Bays Take Title at 2017 Tsumura Basketball Invitational

Grade 11 guard Diego Mafia put on a stunning show in Saturday night’s final of the Tsumura Basketball Invitational at the Langley Event Centre, leading the Oak Bay Bays to an 86-68 victory over Holy Cross. Mafia showed his array of offensive moves in the final, poured in 27 points, and earning tournament MVP honours. The game was a rematch of the third-fourth place game from last year’s Telus AAAA Championship Tournament. The Bays came into the weekend’s action as the No. 3 ranked team in the province, and showed they deserved the early season hype, winning games by an average margin of 34.5 points, in a tournament that featured some of the better teams from across BC. The Crusaders actually led by as many as 9 points (22-13) in the opening quarter. But led by the hot shooting of Mafia, and grade 11 guard Caelan Scott ( who would finish with 24 points before fouling out in the 4th quarter) the Bays took the lead in the second quarter and would never give it up. Uy Ologhola led the way offensively for Holy Cross scoring 24 points in the loss.

Earlier in the day the Mouat Hawks beat the Terry Fox Ravens 71-58 to finish in third place in the tournament. Harvir Garcha led the way for the No. 7 ranked Hawks scoring 28 points. Jacob Mand had 26 in a losing effort for the Ravens.

Walnut Grove finished in fifth place with a 100-92 win over Lord Tweedsmuir. Last year’s AAAA MVP James Woods put on a show, scoring an unbelievable 44 points in the Gators win. Teammate Jarrett Jacobs hit six three-pointers, and finished with 28 points.

Burnaby South, who came into the tournament as the No. 1 ranked team in the province, knocked off the Yale Lions 98-72 in the game for seventh-eighth place.

Written by: Jon Kennedy