It was a high-energy week on the courts as Blue Jags basketball teams at every level opened league play and competed in early-season tournaments with impressive results. The Senior Boys earned a league-opening win and a fourth-place finish at the ISAA Tournament, while the Junior Girls and Junior Boys each posted strong tournament performances and decisive league victories. Middle School teams continued their momentum with multiple playoff wins and championship berths, marking an exciting start to the winter season at SMUS.
Senior Boys Basketball
The SMUS Blue Jags opened their Lower Island Senior Boys AA Basketball league regular season with a 66-56 win over visiting St. Andrew’s last Tuesday night. Grade 12 guard Will Bateson led the way with 23 points while fellow senior Dani Pelyhe added 21. Grade 11 forward Henry Lake posted a double-double, including 15 points, in the victory.
The Blue Jags will travel to St. Andrew’s for a league re-match with the Saints this coming Wednesday. Tip-off is at 7 pm.
SMUS also travelled to Mulgrave School in West Vancouver this past week for the Independent Schools Athletic Association (ISAA) Senior Boys Tournament. The Blue Jags finished fourth in the event after falling 83-51 to the host school in the third-place game. Dani Pelyhe paced SMUS with 18 points in the loss while Bateson added 11 and Lake nine.
Bateson poured in 37 points — including nine threes — to lead the Blue Jags to a 91-84 win over St. George’s ‘B’ in their ISAA Tournament opener on Thursday. Pelyhe added 34, as the SMUS backcourt duo combined for 71 points in total, and Lake contributed 10.
In a Friday semifinal, Pelyhe scored 33 points for the Jags in a 70-52 loss to eventual tournament champion St. John’s School.
Senior Girls Basketball
The defending BC Champion SMUS Senior Girls Basketball team will tip off its season this Tuesday, travelling to Oak Bay for a Lower Island Division 1 game at 5:45 pm.
The Blue Jags will also take part in the Victoria Christmas Tournament this Friday and Saturday at Pacific Christian School, Claremont and Spectrum gyms. SMUS will open that tournament on Friday with a 1:45 pm game at PCS against Mark Isfeld of Courtenay, a team expected to be the Blue Jags’ main Island AAA rival this season.
The winner of that game will face Coquitlam Riverside in a 5:15 pm game Friday, also at PCS. Among the other notable squads included in the 11-team Purple Division draw include North Vancouver Argyle, Charles Best of Coquitlam, Seaquam of Delta, host PCS, Oak Bay, and Bishop Carroll High School of Calgary.
Junior Girls Basketball
The SMUS Junior Girls beat Oak Bay 65-16 in the fifth-place game of the Victoria Junior Christmas Tip-off tournament on Saturday afternoon. The Junior Jags, who went 3-1 overall in the tournament, also defeated Alberni 63-14 earlier on Saturday.
On Friday’s opening day of the tournament, the Jags downed Ballenas 65-19 and lost to Windsor 42-35.
The SMUS Juniors opened Lower Island league play with a 50-5 win over Mount Douglas last Wednesday at SMUS.
The Blue Jags will play in the Junior Victoria Christmas Tournament this weekend. They will meet the winner of a Spectrum-Stelly’s game in a 4:30 pm contest on Friday at Spectrum.
Junior Boys Basketball
The SMUS Junior Boys Basketball team got its season off to a solid start this past week with a 54-30 home victory over Brookes Westshore in Lower Island Division 1 league action on Wednesday night.
Forward William Low led the Junior Jags with a 22-point effort while guard Alex MacKay added 17 points and eight rebounds and forward Will Hamilton pulled down five rebounds and contributed a basket in limited but effective minutes.
The SMUS Juniors also competed in the Victoria Junior Christmas Tip-off Tournament this past weekend, going 2-1 and finishing ninth in the 16-team draw.
The Jags opened with a tough 64-61 loss to Nanaimo’s Dover Bay – a BC Junior Top 10 Honourable Mention – on Friday afternoon at Stelly’s. After jumping out to an early 18-point lead, poor shot selection, 25 turnovers and several defensive lapses by SMUS allowed Dover to complete an impressive comeback that included 14 three-pointers.
Low scored 20 points and added 13 rebounds in the loss. Centre Matt Nacey turned in one of his best games in a SMUS uniform with 18 points and 14 rebounds, and MacKay contributed 14 points and 11 rebounds.
The Blue Jags coasted to an 86-33 win over Timberline of Campbell River in their second game of the tournament on Friday night. Four SMUS players scored in double figures including Evan Pressello with 18, Low (15), Grade 9 call-up Kian Harris (13) and Isaac Ren (12). Nacey and Hamilton combined for 39 total rebounds in the win.
That moved the Juniors into a Saturday contest against Belmont. Point guard Manav Kang scored 13 points, was instrumental in breaking the Belmont fullcourt pressure, and made a number of key plays to lead SMUS to a 53-42 win. MacKay scored 13 points as well and had a strong overall game, while Low scored 11 points and Nacey contributed nine points and 12 rebounds.
The Junior Boys travel to Spectrum for their second league game this Tuesday at 5:45 pm. They will also play in the ISAA Junior Tournament this coming weekend at Brentwood College, where they will meet the winner of Shawnigan Lake School and Mulgrave in their first game at 10 am on Friday.
Grade 9 Boys Basketball
After patiently preparing for all of November, the talented SMUS Grade 9 Boys Basketball team will finally see some game action this week. The Blue Jags open their Lower Island Division 2 league schedule with a home game Thursday against Glenlyon Norfolk School at 5:45 pm in the Single Gym.
The Grade 9 Jags will also compete in the ISAA Junior Tournament this coming weekend at Brentwood, filling in for a Lower Mainland school that dropped out of the draw. The Grade 9s will meet the winner of Brentwood College and West Point Grey Academy in a 10 am game on Friday.
Middle School Boys Basketball
The SMUS Grade 8 Boys Basketball team won back-to-back playoff games last week to qualify for this Monday’s Lower Island semifinals at Spencer Middle School. The Blue Jags will take on host Spencer at 3:45 pm on Monday, with the winner advancing to the Lower Island Grade 8 championship game on Wednesday.
The Grade 8s dispatched Dunsmuir 74-24 in a quarterfinal last Monday and then beat PCS 66-37 on Wednesday. SMUS is 9-1 so far this season, including playoffs.
Meanwhile, the SMUS Grade 6 and Grade 7 Boys teams have both advanced to their respective Lower Island championship games this Tuesday. Both teams will meet visiting squads from Arbutus in those finals, which begin at 4:15 pm (Grade 6s) and 5:15 pm (Grade 7s) in the Single Gym.
The Grade 6 Boys beat Royal Oak 31-9 in a quarterfinal last Tuesday before downing Bayside 26-16 in a semifinal on Thursday. The Grade 7s defeated Royal Oak 64-42 in a Tuesday quarterfinal before beating Glanford 50-31 in a semifinal on Thursday.
Middle School Girls Basketball
The SMUS Grade 7 Girls will also play in a Lower Island championship game on Tuesday, meeting PCS in a home game at 3:15 pm, the first contest of what will be a championship triple-header with the Grade 6 and 7 Boys finals in the Single Gym.
The Grade 7 Girls defeated Royal Oak 57-10 in a quarterfinal last Tuesday before downing Centre Mountain Lellum 51-16 in a Thursday semifinal.
The SMUS Grade 6 Girls, who played in the same league as the 7s this year, beat Dunsmuir 34-22 in a crossover game on Tuesday to close their season.
The SMUS Grade 8 Girls’ season came to an end on Wednesday with a quarterfinal loss at Royal Oak.
