The Pitt Meadows Marauders Air Force edged Vancouver’s Sir Charles Tupper Tigers by a score of 64-51 to win their first game of the 2012 B.C. AAA Boys’ High School Basketballl Championships Wednesday night at the Langley Events Centre.
The Marauders had a typically slow start Wednesday night, playing from behind for most of the first half. With the two teams trading baskets at either end of the court, Pitt Meadows was briefly up 16-14 after the first quarter. Tupper pulled ahead in the second quarter, at one point opening up an eight-point lead on the Marauders.
However, an eight-point run by Pitt Meadows in the final two and a half minutes of the second quarter tied things up 26-26 at the half.
Pitt Meadows’ defence came alive in the third quarter forcing five turnovers in the first five minutes. That helped spark a 15-3 run to put the Marauders up by 12 points, 43-31, with three minutes to play in the third.
Pitt was able to maintain a double-digit lead through most of the fourth quarter. Tupper were determined to even up the score down the stretch, and in the span of little more than two minutes, erased Pitt’s 12-point lead to draw within just a three-pointer of tying the game, 54-51, with three minutes to play.
However, Pitt would not be denied the win as they went on a 10-point run of their own, giving them a 13-point cushion as the final buzzer sounded.
Trevor Severinski had 23 points and nine rebounds to lead the Marauders in scoring, while Matt Blackaby had 20 points. Mitsu Iwai had eight points, and led the team in steals with six, while Sebastien Marshall led the team in assists, with five.
Tupper’s trio of Cameron Smythe, Daniel Kim, and Gavriel Corpuz combined for 49 of the team’s 51 points.
With the win, the Marauder advance to the tournament quarterfinals, and were to have played league rivals, the Terry Fox Ravens, Thursday night at 4:45 p.m.
A win in that game will propel the Marauders into the tournament semifinals, to be held tonight (Friday) at the Langley Events Centre, beginning at 6 p.m.
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