The Hub’s Top 10 Teams: # 1
There’s no ‘I’ in team, but there sure as hell is one in Miguel Tomley.
Not saying this dude is the only reason why we chose the Tamanawis Wildcats as our number one team. The boys of Tami put the Wild in Wildcats this past season boasting tournament wins and record-breaking points overall.
Some say the team would have won the entire Provincial Championships had they beat Semiahmoo during the semi-finals. Not to mention, they also beat Brentwood College—the 2A 2018 Provincial Champs—at the Emerald Tournament. Many fans voted for College to be the # 1 pick on our Top 10 Teams; so Tami beating them on a neutral court has to count for something.
AND they took home gold at the Fraser Valleys, too.
Tomley and the Wildcats were pretty unstoppable this year. With key pieces around the dominant 3-point shooter, Tami sunk their teeth into many of their opponents and left them gasping for breath.
Let’s look at the facts: Miguel Tomley was an absolute BEAST on the court. He put up 66 points in the third place game against Belmont. 66! That’s the second most single-point production in the history of Provincials, dating all the way back to 1946. Nathan Vogstad currently holds the record with 75 points in one game.
But Tomley did smash the record for total points over four games at the tournament with a whopping 180 points combined.
Okay, let’s back this up a bit.
It may sound as though we’re recognizing Tami as # 1 simply because they’re a “one-man show”. But that’s completely false. I like to joke about Tomley basically being the LeBron James of Tamanawis; however, take a good, hard look around him.
Jeevan Sidhu is a Swiss Army knife: he literally does everything.
He was straight up the backbone playmaker for the Wildcats. We may not pump his tires much, but we know talent when we see it and without Sidhu, Tomley wouldn't have been set up for half the shots he hit. He seemed to be in the right place at the right time, not only at Provies — throughout the entire season.
And this kid is just getting started. He’s still got another season under his belt to step up and shine (sans Tomley).
Don’t forget about Akash Dhaliwal, either.
Mans was hot at the Fraser Valley finals against W.J. Mouat with two clutch steals and two buckets to solidify an overtime win for his team. He played a mean D and almost always had an open shot.
The rest of the team seemed to work around Tomley extremely well, too.
That being said, it’s not for us to decide what style of play a team chooses that the rest of that team will buy into. They all bought into Tomley. They utilized a strong link and made it even stronger by each doing their job on the court. They executed plays that helped a star guard dominate the competition. If your team had an elite athlete that could do the same, wouldn’t you work your squad around them to get the best results as well?
Moral of the story: the Tamanawis Wildcats played very consistently over the entire season and were always in the running to win tournaments. End of discussion.
Fans had Tami at third place in our Top 10 Teams and here are some of the justifications:
“Beast of a team.”
“Should have won the 4A chip.”
“Best all around.”
And the top response from y’all who had the Wildcats at # 1:
“Tomley.”
Looks like he ain’t so #overrated after all.
Oh, and here’s a snap of the final pie chart of the fan’s choices:
As always, if you tend to disagree with our rankings (moreover, with this team claiming the top spot), let us know why in the comment section.
Up next: We may have snubbed a few players from this past season in our Top 5 rankings—and even top futures. So we decided to try out a new segment called “Hub Snubs”, where we showcase some of the stars that we’ve been sleeping on!
Stay tuned for the Hub Snubs, comin’ at you exclusively on our Instagram page.
Written by: Crystal Scuor