Basketball fans who clambered into the stands Saturday night at the Lambrick Park secondary gym likely had a good idea what they were in for.
The home court Lions and the arch-rival St. Michaels University School Blue Devils – ranked No. 1 and 2, respectively, among the province’s AA high school boys teams – had five close battles previously this season.
The weekend’s Island final was no different. The teams swapped lead changes throughout, before SMUS standout Danny Wu layed in a basket at the buzzer for the winning points in a 74-72 game.
With the teams tied at 72 with five seconds left, a shot by Lambrick guard Ismail Abdulahi rimmed out.
SMUS grabbed the rebound and sent an outlet pass to Wu, who had a lane to the rim.
SMUS was led by tournament MVP Jason Skully with 21 points, followed by tourney all-stars Wu and Graeme Hyde-Lay with 19 and 18 each.
Lambrick was paced by Matt Neufeld, with 25, and Abdulahi, with 24. Both were named to the all-star team.
Both teams had already qualified for the provincial championships, which go March 5 to 8 at the Langley Events Centre.
