The Mark Isfeld Ice got off to a solid start at the 2014 B.C. AAA high school boys basketball championships, defeating the Maple Ridge Ramblers 45-39 Wednesday night at the Langley Events Centre.
The Courtenay crew trailed 14-9 after one quarter and 21-16 at the half but kicked their offence into high gear the rest of the way.
They out-scored Maple Ridge 15-8 in the third quarter to grab a 31-29 lead, then traded buckets in the fourth quarter to emerge with a six-point margin of victory.
The Ice scoring was evenly balanced. Morgan Proctor led the way with 10 points while Richard Girard, Cole Hutchings and Kaefer Owen added nine each. Kaefer Noah contributed eight points. Girard had four steal and four assists while Noah and Proctor each blocked a shot.
Ethan Coumant led the Ramblers with 19 points and Isaac Halas had 13. Maple Ridge entered the 16-team tourney as Fraser Valley #3 while the Ice are Vancouver Island #1.
The Ice play Sir Charles Tupper Tigers (Lower Mainland #1 ) at 4:30 p.m. in a quarter-final tilt Thursday. The Tigers won their first game 59-37 over 15th seeded LV Rogers Bombers of Nelson.
The tourney continues through to the Saturday night championship final.
