Southridge School basketball teams pulled off a rare triple play last weekend, with three different squads capturing tournament victories.
On their own home court, the Storm’s senior boys hoops team won its own tournament, the Big Storm Invitational, while the senior girls emerged victorious from the Independent Schools Associations (ISA) Championship. Rounding out the three-peat was the school’s junior boys team, which won the Carney Classic at Port Coquitlam’s Archbishop Carney School.
“It’s a good start to the season, but that’s what it is – just a good start,” said Southridge’s longtime senior boys head coach Steve Anderson. “It’s a long season, and hopefully all our teams can all keep that momentum going.”
Anderson’s senior crew earned the Big Storm title with a 99-55 victory over Cloverdale’s Lord Tweedsmuir Panthers. Four members of the Storm scored in double-figures, led by Hunter Hughes, who had 28 points and 12 rebounds. Dominic Clayton had 11 points, six assists and five rebounds; Mathew Andreou had 11 points, 11 boards and six assists and Greg Eriksen chipped in with 11 points.
Jack Wells also had eight points in the win.
En route to the title game, Southridge beat Kwantlen Park 83-48 in semifinals, and cruised past the Frank Hurt Hornets 89-39 in the first round. Hughes was named tournament MVP and both Clayton and Andreou were selected to the all-star team.
While the senior boys were winning on their home court, their counterparts on the school’s senior girls team were winning on the road – the ISA Championships were held in Victoria.
Southridge defeated the host team, from St. Michael’s University School, 45-43 in the final game, to finally claim the ISA title that had eluded them throughout the tournament’s eight-year history, though they’ve finished in the top three in each of the last five attempts.
“For some reason, we always seem to run into a hot team at the ISAs,” said Storm coach Paul Chiarenza.
Against St. Mike’s, Southridge jumped out to an early lead thanks to 10 points from Hannah Morrison, though the game was tied with two minutes left until Storm’s Georgie Adams scored to give her team the win.
In semifinals, Southridge defeated Brentwood, led by 17 points from Morrison. In the team’s first game, Madisen Muncey-Buckley scored 17 to lead the Storm to an 81-32 win over Glenlyon Norfolk.
Not to be outdone by their older teammates, Southridge’s junior boys team cruised through the Carney Classic undefeated, winning its first two games to set up a championship final against Pacific Academy.
Against Pacific, Southridge trailed for much of the game – down by seven at halftime and eight after three quarters of play. In the fourth, however, the Storm took their first lead of the game with just two minutes left on the clock.
Storm’s Frank Wang, who missed much of the game with muscle cramps, “hobbled” onto the court for the final quarter, bringing “energy and scoring” said to head coach Ray Kwok. A late three-pointer from Josh Block gave the Storm a 44-39 win.
Dharam Buttar was named tournament MVP, while Armaan Abraham was an all-star selection.
