In the end, the glass slipper didn’t fit Cinderalla.
Playing in the national championship game, Trinity Western — student body population of 2,735 — was up against the Carleton Ravens, who boast an enrolment of 23,000 students and had won six of the past eight Canadian Interuniversity Sport men’s basketball championships.
But after a last-second dramatic 74-72 victory, with Kyle Coston hitting a three-pointer with 11.6 seconds remaining in Saturday’s semifinal over archrival UBC, the Spartans were denied the gold medal, falling 82-59 to the Ravens. This was the Spartans first ever appearance at nationals.
The tournament was held at the Halifax Metro Centre.
“It was a little deflating after that great big win on Saturday,” said Spartans coach Scott Allen, on Monday afternoon, shortly after the team returned from Halifax.
“Our goal from the beginning of the year was to win a national championship and we fell short. But we lost to a better team, there is no shame in that.”
With Trinity Western concentrating on shutting down CIS player of the year and tournament MVP Tyson Hinz in the post, the Ravens responded with some deadly outside shooting.
Carleton shot 16-for-38 from beyond the arc, hitting 42 per cent of their three-point shots.
“They are so good in the post, we had to pick our poison and mix it up,” Allen said. “Full credit to (Carleton), they’re a machine.”
Jacob Doerksen, who was named a CIS first team all-Canadian prior to the tournament, led the Spartans with 16 points and 12 rebounds.
The team was done in by some poor shooting, as they hit just 35.4 per cent of their field goals, down from their season average of 47.2 per cent.
The Ravens were ranked first in the country all season long, but a loss in the playoffs, dropped them to the tournament’s second seed.
The Spartans came in ranked fifth for the eight-team tournament.
Both Coston and Doerksen were named tournament all-stars.
Allen said getting this far is an accomplishment, but the team needs work is still needed.
“We are not where we need to be (yet),” he said. “As a coach, you try and bridge that gap between where you are and where you want to be.
“That is the next step.”
In the bronze medal game, UBC defeated Saskatchewan 111-95.
Playing his final game as a Thunderbird, Brookswood Secondary graduate Brent Malish had 16 points, four rebounds and four assists.
Malish appeared at nationals all five seasons he spent with UBC, with the team winning two silvers and now a bronze.
Another former Brookswood grad, Graham Bath, had six points in Sunday’s game. He has one year of eligibility remaining.
