The Maple Ridge Secondary School Ramblers senior boys’ basketball team beat Surrey’s Fleetwood Park 60-57 to advance at the Fraser Valley Championships Monday night.
The No. 13 seed Ramblers will face No. 6 WJ Mouat Hawks in the semifinal round Thursday night at the Langley Events Centre. In their last meeting of the regular season, the Ramblers lost to the Hawks, 63-55.
The Ramblers are 2-1 so far in this year’s AAA Fraser Valley Championship.
In the first game of the playoffs, Maple Ridge defeated Lord Tweedsmuir 64-50. Jacob Durkovich had a monster performance inside with 21 points and 19 rebounds. Max Neumann contributed with 12 points, six rebounds and seven recoveries. Pavel Niemirski also scored 10 points. Lincoln Clarke played strong defensively, shutting down the key shooter on the other team.
The Ramblers went on to play White Rock on their home court. White Rock came out strong and led the game 40-25 at the half. The Ramblers started to chip away at the lead, and got to within four points, 62-58, with four minutes left in the game. Unfortunately, the Ramblers then had a few defensive lapses, and lost the game 69-58. Durkovich dominated the inside with 19 points, nine rebounds, and six recoveries. Neumann had 17 points, seven recoveries and five assists.
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