Boys: New West vs. Mount Boucherie
Written by Jeff McCutcheon, Handsworth Grad 2006
New West Hyaks wearing their Cincinnati Bengal like orange uniforms took on the Mount Boucherie Bears. The Bengals, I mean Hyaks, came out hot in the transition game nailing easy points off the rush. Bears’ guard Harrison Larson made the most of his trip to the Lower Mainland nailing three three-pointers to keep this game tight. After the first quarter it's New West up 26-25.
Defence will definitely be a topic for both coaches during the break as neither team showed much of it in the first. The second quarter continued where the first left off. The Bears nailed shots from the perimeter and the Hyaks got just about everything off the rush or a set play. This was going to be a high scoring affair. With two minutes left in the first half Bears’ Bobby Audy twisted his ankle badly and the already slim bench is now down to just one lonely player. Last night they finished the game with six players as well but it didn't effect their worth ethic one bit so I didn’t expect it to in this one either! 54 - 43 for the Hyaks at half.
Halftime: time to ponder – Exactly what is a Hyak?
#9 Audy headed to the court ankle-taped and limping to start the half, it will take a gutsy performance out of him to finish the game. New West implemented a full court press to start the half but Mount Boucherie looked like they had the speed and the ball skills to deal with it. As the quarter continued the Hyaks continued to roll out fresh bodies. This was truly a team effort by them with each player bringing something different to the table. The Bears got themselves into some foul trouble and, with two minutes left in the third, they were already in the penalty. They would have to play smart the rest of the way as they trailed New West 75 - 61 with one quarter left.
The guards for the Hyaks continued to be very impressive on both ends of the court. Their quickness was tough for the Bears to deal with and could be the difference in the game. Once again it looked like the Bears were going to come up on the wrong end of this one but it certainly wasn't anything to do with their effort. I've gotten tired just watching these 7 kids give it their all these last two nights. Nice work on them and congrats to New West for their first win of the tournament.
Final Score: Hyaks 96 Bears 82
All the best in future games!
Player of the game: Manny Phangura (New West)