Mark R. Isfeld Ice junior boys basketball team hosted their annual Invitational tourney this past weekend, bringing in teams from around the Island including local talents Highland Raiders and Vanier Towhees.
The three Valley teams have had their fair share of success this season and were looking forward to the possibility of meeting each other again. Their previous games have been exciting, with a couple of matches being determined by last-shot opportunities.
The original draw had Isfeld facing another North Island squad, however they pulled out and the Ice split to form two teams in order to balance the draw. Rather than re-work the entire schedule, Isfeld A faced off against Isfeld B in a friendly match to start the tournament. Although Isfeld B was slightly out-matched by the A squad, they put in a feisty effort and kept things competitive.
It was Highland’s turn next as they met a scrappy Shawnigan Lake team. Bryce Marinus set the stage, opening the scoring with a three-pointer. The Raiders never looked back, maintaining the lead throughout. Shawnigan kept it close, trailing by only two at the half, but Highland’s Trenton Cameron proved too much to handle, with his assertive play allowing him to put away 10 baskets and two free throws for 22 points.
The Towhees were watching on the sideline preparing for their match against the Cedar Spartans. Vanier – an athletic team with a balance of size, strength and skill – never seems to disappoint. Cedar knew they had their hands full with the Towhees’ aggressive play. It didn’t take long for the reality to set in as Vanier opened with a 10-2 run. Foster Dewitt’s strong defensive play and balanced scoring from Jordan Ballon (16) and Joss Biggins (19) allowed Vanier to cruise to victory.
Brentwood College then took on Port Alberni. Both teams are relatively lengthy, Brentwood topping the charts with a 6’6’’ post player and a high flying 6’4’’ shooting guard. It didn’t take long for Brentwood to take over the game with Josh Charles sinking the Armada with 25 points alone.
Isfeld’s B squad then took on Shawnigan Lake on the back side of the draw for some evening entertainment. Allan Chung came out strong, tallying two treys to keep Shawnigan on their toes. The young Isfeld squad battled hard, but their inexperience cost them at times, allowing the Stags to open up the gap. The Ice never gave up working hard. Nick Xylinas found his groove in the fourth, draining three straight three-pointers, waking up the bench to add nine more, and making Shawnigan scramble to hang onto their lead.
On Saturday morning, the Isfeld A team woke up to their crosstown rivals, the formidable Raiders. In their last meeting, Isfeld pulled out a narrow victory with a Michael Girard game-winning trey with little time left on the clock, so Isfeld knew they would want to get one back. Both teams rolled into the gym with their eyes half closed as this one got off to a slow start.
Both teams had their share of shots, but little was going down. Isfeld squeezed in a few more hoops as the game rolled on with Richard Girard scoring nine in the first half. It seemed to be Isfeld’s day, as the potentially sharp-shooting Raiders couldn’t seem to find their groove.
Aaron Simmonds, Bryce Marinus and Trenton Cameron balanced the scoring for Highland. Cole Hutchings added 17 points, Richard Girard finished with 13 and Zach Cox stepped up with some strong defensive and offensive contributions. Isfeld calmly took this one, setting up some interesting match-ups for the next round.
Meanwhile, Vanier was anticipating their first real test against Brentwood College. Towhee coach Tony Edwards was well aware of the two players they needed to contain while trying to take advantage of their weaker back court. Brentwood coach, Vanier grad Liam Sullivan, was wary of the Towhees’ balanced attack.
Right from the tip off, both teams stepped up their defensive pressure. Brentwood took an early lead in the run-and-gun style tilt, but Vanier kept it close, forcing Brentwood to work hard for every basket.
Once again, Vanier’s Biggins (14) and Ballon (12) were putting points on the board while Dewitt pulled down several boards and added eight points. In the end Brentwood’s Hayden Frisch’s surprising 24 points sunk the green team, with Brentwood winning 57-47.
Back to the other side, Isfeld B didn’t want to go home without a victory so they were pumped for their game against Cedar. The teams were evenly matched in terms of skill, but Cedar certainly had size on their side. It didn’t seem to bother Isfeld’s Morgan Proctor though, as he put the Spartans on their heels, hitting his shots early.
Cedar fought its way to the lead and the young Ice squad found themselves struggling for hoops. Blaze Gallioux stepped up to the challenge, taking lead passes from Xylinas, scoring layups, taking the brunt of hard fouls, and making them pay at the line. He scored 14 in the second half. With heads up play, the B squad took this game by one.
Highland and Vanier faced off in their final game of the tournament, and this turned out to be a good-scoring affair, with both teams showing signs of fatigue on defence. Highland opened an early lead, putting Vanier on their heels. However the Towhees ended up with a one-point lead at the end of the first quarter. Aaron Simmonds proved to be a challenge for Vanier as he added 16 points. Vanier seemed to have the answer with Biggins as he continued to be a force, scoring 24 points. Extra scoring from Colton Derycke (6), Trevor Caton (9) and Jakob Jungworth (8) ultimately made the difference in a 60-47 Vanier win.
The much-anticipated tourney final saw Isfeld’s top junior squad take on the high-scoring Brentwood crew. Isfeld coach Stace Hagel was looking forward to the challenge and knew the smaller Ice squad would have to step up their game if they were going to be competitive.
It didn’t take long for Josh Charles to make quick work of the Isfeld defence as he scored eight quick points and the College hoopsters opened an early 12-2 lead. With Isfeld reeling, Hagel called a time out to try and rally the team. It seemed to help, as Brentwood did not score for the remainder of the quarter, giving the Ice a chance to chip away at their lead.
Several missed lay-ups by key players didn’t help the Isfeld cause, but Owen Kaefer scored a few key hoops to help stimulate an Isfeld charge. Richard Girard started to find his groove and the aggressive play of Cole Hutchings started to pay dividends as Isfeld went into the half down 25-24.
The nature of the game did not change in the second half as the teams traded points for all of the third and most of the fourth. Darren Guo and Michael Girard hit key hoops to hold off a small Brentwood surge. Cole Hutchings held Brentwood’s big man to four points and put the game out of reach with 10 points in the fourth quarter. He finished with 22, Richard Girard added 14, and a strong team performance helped give Isfeld a 52-43 victory and top spot at their own tourney.
The three Valley teams meet again on Feb. 10-11 at Mark R. Isfeld for the North Zone playoffs.
– Isfeld Ice basketball
