Bballnationals Boys: Day 3
9:00am Games
Westshore Dawgs vs Shooting Stars
Shooting Stars shot ahead with a strong lead in the beginning of the half; Westshore came within 2 points and eventually tied it up at 22 with just 3 minutes to go. With a bit of back-and-forth play, the Dawgs stayed up 26-25 heading into the second.
The game continued in tightly contested fashion--both teams jumping ahead by a mere point of each other for the first chunk of the half. Westshore splashed in 3 and then 2 to finally take a bigger lead over the Stars. But with the D clutching up, the Stars sunk another two layups to get within just one again. With under 4 minutes to go, the Dawgs led 51-50.
Westshore proved themselves to be the alpha Dawgs this morning by catching the Shooting Stars off guard and dimming their light at the end of the game. Final score: 63-52.
Player of the Game # 1 Danny Song says this win is a reflection of his team coming together in the end.
“We just focused on breaking the press, passing better, and looking for the open shot. [I’m looking forward to] just winning the whole thing hopefully.”
Northern Bounce U17 vs Salmon Arm Synergy
Northern Bounce was quick with on their passing; they kept the ball moving between players consistently to go up 11 points on Salmon Arm Synergy by the end of the first half.
Bounce led 26-15.
Though Synergy gave us a show in the second, they just could not keep up with Northern Bounce. With their first W of the day, Northern Bounce defeated Salmon Arm Synergy 54-42.
“We haven’t been playing too well this tournament,” said Bounce’s Coach Jordan Yu on the big win this morning. “So finally having a good game is pretty big for us. It’s a good confidence boost. We want to end our season on a positive note. I know this is not the last game, but it’s a step in the right direction.”
Bata Sports vs WolfPack
Though the WolfPack took charge of this game in the beginning, Bata Sports got fancy on the Field House courts to lead 33-21 after the first.
Bata continued to press and put up points over their opponent, eventually defeating them with a final score of 65-52.
Notable players include Bata’s # 35 who had a huge 29 points and WolfPack’s # 57 with 14.
Spotters vs Shooting Stars
A pull up three from 46 seemed to spark the Shooting Stars, as they went on a huge run and led 40-23 at the half. The second half saw the Spotters mount a bit of a comeback, scoring 13 to make it a 12 point game with just over five to go. At that point, both teams traded buckets before the Spotters were forced to foul and send the Shooting Stars to the line. Final score was 63-50 for the Shooting Stars.
North Stars vs Dynamite
North Stars began with a deep three from 4, and went on a 9-2 run to start this game. They kept on the pressure, scoring plenty of points in the first half, but Dynamite were able to stay close by picking apart their opponents zone defence. They continued to pile up the points in the second half, eventually winning 84-48.
“We were passing, we were moving, we were cutting” said North Stars Jonathan Tucker on what went right for his team in this one. “With the ball movement, we were able to get easy buckets.”
Spartans vs Northern Bounce
The Spartans raced out to a 17-5 lead and led by 16 after the first half. Northern Bounce managed to put up a better offensive effort in the second half and make it a game late, going on a 17-2 run to make it just an eight point game. But the Northwest got two clutch buckets to give themselves some more breathing room, winning this one 50-36.
“[We just] worked hard and did what we were suppose to do” said the Spartans Jaydeo Bernardo. “We worked hard and so on.”
10:15am Games
Grassroots Elite vs Dynamite U15 Red
Grassroots Elite looked sleepy in the opening minutes of the first half, since they didn’t have the same hold over their opponent as usual. Dynamite was fired up and embraced every single play that went in their favour--in other words, you wouldn’t know they were down by 15 points at the 10-minute mark.
What stood out about Dynamite was their sheer giddiness to be on the court with Grassroots. Every shot that went in translated into a furry of shouts and jumping bodies from the bench. And despite full-on carnage, they were all smiles at the end of the first half.
With a few badass dunks under their belt, Grassroots Elite led 50-6.
Despite a monster lead, Dynamite kicked it up in the second and definitely had some fun on the court. Even though Grassroots destroyed them by a final score of 85-17, the boys Red U15s happily shook their opponents hand after the game as if it were a close one.
Grassroots’ Elijah Fisher spoke with us after the big win about the difference between club tournaments in BC (like bballnationals) opposed to Toronto:
“Teams are more alive; more people there and trying to get into you, trying to stop you,” he said. “The most fun at this tournament for us was getting to see different teams that we’ve played. We’re just stuck in Toronto and America owns Toronto teams.”
Fisher had 13 points in today’s monstrous victory.
Dynamite U14 vs StormHawks U15
At the half the StormHawks led 35-16 over Dynamite U14. With a promising 11-0 run in the second, Dynamite attempted to make a comeback, but with the Hawks continuing to press, it was nearly impossible.
StormHawks grabbed a win in their first matchup of the day with a final score of 67-50.
Notable players: StormHawks’ # 11 had 10 points while # 13 had 9; Dynamite’s # 2 contributed 15 points for his team.
Burnaby Knights vs MacHoops U15
Right off the jump, this game was tight! With MacHoops taking a slight lead at the end of the first 28-23 over Burnaby.
The second half putted saw the nights don their war armour, as they amped up their D and kept a dominant presence in the paint, too. Though MacHoops stayed ahead most of the half, the Knights finally equalized and took this epic battle to OT!
Overtime went completely in MacHoops favour, though, as they controlled possession and put up too many points for Burnaby to recover.
MacHoops defeated the Knights 64-58.
# 16 scored the majority of points for his team--all but one layup being foul shots.
Dynamite vs Red Rush
A tense first half ended 25-22 — both teams couldn’t get on a run to separate themselves at all. It was tied at 28 early in the second, and then at 38 at the seven minute mark. Neither team was giving the other anything.
That was until the Dynamite scored six straight point to take the lead for the first time all game. It looked like they had the momentum. But great defence from the Red Rush stopped that, they got clutch points on the fast break, and scored seven straight to eventually win this contest 62-57.
“We just wanted to go hard, and we went hard from the beginning” explained Carter Wayne when asked about the team’s mindset heading into this game. “It was a bit rough, but we just pulled off and played tougher defence.”
Carter had 16 points in the game.
NextGen vs Doggpound
The Doggpound struggled against the stingy NextGen defence early, getting many of their passes tipped and shots blocked. That helped give NextGen a 25-21 halftime lead.
NextGen went on a mini 6-0 run to start the second half. But the Doggpound tied it up at 33, the tying point coming off a nice passing play from the fast break. They would trade baskets for most of the half, until eight straight from the Doggpound gave them the final edge. Final score was 58-52.
“We just focused and locked in” said the Doggpound’s Isaiah Merk after the game, who had 5 points. “Locked in on defence was the main thing. We moved the ball well on offence and just attacked when we had to.”
Northern Bounce vs Rock Elite