Vancouver Metro Basketball League

FINAL: Canada One – 3D, 115-99

In the highly anticipated rematch betweeen Canada One and 3D, last season’s champs set out to redeem their regular season loss and regain the top ranking in the Metro League.  Canada One’s towering defense ignited a 10-2 run with Bob Hielttes and Navi Sekhon getting easy inside buckets with perfect passes from point guard Randy Nohr.  3D’s captain Jason Hubbs brought his team back into the game with some tough hoops against the ridiculously tall Canada One team.  3D started to heat up in the second quarter, but Canada One was determined to retain their lead and responded with some very physical defense.  Lucian Sauciuc played without fear and nailed some tough hoops to finish the half at 51-39.

Canada One started the 2nd half with hot outside shooting from Sean Maxwell, extending their lead to 34 points.  3D retaliated with big athletic plays from Josh Booy (dunk and a two-handed block against the glass/goal-tend) as well as sharp shooting from Alex Zabori and Graeme McCallum.  3D nailed eight 3’s in the second half to bring the game within 16, but the damage had been done in the first and third quarter.

Canada One continues their dominance with the highest bball IQ on the court, the rest of the league will need to build on their team strategy to take on these giants next season.

Road to the Championship:
Canada One – EA Sports, 105-84
3D – Run N Gun, 102-82

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)

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

With the CIS National Basketball Championships and High School Basketball Provincials going on later this week, Canada One squared off with 3D tonight in a highly anticipated match-up.   The first quarter of the game was dead even with teams testing each other and equally trading hoops.  3D’s proved that they were at the top of their defensive game with a few big interceptions in the 2nd quarter and started to pull away.  Randy Nohr (35) and Navi Sekhon (29) kept the game within reach, but 3D still kept coming up with steals and capitalizing on their fast break buckets.  Taylor Cherris-Wilding (22) and Graeme McCallum (22) were 3D’s top scorers, followed closely by Jason Hubbs (18) and John Thomson (18).   3D’s energetic defense and inspired team offense made them the victors of the night and Canada One suffers their first loss.

3D – Canada One, 108-90

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

Week 8 Match-ups – March 5

8PM (New Gym): Run N Gun vs Celtics
Run N Gun will be looking to improve their record to .500 and stay in the hunt for the top 4.  After a tough loss in OT last week, the team will be looking for redemption.

8PM (Alumni Gum): Canada One vs Swat
Swat is currently sitting in 4th place and will be looking to take down the champs!  Canada One hasn’t had their full roster out in a while, so if Swat can put together their best lineup, they have a shot at handing Canada One their first loss of the season.  But the safe bet still goes to Canada One for the win.

9PM (New Gym): Sonic Boom vs 3D
3D’s defense will be tough for Sonic Boom to overcome, so they will have to balance their offensive scoring to have a chance against the uber athletic 3D squad.  The consistent team play of 3D has proven impossible to defeat so far, but Sonic Boom’s pasison for the game will likely make this the game of the week.

9PM (Alumni Gum): Warriors vs Bullets
Warriors have been improving through the season so tonight could be a good night for them.  If Cesare Martino heats up from the 3 as he did last week and Srdjan Vujovic controls the key, they have a shot at equalizing the Bullets big scorers (Ben Lee and Jamie Robinson).  This could be the turning point for the Warriors if they can put together another great performance.

10PM (New Gym): EA Sports vs Mutineers
The Mutineers are tenacious and have continually pushed their opponents out of their comfort zone.  EA is a cohesive unit that will be tough to dismantle, but the Mutineers never give up easily.  EA is hungry for a win and a good point differential in order to separate themselves from the pack of teams chasing Canada One and 3D.

Season Standings: Spring Results

Good luck!

~cb

Thursday, Feb 26

Canada One – Bullets, 101-76
3D – East Van Mutineers, 81-57
Swat – Run ‘n Gun, 82-81 (OT)
EA Sports – Celtics, 83-62
Sonic Boom – East Van Warriors, 74-60

Feb 26 Box Scores

Game of the Night

Swat 82 – Run ‘n Gun 81 (OT)
A close game throughout, but Swat pulled away in the 3rd quarter.  Some aggressive play by Run ‘n Gun’s Jordan Yu (24) earned him some trips to the charity stripe to take the lead over Swat.  The key to Swat’s success had to be their strong defense on Mark Tasic (who still netted 23 points), but they kept him scoreless in the extra minutes.  Swat had the size advantage with big play from Jeremy Alexander (25), Sherlan John (23), and Monjeff Peters (13). 

Canada One 101 – Bullets 76
Big scores again from Mr. Randy Nohr (40) – perhaps he is inspired by the play of his TBirds (who play tonight @ 7pm at War Memorial). Pasha Bains added 21 to continue Canada One’s unbeatened streak.  The Bullets were definitely missing Jamie Robinson, but Ben Lee continued to fire away with 24 points.  Ian Sheffield battled from the wing for 13.

3D 81 – East Van Mutineers 57
3D took the win over a tenacious Mutineers team, who hustled until the dying minutes.  3D looked a little disorganized for the first time this season, but with outstanding hustle from Cody Fox and the quick hands of Taylor Cherris-Wilding they found their rhythm.  The hot hands of this match was Mutineers Jay Glover (18), Graeme McCallum (18) and Jason Hubbs (16). 

EA Sports 83 – Celtics 62
Celtics’ struggled to gain all the offensive threats on EA Sports last night, with great outside shooting from EA’s Matt Mahar (23), Matt Ng (17) and inside hustle from Phil Sinnot (19).  Celtics Melvyn Mayott (24) continues to impress with smooth takes to the hoop and nice strokes from beyond the arc.  Allan Flores (Celtics) had his best game of the season with four 3’s, totalling 14 points on the night.  EA had this game in hand, but Celtics great team chemistry forced EA to continue to earn every point.

Sonic Boom 74 – East Van Warriors 60
A big contrast in team chemistry last night and the Warriors unselfish play almost caused the upset over Sonic Boom.  Despite their lead, Sonic Boom was frustrated by the hustle and team defense of the Warriors.  Huge long-range buckets from Cesare Martino (24) and stealthy post play by Srdjan Vujovic (21) kept the pressure on their opponents.  Igor Dutina was aggressive on offense with 38 points to secure the win for Sonic Boom.

After 6 weeks in Metro League,  there are two clear front runners and it’s a tight race for 3rd.  Canada One and 3D are both undefeated so far in the season with significant point spreads over their opponents.  Mark your calendars for March 12th, when these two powerhouses face off!  The race for 3rd is a battle between 5 teams – the next games will be crucial to solidfy their standings!

With just 4 games left in regular season, it’s time for teams to get their full rosters on the court and earn the top seeding for playoffs!

League Standings – Week 6

Thursday, Feb 19

Canada One – Celtics, 123-83
East Van Warriors – East Van Mutineers, 74-67
3D – Run ‘n Gun, 109-92
Bullets – Sonic Boom, 75-73
EA Sports – Swat, 78-63

Feb 19 Box Scores

Game of the Night: Bullets are down one point and Ben Lee nails a 3 to take the win over Sonic Boom.  75-73