After his White Rock Christian Academy Warriors beat L.A. Matheson in the first game of Fraser Valley senior AAA boys basketball championships Friday night, John Dykstra read his team the riot act.
Yes, they had won – 76-57 over the No. 27-seed Mustangs, led by 24 points from Will Ondrik and 15 from Kristoph Baerg – and were just two games away from securing a spot at provincials, but still, he was unimpressed and sounded anything like the victorious coach.
“I’m not real happy, no,” he said from his office in the South Surrey school.
“That was the last game we’re going to play in our gym this year, and the lack of intensity and attention to detail defensively – not boxing out, and just not playing tough – is disappointing.”
He delivered a similar speech to his team after the game, warning them that their play had to improve before their second game, Monday night against the Seaquam Seahawks.
“If Seaquam is anything, they’re tough, and we will get kicked – just absolutely kicked – if we play like that against Seaquam,” Dykstra said.
His team got the message.
On Monday night at Walnut Grove Secondary in Langley – host school for the early rounds of the Fraser Valleys – the Warriors put forth a much better effort and avoided “getting kicked” by the Seahawks.
In fact, they did some kicking of their own, edging their Delta rivals 68-62.
The Warriors led the Seahawks 34-23 at halftime, but Seaquam cut the lead to four heading into the final quarter, and the game was tied 60-60 with just under two minutes to play, before WRCA went on an 8-2 run to end the game.
“We still gave up too many points, but when we needed a big play, when we needed a (defensive) stop, we got it,” Dykstra said.
The win put the team in good shape heading into Tuesday’s game against the Walnut Grove Gators.
The winner of Tuesday’s game is guaranteed a top-four finish; eight teams from the Valley make provincials, slated for March 15 in Langley.
The loser would need to win Thursday in order to advance to B.C.’s.
The other Peninsula team in the Fraser Valley championships, the 27th-seeded Earl Marriott Mariners, lost their first-round game Friday to the No. 2 seed Pitt Meadows Maruaders, 75-42.
