Four junior basketball teams gathered at Chatelech Secondary School last weekend, all in the spirit of wrapping up the season with some friendly competition. Rockridge from West Vancouver, Pemberton, Elphinstone and Chat took part in this mini series beginning Friday afternoon, Feb. 22.
During the weekend there were many games reflecting high levels of skill and intensity by the players, but what seemed to prevail throughout the event was the spirit of good sportsmanship and friendly interactions with players, coaches and fans, said Chat coach Brian Scarr. It was heart warming indeed to see players of opposing teams chatting between games, parents of opposing players sitting together in the stands, cheering both teams on.
Rockridge, Pemberton and Elphi were all very close, with Rockridge appearing to be the most dominant. Pemberton and Elphi, however, put on the two most exciting games of the series. Their Friday evening game stretched into overtime thanks to a buzzer beater by Joel Dykstra to tie the game. However, Pemberton came out with the win, 45-37.
Elphi got revenge in yet another barn burner Saturday morning, coming from behind to beat Pemberton 25-20.
Elphi coach Will Dow credited Ken Ouchi-Mai as the game hero, draining a three-pointer in the last 30 seconds followed by a quick jumper in the final seconds of the game to put the game on ice.
Chat put up respectable efforts in all their games, demonstrating vastly improved ball handling and defensive skills. Overall, however, the Eagles could not match the size or skill level of the older, more experienced teams in the series.
They were able to create lots of scoring chances for themselves, but our missed shots killed us, Scarr said. If half points were awarded for hitting the rim with the ball, we would have won at least a game or two.
Scarr wanted to thank Ellen Thomas for coordinating the referees and for officiating, and Chat team leaders Braydon Fletcher, Josh Desrocher, Adrian Villanueva and Sebastion Denham-Rohlicek.
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