The Duncan Christian School Chargers won two games in convincing fashion and lost a close one as they finished fifth out of 16 teams at the B.C. Christian Schools senior boys basketball championships in Surrey last weekend.
“This is a very much anticipated tournament as most of the single-A schools are at this tournament,” DCS coach Jim Brandsma said. “It plays heavily into provincial rankings.”
The Chargers went into the tournament ranked eighth in B.C. and jumped to fifth place.
DCS opened the tournament against Vernon Christian, and overcame a slow start to win 72-20. Michael Brandsma led the team with 21 points and 10 rebounds, Adam Kapteyn had 15 points and 10 rebounds, Vince Fernandez scored 15 points, and Matt Brandsma had 13 points.
“All the guys got to see a lot of playing time and we only allowed Vernon eight points in the second half,” the coach said. “Our defence was playing pretty well.”
The Chargers next opponent was Credo Christian, who went in ranked fourth in the province. The game could have gone either way, but when the final buzzer sounded, Credo was up 61-54.
“Our two goals [were to] stop their No.1 guy and tighten up on our passing,” Jim Brandsma said. “We did a great job on defence and we held their number one guy to about a dozen points, however our passing was erratic and impatient, causing way too many turnovers, and when you turn the ball over that many times, it is very hard to win games.”
Kapteyn led the Chargers with 17 points and 16 rebounds. Michael Brandsma had 14 points and eight boards, and Matt Brandsma had 10 points and nine boards.
Finally, the Chargers played Carver Christian for fifth place, and came out with a decisive 73-43 win. Michael and Matt Brandsma shared the team lead with 20 points apiece, Michael added 12 rebounds and Matt nine. Kapteyn chipped in with 16 points.
“Our defence again came out working well and we were able to steadily build our margin to a 30-point win,” Jim Brandsma said. “This game was great to see as our passing greatly improved against a feisty team. Again all the guys got to see good minutes and it was a great team effort.”
Michael Brandsma was named a first-team all-star by the other tournament coaches.
