabres gave their boisterous home fans something to shout about as they held off the Windsor Dukes Thursday night to end a thrilling set of back-to-back games played 24 hours apart, clinching the AAA title with a 54-50 win. In the other half of the doubleheader the West Vancouver Highlanders finished off an unbelievable week of upsets by beating the top-seeded Handsworth Royals for the second straight night to take the Howe Sound title in the newly formed AAAA division.
Highlanders ovethrow Royals
It was a feat for West Van to even be in the final, let alone win it. The Highlanders, third-place finishers in the regular season behind Handsworth and Sentinel, lost their opening playoff game of the double-knockout tournament against Sentinel last Friday. Now facing sudden death in every game, the Highlanders went on the run of their lives, winning four games in four nights to take the title.
Even their head coach, Ken Krohman, had doubts about their chances of winning after that first-game loss.
“As a coach you know that all you can do is encourage them to move forward and sometimes you don’t think they’re going to be able to get there,” he said after the win. “You just tell them you’re going to be proud of them as long as they continue to work hard and as long as they believe in each other.”
The West Vancouver players did continue to work hard — that was obvious to anyone watching their hot streak unfold — but they also continued to believe, particularly the team’s Grade 12 leaders, even when the odds were at their worst, the coach said.
“These Grade 12s, they all believed that they could do it,” said Krohman. “They just decided as Grade 12s they weren’t going to be denied this opportunity. It only comes around once and they decided that that was going to be their time.”
Leading the way was tournament MVP Luke Ryan, a Grade 12 guard who scored 24 points in West Van’s 63-46 win over Handsworth on Wednesday night before dropping 26 in the clincher on Thursday. Ryan was at his most potent when the stakes were highest, scoring 25 points in the second half of Thursday’s finale.
“Luke is a great all-around player,” said Krohman. “He’s a quiet, unassuming guy and every once in a while you can see that fire in his eyes. And when he gets that fire in his eyes he’s almost unstoppable.”
Krohman credited guard Matt Fedak and forward Carson Batt, both Grade 12s, for setting the tone for the rest of the team to follow.
“(They) are the guys that are in the gym all the time,” he said. “They’re the guys that are the communicators, they make sure that everyone is prepared mentally as well as physically. Both are very mature young men and took on the responsibility of running this team.”
Fedak was named a tournament all-star along with teammate Phillip Jessic, West Van’s hard working man in the middle. Also earning all-star honours were Adam Karmali, a dynamite point guard who scored 24 on a losing effort Thursday night for Handsworth; Finn Killam, also of Handsworth, and Sentinel’s Austin Penrose.
Krohman also credited Grade 12 Alec Kvarnstrom and Grade 11 Liam Mahon for playing shutdown defence. There was a lot of glory to spread around on this balanced West Van team.
“I’m so proud of the way they’ve conducted themselves all week,” said Krohman. “These guys were a basketball-first group. As Grade 8s they came up together and all the way through you could tell that this was important to them. It wasn’t something that they were prepared to give up on. And they were able to do it.”
Krohman will now need to get his team ready for a trip to the AAAA provincial championships. “It’s a big event,” he said. “It’ll be as much our job to prepare them mentally as it will be to continue to practise our basketball skills.”
Sabres hold off Dukes
The story was a lot different though the result was the same for the Sutherland Sabres as they fought tooth and nail to beat Windsor for the AAA crown.
Sutherland, the tournament’s top seed, was a one-man show during a loss on Wednesday as Grade 12 star Graddy Zubaidi was the only player who could get anything going. Zubaidi, in fact, scored the team’s first 18 points — no other Sabre managed to make a bucket until late in the second quarter. Windsor held on for the 59-53 win to force Thursday’s battle.
And what a battle it was. With large student sections cheering for both teams, the Dukes and the Sabres made a lot of noise on the floor as well. Windsor was led by super-fast Grade 11 guard Khalil Shivji who used his speed to get to the hoop or clear room for himself to unleash his sharp three-point shot.
Zubaidi again led the way for Sutherland, using his size, speed and strength to score 22 points while making defensive plays and creating offence for others all over the floor. This time, however, he had a lot of help from his fellow Sabres.
With the game on the line in the final five minutes of play Grade 12 point guard Cole Keffer came up with a huge steal and layup and then popped a jumper off a feed from Zubaidi to push the lead from five points to nine. Windsor fought back with Shivji corralling a missed free throw and jumping back behind the arc to hit a miracle three pointer to cut the lead back down to three with 14 seconds left. Keffer then sunk one free throw to make it 54-50 and Windsor’s last-ditch attempts fell short.
“Right now, it’s a relief,” Sutherland head coach Brad Thornhill said after the final buzzer sounded. “Windsor played unbelievable basketball for the last two days. Down to the final second, I had no idea how it was going to end up. I’m just glad in the fourth quarter our guys really stepped up, got that seven/eight point lead. And credit to Windsor — we barely hung on.”
The game hinged on just a few key possessions in the final quarter and it was then that all of the Sabres stepped up.
“Graddy did his thing and I think we had just enough supporting cast,” said Thornhill. “We still had a lot of open looks that we didn’t hit but the guys did just enough. That little run in the fourth quarter when we got up eight, that was the difference.”
Zubaidi was a no-brainer as tournament MVP. Thornhill had trouble coming up with a complete list of everything that the six-three swingman does for his team.
“Well let’s see: he scores, he rebounds, he passes, he defends — everything? Maybe a little bit more than everything?” he said with a laugh. “All these accolades couldn’t come to a better guy. He’s just a quiet, humble guy. All his teammates love him. He’s a great guy around the school. He is the best player I’ve ever coached and he’s like family to me now. I’m so happy for him. He deserves it.”
Tournament all-star nods went to Sutherland’s Keffer and Jeremy Elliot as well as Windsor’s Hunter Mason, Braden Snelling and Shivji. Thornhill raved about the effort put forth by the Dukes.
“They’re good coaches and those guys were very well prepared for that game,” he said. “They ran great stuff, they competed hard, they hit big shot after big shot. And that Khalil Shivji — I think he and Graddy should have tied for MVP. That kid was unbelievable.”
Sutherland will head to the AAA provincial championships as one of the contenders — they were listed fifth in provincial rankings posted Feb. 26.
“If teams aren’t ready for Graddy, they’re going to be in big trouble,” said Thornhill, adding that whatever happens from now on, the Sabres have already made their mark. “I’m so happy for our school. Our fans were great — all their buddies were out watching. This is the high school stuff you remember for years and years and years. I’m so happy we got it.”
