A stunning 78-76 overtime win over Immaculata got the Island champion Duncan Christian School Chargers off on the right foot as they played to a sixth-place finish at the single-A boys basketball championships in Langley last week.
A putback by Sungjun Jang with half a second left in regulation forced overtime in the opening game last Wednesday. Mike Brandsma took over after that and scored nine points in overtime, including the game-winning shot with two and a half seconds left on the clock.
Brandsma finished the game with a team-high 26 points, while Jesse Van Wingerden added 21, and Adam Kapteyn had 15 points and 17 rebounds.
“The guys did really well,” head coach Jim Brandsma said. “What I am super proud of is even when two of our starters fouled out they never hung their heads, they just worked harder and never gave up.”
Assured of a spot in the top half of the 16-team field, the Chargers were defeated 63-48 in their Thursday game by eventual silver medallists Credo Christian. Kapteyn had 16 points and 12 rebounds, Mike Brandsma had 12 and 12, and Van Wingerden scored 10 points.
“It was a tough game for us,” Jim Brandsma said. “We gave them a 10-point lead and their shooters could hit all their shots and our shooters were never firing on all cylinders. Games are won with great defence and our defence was just not quite good enough on this day.”
The DCS shooters found their marks in the next game, a 78-65 win over Bulkley Valley Christian on Friday. Despite turning the ball over 20 times, the Chargers shot nearly 54 per cent from outside the three-point line, a ridiculous number that almost single-handedly led to the win. Five different players hit three-pointers, including Van Wingerden and Kapteyn with four each.
Van Wingerden finished with 25 points, Mike Brandsma had 19, Kapteyn had 16 and a team-high 13 rebounds, and Matt Brandsma scored 11 points.
“The boys stuck to our game plan and it proved to work out well for us,” Jim Brandsma said. “Last year Bulkley Valley beat us in the game for ninth and tenth, and so it was nice to get the win this year to send us to the five/six game.”
The Chargers had a chance to match the school’s best-ever finish at a provincial basketball tournament by taking fifth place, but had to settle for sixth after a 60-42 loss to West Point Grey Academy in their final game on Saturday.
Van Wingerden locked up a second-team tournament all-star berth with a team-best 15 points, while Kapteyn led the Chargers with eight rebounds.
“The boys looked a little nervous but came out playing good defence and getting rebounds,” coach Brandsma said. “But we missed our first four chances and fouled them a few times and by quarter’s end we were down by nine.”
The Chargers were unable to come back from that deficit, but were proud to finish sixth.
“Over the tournament we had our moments of playing flat, but the boys played hard and never did give up,” Brandsma said. “The boys represented DCS very well and am proud of all their accomplishments this year.”
