A Prince Rupert-area team once again won the title at the Kitamaat Open Basketball Tournament.
Last year, the Prince Rupert Lights Out won first in the Men’s Division, and Port Simpson placed fourth, but this time there was only one team made up of players from Rupert and Simpson that won it all under the title of the Port Simpson Athletic Club (PSAC).
The team beat the Terrace Old School Men’s 87-74 in the championship game.
“It was a good, well-run tournament. The Haisla people are very welcoming and they put on a good show,” said Brody Bishop, who was named an All-Star of the tournament.
The group of eight guys from Rupert, Port Simpson and even Queen Charlotte, beat the Terrace team in the first game as well, which Bishop said was an important game.
“We all had the same common goal. We were just talking about it every timeout, every dead ball, let’s just get this first win,” he said.
Bishop and Darcy Pearson led the team on a run in the fourth quarter to win the game. The second game was against Hazleton, and it was a scrappy game, but a win is a win and PSAC did that by 12 points.
The penultimate game put the boys up against the host Kitimat, the Haisla Men’s team that plays in All Native Basketball Tournament as well.
“That was a really good game and then we just kind of took over halfway through the third quarter. We went on this huge run and they just couldn’t follow us and we ended up winning the game by 30,” Bishop said.
In the finale, the team pulled away in the third against a tired Terrace team that had played six games in two days.
The keys to the tournament was unselfishness, Bishop said.
“I just think our unselfishness and how everyone can just shoot and play the game. There’s not one weak position out there,” he said.
Craig Rimmer was named the MVP of the tournament and PSAC won $2,000 for the championship victory.
