The Wellington Wildcats regained their Superball crown in their home gym this weekend.
Wellington Secondary School’s senior boys’ basketball team defeated the Dover Bay Dolphins 68-57 in an all-Nanaimo final Saturday at the Superball tournament.
The ‘Cats were up nine points at half and then extended the margin to 20 points before some late scores from the Dolphins.
Luke Letham, one of the Wellington coaches, recalled that his team missed the final last year and said it’s always meaningful to win Superball. He said in Saturday’s final, the Wildcats came out ready to play.
“Especially today, our defensive intensity and aggression was at the next level from where it’s been the last few days,” Letham said.
Ryder Jenks led all scorers with 26 points in the final, Gordon Yam scored 13 and Brooks Branchi added 11.
“We’re not a big team, but we’ve got some guys that are athletic, some guys that can shoot the ball, some guys that can handle the ball. We’ve got a well-rounded group out there,” said Letham. “Anyone can, on any night, have a good game.”
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Carson Williams, Dover Bay coach, said he was “very pleased” with the Dolphins’ overall play at Superball. He liked his team’s execution in its first two games before Wellington made things tougher on Dover in the final.
“I thought that the boys’ effort was outstanding,” Williams said. “There was never a question of whether or not they wanted to play well.”
Owen Bray led the Dolphins with 23 points in the final.
Dover’s coach said so far this season, he’s asked a lot of his players and they’ve responded well.
“It’s always difficult to play and learn at the same time and I think some of our guys are starting to take steps towards being aware of what we’re doing and being able to execute,” Williams said. “It’s just a matter of bringing everybody along and that’s coming.”
In the senior girls’ final at Superball, the Nanaimo District Islanders defeated the Dover Bay Dolphins.
In other high school basketball action on the weekend, the NDSS senior boys won the G.P. Vanier Invitational tournament in Courtenay, defeating the Claremont Spartans 60-58 in the final.
GAME ON … In senior boys’ basketball league play on Tuesday, Jan. 16, Dover hosts the Cowichan Thunderbirds at 7 p.m., the Barsby Bulldogs host the Alberni Armada at 7 p.m. and the Isfeld Ice visits Wellington at 7 p.m.
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