Vancouver Metro Basketball League

2009 Vancouver Metro Basketball Playoffs are here!

Vancouver Metro Basketball League Spring Playoffs are here! Click here to check out the schedule.

Win, or go home. Bring it.

Check out Vancouver Metro Basketball League video highlights from 2009 Seasons!

Thursday, March 19

Canada One – EA Sports, 98-67
Bullets – Swat, 88-63
3D – Warriors, 147-42
Celtics – Mutineers, 84-50
Run N Gun – Sonic Boom, 81-76

Box Scores – Mar 19

Game of the Night – Run N Gun 81 – Sonic Boom 76

Sonic Boom and Run N Gun were fighting  to secure a top 4 ranking and the tension was palpable.  Teams traded buckets for the first half, then Run N Gun made a late surge to pull ahead before the half-time whistle (43-37).  Brian Scotland (18) and Jordan Yu (22) controlled the perimeter and spread the floor, creating space for Mark Tasic (20) to work inside.  Early foul trouble for Connor Rockandel hurt Sonic Boom, but Igor Dutina (34) and Stacey Barton (11) came up with big points in the first half.

The teams hustled and banged hard for every point to keep the game within 2 baskets at all times.  It all came down to which team could close out the remaining 3 minutes, with the game locked at 71-71.  Big plays by Run N Gun’s Timin Hadi, secured the win. With just 2 minutes left on the clock, Timin picked Sonic Boom’s pockets before sending it down court for an easy 2.  Tasic and Yu relived their glory days at UBC with inspired play – Yu nails a big 3, Tasic makes a heroic play inside before heading to the line – and after chest-bumping his pal Yu.  With Sonic Boom down by 3, Igor Dutina launches a desperate trey, but Tasic’s tight defense forces the shot short.  With just 15 seconds left, Timin Hadi is still racing around the court and is fouling on his way to the hoop at 79-76.  Hadi dashes the hopes of his opponents by draining both freebies, for a 5 point lead with 7.7 seconds.  Sonic Boom can’t organize their offense and the ball sails out of bounds on an errant pass.  Run N Gun earns the victory and a top in the top 4 of Metro. 

Bullets 88 – Swat 63
This was another battle for rankings and the Bullets played with extra heart and hustle to close out the regular season.  Swat’s Jon Pradinuk (13) and Jeremy Alexander (14) took the early lead with 11 first half points each.  The first half ends with Swat up 40-36 – not sure what Bullets drank at half-time, but they came out firing and dominated the 3rd quarter (64-46).  Adam Rattray (19) had a great night in the paint, with great shooting from Ian Sheffield (12) and Paul Proznick (14).  The real key to Bullets’ success in the 3rd was offensive rebounding led by Jamie Robinson (21) and steals by Ben Lee (16).  In the final 3 minutes, both teams were making the most of their time on the court with Corey Wee’s hitting 3′s to stay in the game, Jamie Robinson skying up to get a steal for an easy fast-break bucket to teammate Ben Lee (78-55).   The exclamation point of the games were Ben Lee’s answer to Wee’s three’s and Wee’s alley-oop pass for Mark Starkey’s dunk.  Bullets are in the hunt for playoffs and they are peaking at exactly the right time!

Canada One 98 – EA Sports 67
It was a close first half as Kyle Russell (32) and Andres Rivela (14) chased Canada One 46-40, but last season’s champs rallied to pull away in the 3rd quarter and never looked back.  Randy Nohr and Navi Sekhon collected 25 a piece, with great 3-point shooting from Howard Kelsey (11) and Sean Maxwell (13).  EA will need their full roster if they face Canada One in playoffs as the absences of Matt Mahar and Mike Baxter would have changed the game in EA’s favour. 

3D 147 – Warriors 42
3D was looking to break records last night as they clinched the top ranking for the regular season and ousted last year’s champs from the throne (at least until playoffs).  Looking to send a message, 3D racked up the league’s highest score and consequently, the biggest point differential.  If you had just walked into the gym and hadn’t seen the score, you would never have guessed that the game wasn’t close as 3D and the Warriors battled every minute of the game.  Warriors were exhausted with only 5 guys, but showed great integrity in continuing to try and stop the athletic 3D squad.  3D was unstoppable though and it’s exciting to see guys who love defense remember that they also love to shoot – Josh Booy (34) bagged 8 three’s while also cleaning up the defensive boards.  Graeme McCallum (47) hustled for 21 baskets and great shooting from Jason Hubbs (22) and Lucian Sauciuc (26) sealed the deal.  3D’s desperation for the top spot pays off and are sitting pretty in the #1 of the league.

Celtics 84 – Mutineers 50
Celtics’  Melvynn Mayott (33) continues his dominance on the court, supported by a great shooting night from Dante Andres Jr (20).  Mutineers’ Jason Emmert (18) and Jay Glover (16) again led the charge for their team, but with contributions from every Celtics’ member, they were too tough to stop.

Much love to the following guys who made it out to every single game this season:
Andrew Millard (Warriors)
Cody Fox (3D)
Connor Rockandel (Sonic Boom)
Demi Nielsen (Mutineers)
Jason Hubbs (3D)
Jay Glover (Mutineers)
Josh Booy (3D)
Mark Tasic (Run N Gun)
Paul Proznick (Bullets)
Rannel Ramos (Celtics)

EA Sports leads the way with SWAT in a close second.

Individual Leaders will be posted after this week’s collection of shoes!  Dig around the house for those old kicks and bring them in for folks that need them!  Donations go to Hoops4Hope!

Here’s the gameplan:

• Bring in your old shoes to your Metro League game this week.
• Drop them in the shoe drive collection bin.
• Sign the donation sheet at the main scorer’s table with team name and # of pairs
• Win Nike gear/discounts

Vancouver Metro Basketball League Shoe Drive

Week 9 Results – March 12

3D – Canada One, 108-90
EA Sports – East Van Warriors, 124-52
Bullets – Celtics, 95-64
Swat – Sonic Boom, 70-52
Run N Gun – East Van Mutineers, 107-66

Box Score – March 12