St. Michaels wins provincial basketball championship
Mario Annicchiarico
/ Times Colonist
March 14, 2015 10:33 PM
March 14, 2015 10:33 PM
Defence was never a concern for St. Michaels University School Blue Jags head coach Ian Hyde-Lay.
The offence? Well, he wasn’t so sure about that heading into the 2015 B.C. High School Basketball Championships presented by Telus.
Ultimately, there was little to worry about as the Blue Jags nailed down their first provincial senior boys’ crown since 1992 when Steve Nash led the way.
A thunderous 66-40 victory over the Delview Raiders at the Langley Events Centre on Saturday afternoon saw to that. The Blue Jags lost last year’s championship final to cross-town Lambrick Park, but SMUS made up for it with the 2015 double-A quest — two straight for the Island.
“We struggled our way to the 66 [points], but we’re pretty happy with that,” Hyde-Lay said with a chuckle in reference to the offence, his thorn all year. “Along the way we guarded well, rebounded well and managed to put it all away.”
In four victories in Langley, the Blue Jags allowed just 28, 45, 34 and 40 points against in a supreme display of hard-nosed defence.
Asked how it compared with the 1992 win, Hyde-Lay said: “It’s like everything, every win is so sweet. In 1992, it was a real talented, powerhouse team that still had to go out and win it. This year was more uncertain, but we were confident going into this finally.”
Hyde-Lay will be on a plane today with six of his basketball players to join the remainder of the SMUS rugby team on a tour of Spain and Portugal.
The Blue Jags clawed out an early lead of 16-4 and led 29-22 at the half on Jason Scully’s fade away jump shot at the buzzer and never looked back. SMUS point guard Graeme Hyde-Lay completed a three-point play from the free-throw line for a 32-22 lead three minutes into the third and away they went.
The Blue Jags crashed the boards and grabbed loose balls all afternoon long and dictated play.
Scully finished with 22 points and eight rebounds as he was named player of the game. He was also a first-team all-star along with teammate Jake Wilmott. Max Pollen was named defensive player of the tournament; Graeme Hyde-Lay was the MVP and dad, Ian Hyde-Lay, won the Ken Wright coaching award.
In consolation double-A play, Lambrick Park lost its final game 70-69 to Bodwell and Kwalikum was handled 66-54 by Brittania. In quadruple-A play, Burnaby South defeated the Oak Bay Bays 79-75 in the fifth-place game and in triple-A play, Nanaimo beat St. Thomas More 65-56 for seventh place and Wellington downed Matthew McNair 80-68 for ninth. Mark Isfeld beat Dawson Creek 55-42 in consolation play.
mannicchiarico@timescolonist.com
© Copyright Times Colonist
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The offence? Well, he wasn’t so sure about that heading into the 2015 B.C. High School Basketball Championships presented by Telus.
Ultimately, there was little to worry about as the Blue Jags nailed down their first provincial senior boys’ crown since 1992 when Steve Nash led the way.
A thunderous 66-40 victory over the Delview Raiders at the Langley Events Centre on Saturday afternoon saw to that. The Blue Jags lost last year’s championship final to cross-town Lambrick Park, but SMUS made up for it with the 2015 double-A quest — two straight for the Island.
“We struggled our way to the 66 [points], but we’re pretty happy with that,” Hyde-Lay said with a chuckle in reference to the offence, his thorn all year. “Along the way we guarded well, rebounded well and managed to put it all away.”
In four victories in Langley, the Blue Jags allowed just 28, 45, 34 and 40 points against in a supreme display of hard-nosed defence.
Asked how it compared with the 1992 win, Hyde-Lay said: “It’s like everything, every win is so sweet. In 1992, it was a real talented, powerhouse team that still had to go out and win it. This year was more uncertain, but we were confident going into this finally.”
Hyde-Lay will be on a plane today with six of his basketball players to join the remainder of the SMUS rugby team on a tour of Spain and Portugal.
The Blue Jags clawed out an early lead of 16-4 and led 29-22 at the half on Jason Scully’s fade away jump shot at the buzzer and never looked back. SMUS point guard Graeme Hyde-Lay completed a three-point play from the free-throw line for a 32-22 lead three minutes into the third and away they went.
The Blue Jags crashed the boards and grabbed loose balls all afternoon long and dictated play.
Scully finished with 22 points and eight rebounds as he was named player of the game. He was also a first-team all-star along with teammate Jake Wilmott. Max Pollen was named defensive player of the tournament; Graeme Hyde-Lay was the MVP and dad, Ian Hyde-Lay, won the Ken Wright coaching award.
In consolation double-A play, Lambrick Park lost its final game 70-69 to Bodwell and Kwalikum was handled 66-54 by Brittania. In quadruple-A play, Burnaby South defeated the Oak Bay Bays 79-75 in the fifth-place game and in triple-A play, Nanaimo beat St. Thomas More 65-56 for seventh place and Wellington downed Matthew McNair 80-68 for ninth. Mark Isfeld beat Dawson Creek 55-42 in consolation play.
mannicchiarico@timescolonist.com
© Copyright Times Colonist
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