By Jesse McGowan

“Quarterfinals For Three Please”: PG schools all set for provincial bouts

Mar 7, 2019 | 12:55 PM

Wednesday was a perfect day for the beginning of the BC Boys Basketball Provincials in Langley. Perfect in the sense that all three senior boys teams from Prince George came up victorious in their first-round matchups.

The Langley Events Centre plays host to the basketball provincials for junior boys one week and junior and senior girls the next. All that’s left now are all the senior boys teams in the province, spanning from 1A to 4A. With the exception of the highest level (4A), Prince George has a team in every tournament and all are getting set for quarterfinals matchups on Thursday. Funny enough, all three teams will tip-off around the LEC at 8:15 Thursday evening.

In 3A, the #4-ranked Duchess Park Condors were tasked with the 13th-seed Caledonia Secondary Kermodes out of Terrace to open their tournament. Though the game tipped off at 8:30 Wednesday morning the Condors showed little signs of fatigue. In the second quarter, the Condors doubled up the Kermodes 28-14 to take a 15 point lead into halftime. Grade 10 scorer Caleb Lyons led the way for Duchess with 25 points in the game, including four three-pointers on six attempts. Lyons also grabbed seven rebounds and two blocks.

The young guard’s contribution led the team to a 72-49 win and advanced them to the quarterfinals on Thursday against #5 G.W. Graham Grizzlies. The Condors will be looking to fly a little higher than they did last year, after losing the 2018 quarterfinals to the eventual champion South Kamloops Titans. They’d go on to finish 6th, a placement they’ll hope to improve upon this season.

In 2A, the D.P. Todd Trojans are also onto the quarterfinals. The team entered the tournament ranked second and rolled past the Pacific Academy Breakers 81-68 on Wednesday. Saagar Shergill led the way for the Trojans with 24 points.

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D.P. Todd will continue their pursuit of the provincial title Wednesday at 8:15pm against #7 George Elliot Coyotes.

To round out the success on Day 1, the Cedars Christian Eagles also advanced past their first game of the tournament. The team knocked out the Pemberton Secondary School Red Devils 62-44. The Eagles won by committee on Wednesday night, with four of their scorers finishing in double-digits. Joel Nelson led the way with 13 points, Evan Staves had 12, Mitch Crosina put up 11, and Ben Wolitski picked up 10 in a game where the Eagles never trailed.

Their 8:15 quarterfinals matchup on Wednesday will be a tough one. The #7 Eagles will look to upset #2 Kelowna Christian who won 100-28 in their first game of the tournament.

For a full schedule of all the provincial action this week, click here.