Mission’s varsity basketball team captured its second consecutive AA Fraser Valley championship banner last weekend, defeating second-place GW Graham, 76-62.
It was a slow start, admitted co-coach Danny Jakobs, as the first-ranked MSS Roadrunners trailed in the first quarter and giving up 23 points.
The Grizzlies were tying up MSS’ lead scoring threat, Luke Morris, with double coverage, forcing him to go 0-8 early on in the match. Morris turned it around in the second quarter, said Jakobs, scoring 14 points.
The team adjusted its defensive tactics and started to shut down the Grizzlies’ offense.
“Luc Comeau took over the game,” Jakobs said. “He became the tournament MVP and it gave us the boost we needed.”
Rhys Parry also kept the team alive in the first half, he added, in addition to Jeevan Bhogal and Mitch MacAulay, who hammered the boards.
“Everyone knew their roles.”
Mission secondary has been playing against AAA teams all season long, and the toughness in the face of adversity helped rally the players as they entered the second half of the game.
Kristjan Jakobs and Hadley Gwyn played a vital part defensively, said co-coach and MSS principal Jim Pearce, while Connor Pickering made some key assists.
The provincial championships are in Kamloops on March 6, and the Roadrunners enter seeded in top spot.
There will be tough competition at the provincials, said Jakobs, including teams like St. Michael’s, Brentwood College, King George and St. Thomas More.
