Dominating.
That one word best describes the Chat senior boys basketball team as they ran roughshod over the competition last weekend in Sechelt.
Chat went a perfect 4-0, outscoring the opponents 380-164 en route to its second straight Open Waters Invitational Tournament title.
Chat defeated Thomas Haney 91-53 in the final Saturday night in a game they led from start to finish.
Chat led 18-3 four minutes into the first half, and try as they might, the Thunder didn't have an answer for anything Chat threw at them.
Haney ran into foul trouble early and Chat was hitting foul shots eight minutes into the contest.
Chat was just bigger and stronger than the Thunder and pounded the glass for rebounds and worked their way inside, getting many baskets uncontested.
The Eagles led 53-28 at halftime and continued the onslaught in the second half as they held a 20 to 25-point lead throughout the half.
Devan Haynes was solid throughout the tournament, and stepped up his play in the final, driving to the hoop hard every time he had the ball. The Thunder couldn't stop Haynes, and when they tried to pin him down, that left Aaron deJong open to pick the Thunder apart.
Haynes finished the contest with a game high 31 points while deJong chipped in with 19. Matt Skei also had a strong game with 14 points.
"I was very pleased with the whole weekend. It was a total team effort," said Chat coach Bruce Haynes. "One of our goals this weekend was to put different people in at different positions and we accomplished that. We got a balanced attack from a lot of different players."
Both deJong and Skei were named to the tournament all-star team, while Haynes was named tourney MVP.
"I was also very pleased with Tony Dill," Haynes added. "He was one of our big stars all weekend, and I think he deserves an honourable mention for the all-star team."
Haynes said he was also happy with how the team responded defensively.
"There was the odd occasion where we had a defensive lapse, but for the most part, the guys really stepped up," Haynes added. "We knew if we played well defensively, the offense would be there. We got our stops and then we drove hard to the hoop all weekend. In the final against Haney, they couldn't stop our drive. It threw them off their game and it made it difficult for them to match up."
Haney coach Bill McKenna said the early foul trouble put them in a hole too big to climb out of.
"We had two injured starters, which didn't help and all the early fouls got us off our game," McKenna said. "This is a young team. We have no senior players, so you're going to take some lumps. This is the second time we've played Chat and both times they've beat us by 38 points. They're a strong, physical team and deserved to win."
Chat opened the tournament on Friday afternoon with a 105-32 pummeling of St. John's from Vancouver.
Dill and Haynes each poured in 24, deJong chipped in with 21, while Dez LeRoux and Jason Janis each had 10 points.
Friday night, Chat blasted the Rockridge Ravens 86-43.
Chat led 44-15 after the first half and cruised to the win.
Haynes had 26 points. Dill and Skei each had 19, while deJong added 14 points.
On Saturday afternoon, Chat ripped the Pemberton Red Devils 98-36 to win its pool and advance to the final.
Haynes had a monster game with 36 points while Dill chipped in with 21.
Rockridge ended up in third place as they defeated the Whistler Storm 75-62 in the third/fourth place game.
The Elphinstone Cougars finished fifth after they defeated St. John's 88-46 in the fifth/sixth place game.
Ben Wadolowski led the Cougar's attack with 31 points while Roddy Campbell hit for 28.
"We shut St. John's down and hit our shots," said Elphi coach Bill Campbell. "I don't think St. John's is a weak team; we just came out and played much better. We hustled on defense and passed the ball well, which allowed us to set up quality shooting opportunities."
Elphi started the tournament on Friday night, dropping a 67-41 decision to the Thunder.
Cale Fraser was high man for Elphi with 12 points, while Peter Pawliuk added nine points.
On Saturday morning, Elphi dropped a close 85-76 game to Whistler.
Elphi was close all the way, but a lack of offense early in the second half proved to be their undoing.
"We stalled offensively in the first seven minutes against Whistler, and that cost us," said Campbell. "We came back, but in the final minute we were forced to foul and they made five or six foul shots down that stretch that killed us. I'm looking forward to playing them again. I think we match up very well against them."
Campbell led the scoring against Whistler with 23 points, while Wadolowski added 20.
Wadolowski was named to the tournament all-star team.
