Gibsons Andrew Baron finished his college basketball career on a high last weekend, helping lead the Douglas College Royals to a bronze medal at the PacWest Provincial Championships in Abbotsford.
Elphinstone Secondary School grad Baron had 12 points and three assists in the Royals 109-97 overtime win over the Capilano Blues on Saturday. The Royals came back from 17 down at one point and outscored the Blues 19-6 in overtime.
The win was bittersweet for Baron after the Royals nearly pulled off an upset over the Vancouver Island Mariners, losing 89-82 in the semifinal Friday night. Baron had nine points and 12 assists in the game.
The Royals opened with a 79-66 win over the Camosun Chargers in the quarterfinal Thursday night. Baron had eight points and eight assists in the win.
“It was a huge come back win in the bronze medal game,” Baron said. “We hit three after three and got a couple of steals and pushed it to overtime. It was cool and a great high after such a low Friday.”
Baron described his time at Douglas College as life changing. “It’s sad that it is over, but there are so many good memories,” he said. “Before I went there I had no idea what I was going to do, but thanks to the school, I have achieved my goals for my career and in basketball for sure.”
On the women’s side, second year guard Ellen Fallis, also an Elphinstone Secondary School grad, played limited minutes last weekend as the Royals made it to the gold medal final, losing 76-48 to Quest University.
Fallis’ best game was in the 66-58 quarterfinal win over Kwantlen Thursday, where she had seven points. She played limited minutes in the 62-57 semifinal win over the Mariners on Friday.
Track and field
The University of Victoria Vikes and fifth-year captain Kendra Pomfret of Roberts Creek are in Windsor, Ont. this weekend for the CIS National Championships.
The Vikes are coming off a strong showing at the Canada West conference championships in Winnipeg.
Pomfret was fifth in the 1,500m (4:31.42), fourth in the 1,000m (2:48.60) and part of the 4x800m relay team which set a new Canada West championship record (8:46.91).
Volleyball
A great season for the UBC Okanagan Heat and Gibsons’ Michelle Jakszuk came to an end at the Canada West Final Four in Edmonton Feb. 19 and 20.
The Heat lost a five-set thriller to the eventual champion Trinity Western Spartans in the semifinal and then dropped a four-set match to the UBC Thunderbirds in the bronze medal game. A win over the T-Birds would have clinched the Heat a spot in the national championships.
Hockey
A great run by the UBC T-Birds men’s hockey team and Madeira Park’s Joe Antilla came to an end Feb. 27 and 28 in Edmonton.
UBC lost its Canada West semifinal match-up against the University of Alberta losing 3-1 on Feb. 27 and 4-3 on Feb. 28.
This came after UBC won its first round quarterfinal series the weekend prior over Manitoba in three games winning 5-1 in game one, losing 4-3 in game two and winning 3-1 in game three. Antilla picked up an assist in the 5-1 win. It was the first home playoff series for UBC since 1971.
