The Rockridge Ravens from North Vancouver ruined the party last Saturday night at Chat Secondary.
The Ravens knocked off the Chat senior boys 70-51 in the final of the annual Open Waters Invitational. Chat had won the previous two years.
It was a pretty good showing for Chat considering the team has only been practising together for the past month and this was their first tournament of the year.
Due to graduating players and a seeming lack of interest, Chat decided to not have a senior boys' team this year. But in December, several players approached coaches Bruce and Trevor Haynes to see if the team could be resurrected.
"Because of the late start, we're not officially in the North Shore league," said Bruce. "We're lobbying to see if we could get into a backdoor playoff. It's a slim shot, but we'll see what happens."
In the meantime, the team will play in several tournaments and continue to practise in preparation to rejoin the North Shore League next season.
"Last weekend's tournament was good because it gave us an idea of where we're at and what things we need to work on," he said. "Defensively we were very poor and that cost us, especially in the final."
Chat opened up the tournament losing 54-35 to the Ravens, but rebounded with a 56-30 win over Pender Harbour. On Saturday Chat beat Howe Sound from Squamish 66-35.
Pender lost its opener to Chat, lost 77-36 to Rockridge and lost 71-32 to Elphinstone in the fifth/sixth place game.
"I was very impressed with Pender," added Haynes. "For a team that just practises and plays the odd game, I thought they played very well. Credit has to go to their coaches, players and the school for getting the team together."
Elphi lost a close first game 51-46 to Howe Sound and lost 76-62 to St. John's.
Elphi is a young squad made up of mostly Grade 11 players.
Despite sitting with a 0-9 record in North Shore League play, head coach Mike Sopow said the team has come a long way since the beginning of the season.
"It was a good tournament for us. I saw a vast improvement from all the players," Sopow said. "The intensity is starting to pick up. We're moving the ball better offensively and making better decisions."
Elphi's tournament MVP was Brandon Elsdon, Scott Nugent was MVP for Chat, and Tucker Pantages was MVP for Pender.
All three teams return to action this weekend in Gibsons as Elphi hosts its tournament. Rockridge, Howe Sound, Cariboo Hill and Pemberton will join the Coast teams. Action starts today (Friday) at 1 with the final game at 8:30 p.m. Action continues Saturday at 8 a.m. with the final slated for 4:30 p.m.
Senior girlsThe Elphi senior girls continue to roll in the North Shore League.
Elphi improved its record to 4-1 with a 59-34 win over Sentinel on Jan. 11, a 61-30 win over Windsor on Tuesday night and a 76-38 win over Bodwell on Wednesday afternoon.
Kyla Richey led the way with 20 points against Sentinel with Hanna Anderson chipping in nine. Danie Proby, Trina Borley and Tara Brown all scored eight points.
Kyla scored 23 in the win over Windsor. Elissa Grohne had a solid game with 12 while Danie had 11 and Hanna added 10.
Wednesday saw another balanced team attack. Kyla scored 19, Danie 15, Elissa 13, Hanna eight and Trina seven."We're playing well and everyone is getting lots of court time," said head coach Lynn Moran.
"One sore point was our turnovers against Windsor. We had 31 and you can't do that in too many games and still be successful. Windsor had a small bench, so in some ways we got a bit lucky."
Elphi plays in Collingwood on Monday and hosts Chat on Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. in their last two league games. The North Shore playoffs start Jan. 31.
