Rebels send Bays packing in upset of the day
For the first three minutes of the game, the scoreboard lacked points on either end. But it was the Burnaby South Rebels who went for a 9-0 run to kick off the second matchup of the day.
Oak Bay’s Diego Maffia fired back with a wet 3 in an attempt to reverse the momentum on the court.
The Rebels played like a 1st seed team in the first quarter, showing the Bays who’s boss on the court.
Maffia was the only one to find the net for Oak Bay, scoring 5 points for his team, but still trailing by an 11-point deficit.
In the second quarter, the Bays began to step it up by sinking 2 consecutive 3s. However, they struggled on D, allowing for their opponents to go up 14 points at the midway mark.
Oak Bay’s head coach Chris Franklin screamed what most of the crowd must have been thinking: “What are you doing?” For some reason, the island boys were not playing the high calibre of basketball we are used to seeing.
For much of the quarter, the Bays struggled to find each other on the floor. With too many missed shots and broken screens, they continued to slide on the scoreboard. Thanks to a buzzer beater layup, the Bays put up two more to make it 36-22 at the end of the half.
The tide started to roll in as the Oak Bay Bays came back from a 14-point deficit to surpass the Rebels on the scoreboard. For the first five minutes of the third, the Bays completely shut down their opponents by blocking every single shot attempt.
Oak Bay went for a ridiculous 22-0 run.
Though the Rebels defended well in enemy paint, the Bays held the lead with 51-48 heading into the final 10 minutes.
As far as final quarters go, this one began with a fireworks show. Burnaby South brought the score to within just one point and then, a substance on the court disrupted an onslaught of players after a doggy pile up.
Following the mishap, the Rebels played with the same pressure they started the game with. They went for a 14-0 run to take the lead over the Bays at the five-minute mark.
Caelan Scott finally hit a layup for the Bays. After finding themselves at the foul line, they brought the score to within just 8 points. The Rebels heated up and hit a play-clock buzzer 3 to increase their lead to 11.
With only two minutes left in the game, Burnaby South led 66-54.
Oak Bay could not seem to grab their boards or hit their layups. With everything going in the Rebels favour, the Bays began to crumble on the floor.
It was Maffia who dropped another three 3s to take the score to within just 9 points. But foul trouble put Burnaby South into bonus early, keeping a solid lead of 12 points over Oak Bay.
With what may be deemed the upset of the day, the Burnaby South Rebels defeated the Oak Bay Bays 78-66, clinching their spot in the semi-finals.
Rebels’ Jusuf Sehic won POG honours with a stellar 17 points—all on rebounds.
In the end, Burnaby South pinpointed exactly what they needed to do in order to knock down Oak Bay. Though Diego Maffia was able to score an amazing 43 points for the Bays, it wasn’t enough to carry his team. Only two other Oak Bay players were able to find the net.
Rebels’ coach Mike Bell was thrilled with his team following the game.
“This season’s been really tough. There are a lot of guys on this team that always want to demonstrate their talents. To hold Oak Bay to what we held them to was phenomenal on the defensive end. That was a great job on our end,” he said of his boys.
He says the message to the boys has always been, “Why not us?” and will continue to be their motto going forward.
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Written by: Crystal Scuor
