SMUS athletes continued to deliver strong performances this week, highlighted by a dramatic tournament run from the Senior Girls Basketball team, a solid showing by the Junior Boys at the Gary Taylor Classic, and national-level competition for SMUS Squash athletes at the Canadian Junior Open.
Senior Girls Basketball
School may have already been out for the holiday break, but the SMUS Senior Girls Basketball team had a busy week on the hardwood nonetheless.
The Blue Jags played four times, going an impressive 3-1 overall, as they picked up a Lower Island Division 1 league win and then won two of their three games in the annual A Tournament for Emily in Coquitlam to wrap up the pre-Christmas portion of their schedule.
Guard Elspeth Rodger scored 24 points to lead SMUS to a wild come-from-behind 66-62 overtime win over Semiahmoo on Friday morning in their final game of the tournament. The Blue Jags trailed for most of the game, down 39-27 at the half and 55-36 after the third quarter. But they battled back, went on a 21-2 run to close out the fourth to force OT, and then secured the victory in extra time. Rodger was named player of the game and forward Mikaela Dubé added 22 points and 15 rebounds in the victory.
The Senior Girls opened the tournament on Wednesday at Riverside Secondary with a 58-25 win over Heritage Woods. Dubé led the Jags with 20 points and eight rebounds to earn player-of-the-game honours, while Rodger contributed 14 points and 14 rebounds.
The Senior Girls’ only loss of the week was a 62-35 decision to BC AAA’s No.1-ranked Langley Christian Lightning on Thursday. Dubé had 10 points in the loss for the AAA fourth-ranked Jags.
SMUS tipped off its busy week with a 79-63 Lower Island league win on Tuesday night at Pacific Christian. Dubé led the way with 28 points, while Rodger contributed 21, and backcourt mate Mya Beare added nine.
The Senior Girls will be training hard over much of the holiday period before playing St. Albert, Alta., in an exhibition game on Friday, Jan. 2, at 10 am. That game will be followed by the SMUS Junior Girls taking on St. Albert at 11:45 am.
Junior Boys Basketball
The SMUS Junior Boys Basketball team put in a strong showing last week in the annual Gary Taylor Classic tournament at Oak Bay, finishing with a 2-1 record and taking fourth-place in the highly competitive eight-team Junior draw.
The Junior Jags rode a solid team defensive effort to a 46-44 win over Lower Island rival Belmont in their final game of the tournament on Saturday. Point guard Manav Kang earned player-of-the-game recognition as he spearheaded the SMUS press break, scored 12 points, and added four assists. Fellow guard Alex MacKay led the Blue Jags in scoring with 16 points while forward Matt Nacey anchored the defence with his inside presence and 12 rebounds. Swingman Evan Pressello’s key steal and ensuing tough reverse lay-up in the final minute lifted the Jags to the win.
It was the third meeting of the young season between Belmont and SMUS, with the win giving the Jags a 2-1 edge between two teams that could well be battling it out for a berth in the Island Junior Championships come February.
Nacey scored 10 points and grabbed seven rebounds to earn player-of-the-game honours and help the Blue Jags to to a 56-34 win over Pacific Academy in their second game of the tournament on Friday. Forward William Low led the Blue Jags in scoring with 16 points while Kang had 10, Grade 9 callup Jerome Chan eight, and Pressello seven.
The SMUS Juniors’ only loss of the tournament was a tight 66-64 overtime defeat at the hands of Burnaby’s St. Thomas More Knights on Thursday. The Blue Jags jumped out to an early lead, but the gritty Knights clawed back to take a double-digit advantage with just a few minutes left in regulation. SMUS then staged a furious rally, riding aggressive full-court defence, two threes by Grade 9 callup Danny Perrins and one by Kang, to force overtime.
Unfortunately for the Jags, despite multiple chances at both ends, they couldn’t get the one final defensive stop or bucket they needed in overtime and the Knights prevailed for the win. MacKay, who led the Blue Jags in scoring with 20 points, stole the ball multiple times in the final two minutes of regulation to fuel the comeback. Kang had 16 points and Low 11.
St. Thomas More went on to record an impressive 67-64 victory over Oak Bay in the third-fifth game. A towering and talented Vancouver College Junior team, ranked No. 1 in BC, won the tournament, beating Lambrick Park by 32 points in the final. St. Thomas More finished third, SMUS fourth, Oak Bay fifth, Belmont sixth, Pitt Meadows seventh, and Pacific Academy eighth.
The Junior Jags will now take some time off before practising next week for the resumption of Lower Island league play with a key home game Jan. 7 against Lambrick Park beginning at 7:15 pm.
Squash
SMUS Squash team members Max Arndt, Kieran MacKay, Mila Lampa, and Carys Van Alphen competed in the Canadian Junior Open, hosted by White Oaks in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont., this past week.
The highly competitive international event featured 370 athletes from 17 countries.
Arndt placed 11/12th in Boys U17, narrowly missing out after a loss in the second consolation semifinal. MacKay placed 19/20th in the same category, battling through the first consolation draw and only falling 3-2 in the semifinal to a strong opponent.
Arndt travelled from the Canadian Junior Open to Philadelphia, where he is competing in the US Junior Open this week.
