Thursday, March 5
Canada One – Swat, 89-71
Run N Gun – Celtics, 95-83
Bullets – East Van Warriors, 103-49
Sonic Boom – 3D, 99-97
EA Sports – East Van Mutineers, 88-53
Mar 5 Box Scores
Game of the Night – Sonic Boom 99 – 3D 97
As predicted, 3D and Sonic Boom battled hard throughout the entire game and it all came down to one shot. With seconds winding down, Sonic Boom trailed by 2 points. 3D plays outstanding defense all the time, so you can imagine how tenacious they were in protecting the lead. Forcing the ball well past the perimeter, Paul Rother nails an impossible 3-pointer with a big defender in his face and falling backward. With only 2.7 seconds remaining, 3D hustles to tie the game with a baseline jumper, but fell short. Sonic Boom was clearly amped for this game and hit some difficult shots. Paul Rother (20), Yu-ki Kikuchi (18) and Igor Dutina (38) led the team’s scoring, while Stacey Barton (13) added some flash to the offense. In a game this close, 3D was also making great buckets: Graeme McCallum hit for 18 points, Jason Hubbs added 20 points, but 3D’s fearless PG Taylor Cherris-Wilding bagged 45 points on the night. Yes, that’s eleven 3′s . . . count ‘em . . . eleven. But, it was Sonic Boom’s night and they handed 3D their first loss of the season.
Run N Gun 95 – Celtics 83
The simple stat of this game is that Mark Tasic (35) scored whenever he wanted. This was made even easier when Jordan Yu (24) is stretching the defense and lobbing some the nicest passes I’ve ever seen in the league (and that’s saying something!). Run N Gun was on fire last night – Brian Scotland thread the needle on a perfect outlet pass down court to a sprinting Tasic. Javier Glatt making interceptions all over the court and swatted away a big 3-point attempt. Noah Cantor may get recruited to vball as he had several two-handed smothering blocks. As great as Run N Gun played, Celtics still pushed RNG. Dante Flores (20) had a fantastic shooting night and Melvyn Mayott (30) continued to please the crowd – particularly when he popped his dislocated knuckle back in place during a timeout and then continued to play. To my own dismay, I was impressed – especially when he hit three more 3′s.
Bullets 103 – East Van Warriors 49
The Warriors had a tough shooting night and Bullets’ Jamie Robinson had his best game in Metro yet. With 30 points, 5 steals, 2 dunks (one alley-oop from Nick Vojic) and 4 blocks, Jamie owned the court. We usually just track the scores, but when someone is lighting it up like that, you tend to start making note. Adam Rattray added 18 and Ben Lee had 15 on the night, but it was Robinson who was a walking highlight reel.
EA Sports 88 – East Van Mutineers 53
EA Sports’ Kyle Russell (22) took control of the offense early in the game with three 3′s in the first half. Matt Mahar hit for 18 and Mike Baxter (16) shot perfect swishes from the foul line (7/7). The Mutineers’ Winston Poh (9) found his range at the 3 and Xavier Thompson (11) and Jay Glover (14) fought hard on offense. Colin Currie swatted away 4 shots and added 10 points for the win.
Canada One 89 – Swat 71
Swat almost stole this game and could have used the size of absent Monjeff Peters, Mark Starkey and Jeremy Alexander to take on Canada One’s twin towers Bob Hielttes and Lars Hansen. Sherlan John (19) and Evan Southern (15) led the active Swat team to keep Canada One to their lowest score of the season. But, Navi Sekhon (32) and Randy Nohr (25) controlled the 3rd quarter and refused to let Swat mount a successful comeback.
Next week’s feature matches (for your viewing pleasure):
Monday – Canada One vs 3D, 7:30pm
Thursday – Sonic Boom vs Swat, 9pm