KCS Knights, Kelowna Owls playing for provincial basketball gold

It’s been like old home week for Gib Hinz at the B.C. School Sports senior A boys basketball championship tournament.

And it continues on Saturday at the Langley Events Centre.

The former Kelowna Christian School coach, who won four provincial single-A titles with the Knights, will meet his former team in the provincial final after his No. 2-ranked B.C. Christian Academy Panthers of Port Coquitlam defeated Kelowna’s Heritage Christian School Saints 80-76 in semifinal play on Friday.

Hinz also coached the Saints for two seasons before moving on to B.C. Christian.

Meanwhile, the 2017 edition of the KCS Knights earned its berth in the championship game (1:30 p.m.) by upsetting No. 1 Ron Pettigrew Lions of Dawson Creek 75-72 in overtime in the other semifinal on Friday.

Hinz admitted his team’s win against Heritage was bittersweet.

“Of course it was great to be able to get to the final and try to win the first provincial basketball championship in the school’s history (25 years), but I really did feel for the Heritage players, nine of whom were with the team when I was there,” recalled Hinz, whose assistant coach in his second season at HCS was Colton Tripke, now the head coach of the Saints.

“I had a chance to watch them at a tournament earlier on this season and I was just blown away at how well they were playing . . . and how much they’ve grown. After seeing the Saints put up 108 points the night before (against Sparwood), I knew they were the real deal.”

The Saints looked just that early on when they took a 21-20 lead at the quarter, but B.C. Christian’s experience shone through in the second quarter as they held a 44-34 lead by the half. It was 65-53 at three-quarter time and the Panthers led by as many as 19 points in the third quarter.

But several Panthers miscues and momentum-carrying three-pointers and timely steals by HCS led to the Okanagan Valley champions putting B.C. Christian on the ropes.

“We were in survival mode,” admitted Hinz, who had warned his crew before the game of the Saints’ fearlessness and penchant for playing with reckless abandon. “They really stuck it to us down the stretch (HCS got to within two points with 30 seconds remaining). It’s a good thing the game wasn’t any more than 40 minutes.”

Despite the scare, Hinz conceded that the late charge by Heritage might have been a blessing in disguise.

“It was a wakeup call, no doubt about it. We’ve been playing so well lately that we haven’t found ourselves in those situations where we’ve had to fight back in many games. Hopefully we’ve learned a lesson for the championship game.”

A 28-point effort by point guard Cody Dowell led the Panthers past the Saints, while 6-foot-2 Grade 8 forward Harry Oghomienor, a native of Nigeria, added 27 to go along with 14 from Quentin Onyemordi.

For the Saints, who defeated Kelowna Christian in the Valley final, it was Sam Bell again leading the way with 20 points and 10 boards. Raymond Barrett contributed 14 points and six rebounds while Ben Robideau finished with 12 points and six rebounds.

Looking forward to Saturday’s championship matchup against Kelowna Christian, Hinz will also be looking across the floor at one of his former Knights’ players, Dan Benson, who helped KCS win two provincial pennants.

But Hinz will be more concerned with his team coming out with a better performance than it did on Friday against Heritage.

“We have to make sure we take care of the basketball when the going gets tough. And it will get tough because KCS is a solid team,” said Hinz. “We have to be smart and adjust when things aren’t going our way.

“The key will be getting after the rim . . . being aggressive against a team that is very much that way. We have to win the boards. That will be the key.”

The Panthers, who put on a late charge to defeat the Knights 70-65 in a KCS tournament in December, will have to find a way to neutralize the Knights’ Carter Martens, who scored 30 points and pulled down 11 rebounds in the upset win over Ron Pettigrew.

With his teammates unable to find their range early on Friday, Martens took charge en route to being named the player of the game for a second time this week.

“He really did take control of the game and was a big reason for our success,” said his dad and head coach, Tim Martens. “And he made some key buckets down the stretch.”

In a game that saw the lead change 14 times and featured 10 ties, the Knights led by nine points in the second quarter, but trailed 47-44 going into the final 10 minutes. KCS came back to pull even at 61-61 after regulation time.

Martens and Cruz Anderson (14 points) both hit three-pointers in extra time to lead their team to victory. Tyler Jardine finished with 13 points and eight rebounds, while Jackson Borne added 10 points and Jackson Katler grabbed 12 boards.

Coach Martens will be hoping for more of the same when the Knights meet up with B.C. Christian on Saturday.

“We knew we had to stop Pettigrew’s fast break and take care of business under the basket and that’s just what we did. Except that our outside shooting wasn’t there tonight, I couldn’t have asked for more from the guys.”

While B.C. Christian doesn break out as quickly, according to Martens, they have a deeper squad than Pettigrew, with a rash of good athletes.

“There’s no doubt we’ve got a huge challenge ahead of us,” said Martens. “They’ll be the favourites by far going into the final, but we’ve been underdogs already this week, so we’ll just have to see.

“Regardless, we’re grateful to be where we are and that we have the opportunity to play for gold.”

While the Panthers and Knights will battle it out for the championship on Saturday, Heritage Christian, playing in their first senior basketball provincial tournament, will play Ron Pettigrew for the bronze beginning at 8:30 a.m.

Regardless of the outcome, with a team that includes of six Grade 11s, and five Grade 10s, the odds are good the Saints will get another shot at a medal in 2018.

KSS Owls, Walnut Grove battle for 4A gold

The Kelowna Owls not only have earned the opportunity to defend their B.C. School Sports provincial quad-A boys basketball championship on Saturday, but also get the chance to avenge four straight losses this season to the Walnut Grove Gators.

An 86-74 semifinal victory over the No. 3-ranked Oak Bay Bays on Friday vaulted the No. 2 Owls to the championship game on centre court at the Langley Events Centre (8:15 p.m.) , while the Gators of Langley breezed to the date with Owls by defeating the Holy Cross Crusaders of Surrey 90-58.

The Kelowna Secondary School representatives had their hands full with the Bays. After taking a 19-18 lead in the first quarter, the Owls found themselves behind by six at one point in the second quarter before closing the gap to 33-35 by the end of the half.

Going on a 9-0 run t start the second half to regain a lead, the Owls wouldn’t relinquish it the rest of the way. They outscored Oak Bay 29-13 in the third quarter to went up 62-48 heading into the final 10 minutes.

KSS extended the lead to 67-50 early in the fourth and kept a comfortable lead by being consistent on free throws (24-for-30 overall).

Mason Bourcier scored 33 of his team-high 41 points in the second half and also contributed nine rebounds and seven assists overall. Big man Owen Keyes was a key factor with his 21 points and 10 boards while Grade 11s David Wieczorek and Matt Williamson had eight points apiece.

“It was a tough game, but no one said it would be easy,” pointed out Owls’ veteran assistant coach, Brad Heuser. “Now we’re going to find out how much energy we’ve got left in the final.

“Walnut Grove hasn’t really been pushed in the tournament, as evidenced by the scores, so it will be interesting to see how they respond to what we hope will be their toughest challenge of the week.”

While the Gators have won the past four games between the two teams, the margins of victory in the past three have been by only four, six and five points.

Elliot Coyotes win first game at 2A provincials

A 34-point performance by Fynn McCarthy led the George Elliot Coyotes of Lake Country to their first win at the B.C. School Sports senior AA championship tournament on Friday.

The 6-foot-7 player-of-the-game also collected 13 rebounds, recorded four blocks and brought the crowd at the Langley Events Centre to its feet with three huge dunks as the Coyotes defeated Prince Charles of Creston 104-45.

Justin Battye contributed 14 points t the Coyote cause and Cody Hackl added 13, while Grade 10 Nic Lafontane chipped in with 10 points and 14 assists. Jared Darly and Charan Sidhu scored nine and eight points respectively.

Ranked 13th going into the 16-team tournament, the Coyotes will play for that same spot on Saturday when they take on the No. 6 Pacific Academy Breakers of Surrey beginning at noon.

Elliot opened on Wednesday by dropping a 112-72 decision to the No. 4 G.W.Graham Grizzlies of Chilliwack and fell to the No. 12 St. Thomas Aquinas Fighting Saints of North Vancouver 87-66 in their second game on Thursday.