Championship banners, Island berths, and strong individual performances highlighted a busy week for SMUS athletics, with Lower Island playoff titles in basketball and standout results from the squash program at the Pacific Northwest Junior Championships.
Junior Girls Basketball
The SMUS Junior Girls Basketball team captured the Lower Island playoff title on homecourt Saturday night, using a strong second half to beat visiting Spectrum 49-30 in the championship game played in the Double Gym.
It was the third straight win of the tournament for the Junior Jags, who also completed the Lower Island regular season with a perfect 9-0 record. SMUS will now advance as the South Island’s top seed to the Vancouver Island Junior Championship tournament beginning Friday at Shawnigan Lake School.
The Blue Jags actually trailed Spectrum 18-17 at the half on Saturday before roaring out of the break and outscoring the Thunder 18-3 to completely take over the game. Grade 9 guard Piper Geddes led the way with 18 points to earn Lower Island tournament MVP honours. Teammate Ali Brooks added 16 points and was selected to the tournament all-star team.
The Junior Girls advanced to the Lower Island final with a 47-18 win over Royal Bay in a Friday semifinal. Natalie DiFelice-Oinonen led a well-balanced Blue Jags attack with 10 points while Brooks added nine and Lauren Arndt had eight.
In Thursday’s opening round, the Junior Jags beat Belmont 68-28. Geddes led the way in that one with 32 points while Brooks added 12 for SMUS.
“It was a great weekend of basketball for the Junior Girls,” said SMUS Head Coach Tina Lum. “It was a full team effort, with everyone contributing. I’m excited to see what we can do at Islands.”
The Junior Girls will open the eight-team Island Championship tournament this Friday at Shawnigan, meeting the North Island No. 3 seed Ballenas in a quarterfinal tipping off at 1:30 pm.
Junior Girls ‘B’ Basketball
The SMUS Junior ‘B’ Girls fell 38-25 to visiting Edward Milne last Wednesday in a Lower Island Division 2 playoff semifinal. Yiran Yang led SMUS with 10 points in the loss while Grace Crawford added seven and Eleanore Fairhurst contributed six.
It was the final game of a successful season for the Junior ‘B’ Jags, who went 5-1 in league play prior to their playoff game.
Grade 9 Boys Basketball
The SMUS Grade 9 Boys team also won its Lower Island playoff championship last week, defeating visiting Oak Bay 54-39 on Monday night in the final.
Forward Seb Divoky led the way with 17 points for the Grade 9s while Adrian Villen Diez added eight points in the win. The Lower Island Grade 9 playoff title follows a regular season in which the Jags went a perfect 7-0 to top Pool A in the Junior Boys Division 2 standings.
The Blue Jags now advance to the Vancouver Island Grade 9 Championship tournament, Feb. 17 and 18 at Oak Bay.
Junior Boys Basketball
The SMUS Junior Boys also qualified for their Vancouver Island Championship tournament this past week, finishing second in the highly competitive Lower Island playoffs.
The Junior Jags turned in a solid defensive effort to beat visiting Stelly’s 54-38 in a Thursday night quarterfinal. Forward Matt Nacey led the way with a 14-point, 13-rebound double-double while Alex MacKay added 14 points and seven assists. Evan Pressello scored 10 points, grabbed five rebounds and, along with William Low, spearheaded the SMUS defensive effort. Will Hamilton added six rebounds and four points and led a bench contingent that made a difference as all 10 Blue Jag players dressed saw important minutes.
That win moved the Blue Jags into the semifinal round, where they had to travel to Belmont to meet the Bulldogs on their homecourt. The two teams battled hard throughout the game with each side holding brief leads only to see their opponent claw back. Belmont led 29-26 at the half and stretched that advantage to six points midway through the third quarter before the Blue Jags fought back to take the lead for good with a run punctuated by MacKay’s three-pointer from 10 feet outside the arc at the third-quarter buzzer. In a frantic fourth, Belmont closed the gap to three but the Blue Jags salted away the win with nine straight points before the final buzzer. In total, the Jags outscored the Bulldogs 44-23 in the second half.
The win was huge for SMUS as it guaranteed the team a berth in the Island tournament, rather than having to fight through two elimination games on Saturday for the final spot in the Islands. Five Blue Jags were in double figures for the first time all season, led by point guard Manav Kang and MacKay with 18 each, William Low with 12, Evan Pressello with 11, and Nacey with 10. Nacey also added 15 rebounds in a strong performance.
The Blue Jags opened Saturday’s championship game against Lambrick Park with a strong first half, buoyed by a large and boisterous Double Gym crowd that made for a terrific atmosphere. Playing solid defence and rebounding well, the Junior Jags took a 26-21 lead into the break. They couldn’t replicate that performance in the second half, however, as the Lions’ full court pressure and improved shooting led to a well-deserved 60-39 win for Lambrick.
MacKay scored 13 points in the final while Kang had 12 and Pressello added nine. MacKay and Kang were named to the Lower Island tournament all-star team.
Both SMUS and Lambrick, along with third-place Oak Bay, now advance to the Island Junior Championships beginning Friday in Courtenay. The Blue Jags, with the South No. 2 seed, will take on North 3 Dover Bay in their first game at 11 am at Vanier Secondary.
Senior Boys Basketball
The SMUS Senior Boys wrapped up their Lower Island AA league regular season with an 88-46 victory over Glenlyon Norfolk School last Tuesday night in the Single Gym.
Grade 12 guard Will Bateson led the way with 33 points, including seven three-pointers. Fellow guards Parker Sheehan, with 17, and Dani Pelyhe, with 12, also hit double figures for SMUS, which finished the season in second place with a 6-2 record.
The Senior Jags will meet first-place Pacific Christian this Thursday to decide the Lower Island’s top seed for the Island AA tournament. Thursday’s game will tip off at 4:30 pm at Mount Douglas.
The eight-team Island AA Championship tournament goes Feb. 19-21 at Shawnigan Lake School.
Senior Girls Basketball
The SMUS Senior Girls Basketball team has enjoyed a much-needed week off from game play. But the team has been practising hard in preparation for this week’s Island AAA Championship tournament to be hosted by Vic High.
The provincially fourth-ranked Blue Jags will enter the tournament as the South Island’s No. 1 seed and will open play against North Island No. 4 Ballenas this Thursday. If all goes as planned, this will mean a semifinal match for SMUS against likely opponent Wellington (North 2) on Friday at 7:15 pm. The final is scheduled for Saturday at 7:15 pm.
Squash
SMUS Squash team members enjoyed a successful weekend in the Pacific Northwest Junior Championships, held at Cedar Hill Squash Club, SMUS, and UVic.
Anderson Brown of SMUS turned in a particularly strong showing, placing second in the Boys U19 Division. Brown, seeded 5/8, upset the higher-rated second seed 3-1 in the quarterfinal round. In his semifinal, he swept the 3/4 seed 3-0. In the final, Brown faced the No. 1-ranked Canadian player and was defeated 3-0.
Max Arndt of SMUS also enjoyed a great tournament, placing fifth in Boys U17. He lost in the quarterfinals to the second seed before battling his way through second consolation. Arndt won in a close five-set match (11-13,11-8,14-12, 5-11,12-10) to earn fifth place.
Amos Guan of SMUS finished fifth in Boys U13. He lost to the No. 1 seed in the quarterfinals. In the second consolation draw, Guan didn’t drop a game, winning both his matches 3-0 to place fifth.
Other SMUS athletes competing included Carsten Rodger (10th in BU17), Jimmy Wen (10th in BU13), Kieran MacKay (13th in BU17), and Omar Ghoneim (11th in BU15).
In Silver 1 action involving SMUS athletes, Evan Margawang took first place and Ben Cusack was second. In Silver 2, August Belke was first, Sion Hsieh second, and Derek Hu third.
“We had a great weekend at PNW,” said SMUS Head Coach Grace Thomas.
