A strong stretch of competition highlighted SMUS Athletics last week, with teams delivering standout performances across rowing, basketball, and squash.
Senior Girls Basketball
The SMUS Senior Girls Basketball team completed its final exhibition action of the season this past weekend, winning three straight games against provincially ranked opponents at the annual Tessa’s Tournament in Surrey.
A pre-set draw matched the BC AAA fourth-ranked Blue Jags against eighth-ranked Valleyview and two honourable mention teams in Yale and Robert Bateman.
The first game was a back-and-forth affair in the first half and the teams headed to the locker room tied 31-31. A reboot of their defensive focus in the second half propelled the Blue Jags to a 66-51 victory over Valleyview. Mikaela Dubé led the way with 21 points and 13 rebounds against the Kamloops squad while Mya Beare added 13 points, Elspeth Rodger had 12, and Crystal Cai 11.
The second game was a matchup against the Yale Lions of Abbotsford. Taking advantage of a poor start by the Lions, the Blue Jags jumped out to a 12-2 first quarter lead. Unfortunately, that margin would be short-lived as the Blue Jags began to stall on offence, struggling with increased defensive pressure by Lions. Nevertheless, SMUS went into the halftime break up 19-12. Thanks to some continued solid defence, the Blue Jags hung on for a 46-34 win. Dubé led the team with 17 points and 14 rebounds, Rodger contributed nine points and 13 rebounds, and Cai chipped in with seven points.
The Blue Jags’ final opponent was another team from Abbotsford – a sharp-shooting, athletic Robert Bateman squad. First-quarter action was fast-paced with several Bateman players hitting clutch three-pointers late in shot clock to give Bateman a 20-19 lead. With some solid three-point shooting of their own, the Blue Jags tightened up their defensive effort and pulled ahead 38-33 at the half. They would not look back, winning 66-46. Dubé again paced the Jags with 21 points and 11 rebounds, Rodger added 14 points and 11 rebounds, and Indigo Edgington chipped in with 10 points and eight rebounds.
The Blue Jags wrapped up their Lower Island Division 1 regular season last Tuesday night, beating visiting Mount Douglas 82-29. Dubé scored 28 points in the win while Rodger contributed 25.
The Senior Girls look forward to a week of some much-needed practice. Their next competition will be the Island AAA Championships, hosted by Vic High, Feb 12-14.
Grade 9 Boys Basketball
The SMUS Grade 9 Boys Basketball team enjoyed another busy, successful week on the hardwood, winning its final league game and its first playoff game before recording three consecutive victories at a weekend tournament in Duncan.
The Grade 9 Blue Jags finished their unbeaten Lower Island Junior Division 2 league schedule with a 50-28 win over visiting Vic High on Monday. Guard Oscar Pressello led the Jags in the victory with 11 points while forward Seb Divoky added nine. SMUS finished the regular season with a perfect 7-0 record.
On Thursday at Royal Bay, the Blue Jags opened the Lower Island Grade 9 playoffs with a 64-35 decision over Belmont. Guards Jerome Chan and Danny Perrins scored 11 points each for SMUS in the victory while Adrian Villen Diez led the Blue Jags in scoring with 12.
Villen Diez had 13 points for the Grade 9s as they beat Quamichan 47-42 in their first game of the Quw’utsun Junior Basketball Tournament on Friday in Duncan. The Blue Jags followed that up with a 30-18 victory over Ucluelet on Saturday morning, led by guards Nick You and Perrins with nine points each.
Divoky scored 17 points as SMUS again beat the Belmont Grade 9s, this time 55-37 in their final game of the Quw’utsun Junior Tournament. Guards Kian Harris, with 16, and Villen Diez, with 12, also scored in double figures for SMUS.
The Grade 9s will continue their Lower Island playoffs with a home game against the Oak Bay Grade 9s this Monday at 5:45 pm.
Junior Boys Basketball
The SMUS Junior Boys are peaking at the right time. This past week, the team won its final two Lower Island Junior Division 1 regular-season games to lock up third-place in the 11-team circuit with an 8-2 record. This continued a hot streak for the Junior Jags, who won their final six league games.
Last Tuesday, forward William Low scored 17 points to lead the Blue Jags to a 62-44 win over visiting rival Oak Bay. Guards Alex MacKay, with15, Manav Kang, with14, and Evan Pressello, with 10, also hit double-figures. Forwards Matt Nacey, Will Hamilton, and Low led the team in rebounds and the entire SMUS lineup played excellent defence.
The Blue Jags followed that up with a 54-51 road win over Claremont on Wednesday to complete the regular season. Kang scored 23 points, including an and-one jumper with 11 seconds left to provide the margin of victory. MacKay added 19 points, including five threes, for SMUS. Pressello contributed seven points and seven rebounds, Low had eight points and five rebounds, and Nacey pulled down seven rebounds in the win.
The Junior Jags will host Stelly’s in a Lower Island first-round playoff game this Thursday at 7:15 p.m. Second-round action is scheduled for Lambrick Park on Friday before the tournament concludes on Saturday back at SMUS. The top three Lower Island teams will advance to the Vancouver Island Junior Championships Feb. 13 and 14 at Vanier in Courtenay.
Junior Girls Basketball
The SMUS Junior Girls also won two straight Lower Island Division 1 basketball league games last week to complete a perfect regular season at 9-0.
Piper Geddes led the Junior Jags in scoring with 11 points while Natalie DiFelice-Oinonen had 10 as SMUS beat host Oak Bay 49-19 on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, the Junior Girls defeated host Spectrum 38-14. DiFelice-Oinonen scored 18 points to pace the Jags while Ali Brooks added seven, and Lauren Arndt had six.
The Junior Girls also travelled to Surrey for Tessa’s Tournament on the weekend. They opened the event with a 42-34 loss to host Holy Cross on Friday afternoon. Geddes scored 11 points and was named SMUS player of the game while Arndt added eight points. SMUS also dropped its second game of the tournament, 41-33 to Riverside. DiFelice-Oinonen contributed 15 points and was selected SMUS player of the game.
The Junior Girls wrapped up Tessa’s Tournament with a 51-32 defeat at the hands of Argyle on Saturday afternoon. Geddes led the Jags in the loss with 15 points while Arndt was selected as the SMUS player of the game.
The SMUS Juniors will play host to Belmont in their opening-round game of the Lower Island Junior Girls Championship this Thursday, beginning at 5:45 pm.
Junior Girls ‘B’ Basketball
The SMUS Junior ‘B’ girls did not play last week. They had a bye into the Lower Island Division 2 semifinal round after finishing second in the regular season with a 5-1 record.
The Junior ‘B’ Jags will meet the winner of a quarterfinal between Vic High and Edward Milne. The Jags will play host to that Lower Island semifinal on Wednesday at 4:15 pm.
Senior Boys Basketball
The Senior Boys will play host to Glenlyon Norfolk School in their final Lower Island AA Basketball league game this Tuesday at 7 pm.
The Blue Jags (5-2) are already locked into second-place in the league standings. They will play first-place Pacific Christian (7-1) in a playoff game on Feb. 12 at 4:30 pm to determine the top Lower Island seed for the Island AA Championships, Feb. 19 to 21 at Shawnigan Lake School.
The shorthanded Jags lost three games last week at the Brentwood Countdown to the Playoffs Tournament.
SMUS opened the 16-team draw with a 105-53 loss to Nanaimo District on Thursday. On Friday, SMUS fell 72-50 to North Vancouver Windsor. The Jags wrapped up the tournament with a 74-63 defeat to John Barsby of Nanaimo.
Rowing
Twenty-four members of the SMUS Crew competed in the 2026 Kraken Erg competition on Sunday at Brentwood College, bringing home four medals and posting a dozen top-six finishes.
“From first-place finishes to determined efforts across the board, each rower represented the school with pride, grit, and grace,” said SMUS Head of Rowing Susanne Walker Curry. “It was impressive to witness the camaraderie – athletes cheering each other on, celebrating each other’s successes. SMUS rowers truly showed what true team spirit looks like.”
Taking first place in their events for SMUS were Adelyn Newman-Ting in U17 Women’s Lightweight and Howard Hu in U17 Men’s Novice. SMUS rowers Natalie DiFelice-Oinonen (U17 Women’s Novice) and Bianca Batoni (Coxswain Crawl U19 Women) captured second place in their events.
Earning fourth-place finishes for SMUS were: Matthew Nacey (U17 Men’s Open); Jonah Wilkins (U17 Men’s Novice); Emma Hardcastle (U17 Women’s Novice); Lucy Turnbull (U19 Women’s Lightweight); and Lexi Carswell (U19 Women’s Novice).
Weline Dietrich of SMUS was fifth in U17 Women’s Novice. Taking sixth-place in their events were teammates Mia Nadra (U17 Open Women) and Rachel Oliver (U17 Women’s Lightweight).
Full results from the Kraken Erg can be found at https://www.regattacentral.com/
SMUS rowers will now prepare for the first regatta of the 2026 spring season – the Elk Spring Regatta, March 7 and 8.
Squash
Five members of the SMUS Squash team competed in the Nanaimo Open this past weekend.
Rakshith Arun of SMUS placed third in his draw while teammates Elliot Judson and Carsten Rodger each earned fourth-place finishes. Mila Lampa of SMUS placed sixth in her draw.
Max Arndt of SMUS played in his first Men’s Open (pro) draw. He lost both his matches – the first one 3-0 against a 6.0-rated player and the second 3-2 to a 5.6 player.
“Max is rated 5.15 so this was good experience for him to play against the top players in BC,” said SMUS Head Coach Grace Thomas.
SMUS Coach Sam Krich also played in Men’s Open and won the consolation draw (fifth place).
SMUS team members will next compete in this coming weekend’s Pacific Northwest Junior Championships at Cedar Hill Squash Club, SMUS, and UVic.
SMUS Athletes of the Month
Senior Basketball players Elspeth Rodger and Dani Pelyhe have been honoured as SMUS Athletes of the Month for the period of December/January.
Rodger, a Grade 11 guard, is a valuable two-way player for the Senior Girls – a versatile sharp-shooter who has the ability to score both inside and out. Defensively, she leads the team in rebounding and steals and is a player SMUS Head Coach Lindsay Brooke said “sets the standard for our level of compete each game.”
Pelyhe has been a true leader, both on the court as well as modelling what it means to be a student-athlete, said Head Coach Reagan Daly. The Grade 12 guard can always be found in the gym at lunch, getting up extra shots, and then in the library after school hitting the books. SMUS needs him to score, and he has delivered, becoming the first-ever Blue Jag to post 45-plus points in consecutive games.
