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Pitt Meadows Marauders play for Air Show Tournament championship

Lose to Victoria's Claremont in the tourney final

The Pitt Meadows Marauders senior boys basketball team played in the championship game of their annual Air Show Tournament  on Saturday, Jan. 18, losing to the tough Claremont Spartans 54-48 in a defensive battle.

Claremont, from Victoria, is a quad-A team, where Pitt Meadows plays in the triple-A division. The hosts are listed as an honourable mention in the B.C. High School Boys Basketball Association top-10 rankings for the province's triple A schools.

Pitt Meadows coach Bruno Chu is happy with the progress his team has shown so far this season.

"Our senior boys team started the season slow, but we've started to play up to our potential," said Chu. "We travelled to Arizona over the winter break to play at the Cactus Jam tourney and we've been playing much better lately.

"This senior group has been playing basketball together since Grade 8, so we really feel like this is our year to do something special," he added. "We are trying to stay healthy and peak at the right time for the playoffs."

The host Marauders got their tourney started on Thursday afternoon in front of a packed gym, with students banging on improvised drums with sticks, and cheering every play, and the home team gave them a lot to cheer about. Pitt trailed Charles Best of Coquitlam 14-4 early, but made a late run and cut the deficit to 35-34 by half time. Then they had a great second half, and went on to win 75-54.

Then the Marauders faced their historic rivals from Maple Ridge secondary in the semi-finals on Friday, and beat the Ramblers 74-47, to advance to the championship game.

The Ramblers won their Thursday afternoon tourney opener by a score of 78-72 over Penticton. After losing the semi-final to Pitt, they also were beaten in the bronze medal game by Centennial Centaurs 90-50.

Both the Ramblers and Marauders compete in the Fraser North Zone, and both have started league play with two wins each.

Playoffs will start in late February, and the B.C. championships are scheduled for March 5-8.

 



Neil Corbett

About the Author: Neil Corbett

I have been a journalist for more than 30 years, the past decade with the Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows News.
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