Hank Magdanz of the Isfeld Ice drives past Duchess Park defenders in Wednesday action. The Ice won the tournament opener 68-51.

Hank Magdanz of the Isfeld Ice drives past Duchess Park defenders in Wednesday action. The Ice won the tournament opener 68-51.

Isfeld Ice win first game at B.C. 3A boys basketball championships

Courtenay team takes on top-seed Southridge on Thursday afternoon

One down, three to go.

The Isfeld Ice (Vancouver Island #3 – B.C. #8) defeated Duchess Park Condors (North Central #1- B.C.  #9) 68-51 in their opening game of the 2015-16 BC Senior Boys 3A Basketball Championships Wednesday, March 9 at the Langley Events Centre.

They are now just three wins away from a provincial championship. Which looks easy on paper, but is anything but in reality as the top 16 3A teams in B.C. battle toe-to-toe.

Noah Kaefer paced the Ice with a game-high 24 points while Jeppe Madsen and Hank Magdanz added 18 each. The Ice led 15-8 after one quarter and 37-27 at the half.

The Condors cut the lead to 48-43 after three quarters, but Isfeld put together an impressive fourth quarter, out-scoring the Condors 20-8 to take the win.

The Ice will take on Southridge (Fraser Valley #1 – B.C. #1)  Thursday at 3:30 p.m. in the quarter-finals. Southridge put up the most points on Day 1 in their 88-58 win over L.V. Rogers (Kootenays #1 – B.C. #16).

The semifinals go Friday with the championship final set for 6 p.m. Saturday. Follow the action at www.bchighschoolbasketballchampionships.com

Lyle Dhur of Sportvictoria notes Island teams went 6-4 at the four B.C. championships on Wednesday.

Winners were:

4A – Oak Bay over Yale 64-54

3A – Mark Isfeld over Duchess Park 68-51

2A – St. Michaels over Kelly Road 84-37

2A – Lambrick Park over Smithers 100-54

2A – Shawnigan Lake over Pacific Academy 90-74

1A – Duncan Christian over Immaculata 78-76 in OT

Losers were:

4A – W. J. Mouat over Cowichan 90-83

3A – Lord Byng over Wellington 66-62

3A – St. Thomas More over Nanaimo 62-58

1A – St. Ann’s over St. Andrew’s 62-42

Comox Valley Record