The Alberni District Senior Secondary senior boys basketball team placed second at the 2015 Esquimalt Fire Tournament last weekend.
In the opening game versus Victoria High School, ADSS Armada dominated the glass and game with a 79-30 win, coach Neelam Parmar said. Adam Yaredic poured in 24 points followed by Sam Moncur with 22.
The second game was against the host school, Esquimalt High.
The Armada controlled the opening quarter on both ends of the court, taking a 15-5 advantage by the end of the quarter.
From that point on the Armada played steady and thwarted all attempts by Esquimalt to get back into the game and earned a 43-34 victory. Moncur led the team with 24 points and 16 rebounds, followed by Bryce Greenwood with nine points and nine rebounds.
In the finals the Armada faced Mark R. Isfeld of Courtenay, two evenly matched teams. The opening quarter was very defensive with each team trying to get points in the paint, Parmar said.
Foul trouble started to impact ADSS as some “soft” calls on ADSS forwards Moncur and Adam Yaredic eventually forced both to the bench. Moncur picked up two quick fouls midway through the first quarter and had to sit, allowing Isfeld to take a 11-6 lead after one quarter. Yaredic pick up his third foul early in the second quarter, forcing him to the bench for the remainder of the half.
Even without their bigs the Armada were able to keep up with Isfeld and were only down 24-19 at half.
Alberni stormed out of the gates in the third quarter with a 6-0 run to take a 25-24 led before Yaredic injured his right ankle.
This injury took the wind out of the sails for the Armada as Isfeld immediately went on a 9-0 run and were able to maintain control for the remainder of the game and 58-44 win.
Moncur scored17 points and 10 rebounds followed by Bryce Greenwood with 11 points and 7 rebounds.
Moncur earned tournament all-star honours and Greenwood earned Defensive Player of Tournament.
HOOP-LA…Next game action for the Armada are two home games on Tuesday, Jan. 27 vs Cowichan and Thursday, Jan. 29 vs Vanier—both at 7 p.m. at ADSS.
