Season Four Begins – Week One Results – Winter/Spring 2010 Season
The fourth season of the Vancouver Metro League got underway this past Thursday with ten of the strongest teams on the West Coast. One of the teams missing from this year is three-time reigning Metro League champions, Canada One. C1 have run the table in the Metro League during it’s conception, but with them not in the league for this year- one thing is for certain. There will be a new champion this season.
Feature Game -
Heart, Hustle and Soul (1-0) 88 vs Team Serbia (0-1) 83
Week One’s feature game featured Heart, Hustle and Soul vs a new-comers Team Serbia, in what could be a preview of this seasons final.
H.H.S. won the regular season race in the Fall, going an impressive 11-0 before getting upset in the first round of the playoffs. Serbia, a team that is new to the league, but just by title. The Serbs feature many familiar faces including Igor Dutina -formerly with Sonic Boom, Mio Kovacevic & Srdjan Vujovic-formerly with Vancouver United and Neb Aleksic-formerly with SWAT. Dutina & Aleksic were both First-Team Metro League All-Stars in the Fall while Kovacevic made the Second-Team, proving that this team is stacked and this game would be tight. And it was.
Led by Jason Birring’s 33 points and Mark Tasic’s 25 points, H.H.S. pulled off an impressive 88-83 victory over a very talented Serbian squad. After flip-flopping the lead seven times in the first half, the half ended with H.H.S. up 40-39. The second half, however, proved to be a much different story. Tasic and Birring kept up their torrid scoring pace helping H.H.S. hold the lead from the start of the second half right to the buzzer. Birring was especially dynamic, driving to the hole, hitting threes and knocking down his trips to the charity stripe. Dutina lead Serbia in scoring with 20 points but it was a balanced attack from Serbia that kept them in the game, with five Serbs scoring in double-figures. H.H.S. are now 12-0 since last season in regular season play. Serbia drops their debut in the Metro League, though don’t be surprised if this is their only loss of the year
Vancouver United (1-0) 76 vs Bullets (0-1) 73
Van United secured their first win of the year barely getting by the always tough Bullets, 76-73. Led by Hardeep Bassram’s 23 points, United staved off a feisty Bullets team that got 20 points from star Jamie Robinson and 16 from the always consistent Ben Lee. The Bullets held the lead at times through the first half but couldn’t contain Bassram in the second half, who scored 17 of his 23 in the final 25 minutes. Kerry Westmore dropped 20 for United as Ben Dove added 15 for the Bullets.
Sonic Boom (1-0) 81 – Nike (0-1) 71
Lonzell Webster was the difference as Sonic Boom’s dynamic point guard went off for 28 points backed by five three-pointers in Sonic Boom’s 81-71 win over the new and improved Nike team. Former Canada One stand-out Anthony Lao, whose now on Nike, did his best to keep his new squad in, putting down a team high 23 points including a couple of huge baseline dunks. Webster, however, was too hot to handle. Of Lonzell’s 14 points in the first half, 12 came from the land beyond. Yapo Alle-Ando added 21 for Sonic Boom as Noah Levy contributed 15 for Nike in the loss.
SWAT (1-0) 86 – Remix (0-1) 68
A new-look SWAT squad cruised to their first win of the year 86-68 over new-comers, Remix. SWAT, who’s line-up has changed many times through the seasons, were led by a strong 23 points from Clint Lomax. Lomax was owning the lanes getting to the hoop with relative ease throughout the game. League president Mark Starkey also supplied 17 for the winners. For Remix, former Canada One member Jean-Marc Saldini had a great game leading all scorers with 28.
Velvet Hoop (1-0) 80 – EA (0-1) 53
Hunter Jordan put in a game high 23 while teammate Chris Horwood dropped 18 as Velvet Hoop picked up their first win of the season with a 80-53 win over EA. EA was led by Matt NG’s 13 points.