There are 16 senior boys’ basketball teams, four from Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows, battling their way through the Fraser Valley tournament this week at Pitt Meadows secondary.
Five will advance to the AAA provincial championships.
Both the Pitt Meadows Marauders and the Westview Wildcats won their opening games of the tournament, and that means they were scheduled to meet on Thursday night at 8:15.
It’s a huge game, because whichever team wins will need just one more, in a game scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 28 at 6:30 p.m., to get into the tournament championship game.
Westview will be underdogs against the Marauders, and when they last met in league play on Feb. 7 Pitt prevailed 67-39.
The Wildcats are coming off a big 73-70 win over the Delta Pacers in their first game of the tournament on Wednesday night.
It was a grinding win, that saw the Ridge club come out flat to start the game, and go down by 10 points.
“We lost our structure, but after a time out we went back to quick passing which is what has made us successful,” said coach Alan Roberts. “We made too many mistakes in the first quarter, but we settled down in the second quarter.”
Their leading scorer was Gavin Bruce with 26 points.
“His athleticism made him a force around the rim,” said the coach.
He said Paul Chang had a “massive fourth quarter at both ends of the floor,” and put up 11 of his 18 points in the final frame. He hit a big three-pointer in a close contest, and had several key steals.
Graeme Roberts also had 11 points, and some slick drive-and-dish assists.
Coach Roberts said the key to his team advancing to the provincials will be more consistent play.
“If everything falls into place and we minimize our mistakes, we can give almost every team a game,” he said. “We are a very athletic team, with the core of kids playing together for five years. We move the ball very well and cut ot the basket almost instinctively.”
He admits his team is in tough against Pitt.
“Pitt has had our number this year. Their size, outside shooting and deep bench makes them very formidable.”
Frank Hurt certainly found that to be the case during Pitt’s tournament opener, as the home team won easily 70-42 over the eighth-place team from the Fraser Valley West.
Cole Leon led the Marauders in scoring with 18 points, while big man Gio Manu had 10.
“The team came out strong to start the game, moving the ball well against Frank Hurt’s zone, and started the game on a 12-0 run,” said Pitt coach Brody Herman.
The other two School District No. 42 teams in the tournament lost their openers.
The Maple Ridge Ramblers were downed 72-37 by Clayton Heights, the second-place team in the Fraser Valley West. They were next scheduled to play Langley on Thursday.
The SRT Titans lost 57-52 to the Brookswood Bobcats, the third-place team from the West. The Titans were scheduled to play D.W. Poppy on Thursday at 3 p.m. at North Delta.