Canada One team members joined forces with firefighters from the lower mainland, RCMP, and Youth Corrections to beat out teams from Gironde (France), FDNY, Toronto Police, LAPD, VPD, and Portland. In a very exciting and intense final, the BC Arms & Axes team outhustled the Portland Knights of Fire to win gold (98-92).
Through pool play, Navi Sekhon averaged 40 points and managed to score 24 points in limited minutes in an easy semi-final win over VPD (77-50). Navi again dominated the game with 27 points in the final along with big inside scoring from Pete Morris (31) and gritty defense by Bob Hieltjes.
It was an amazing (& long) week of exhausting basketball, but it was all worth it when they were awarded the gold medals. Medal presenters included: John Buis - Staff Sergeant, RCMP and Basketball BC President, Bob Cook – Burnaby Fire Chief, and Laura MacDonald – Assistant Director, SFU Security. Even I couldn’t resist sneaking in a big congratulations to my old college pal, Navi.
The World Police and Fire Games will come to a close tomorrow night and the BC Arms & Axes team is hunting for gold! This will be Navi Sekhon’s second medal (in two events) and Canada One is rooting for double gold. After an impressive win over Vancouver Police Department, they will face the Portland Knights of Fire (who defeated the LAPD in a very close semi-final). This will be a rematch of their pool play and the advantage will be to BC as they have previously beaten our neighbours to the south.
Sunday, Aug 9
8:00 – Calgary vs New Caledonia (Div II Bronze)
10:00 – Northwest Lawmen vs Toledo Pride (Div II Gold)
12:00 – VPD vs LAPD (Div II Bronze)
2:00 – BC Arms & Axes vs Portland Knights of Fire (Div I Gold)
Navi Sekhon continued his scoring dominance in yesterday’s gold medal match against Iceland. Winning by a single point, the Burnaby Fire team managed to take down the 3×3 tournament giants. Celebrations were brief as Navi played the Portland Knights of Fire at 8am this morning in the opening game of the 5×5 tournament. The BC Arms and Axes roster is impressive and has a bench full of other Metro players from Canada One: Bob Hieltjes, Eric Butler, Howard Kelsey (coach), Ron Putzi (coach), and Temo Flores (trainer).
Bob Hieltjes and Navi Sekhon recovered quickly from the 3×3 tournament and netted 14 and 35 points respectively. Their next match is Thursday at 4pm at SFU against the #1 ranked FDNY.
The Burnaby Fire squad defeated a very strong and athletic Chandler Fire team from Arizona in tonight’s World Police & Fire Games 3-on-3 semi-final. Our very own Navi Sekhon led his team with impressive shooting to secure their spot in the final.
Support Navi in the gold medal match on Tuesday, August 4 at 2pm when his team battles against an enormous team from Iceland Fire. GO Canada!
