Hometown Titans Successfully Fend Off the Visiting Huskies in an OT Thriller

December 7, 2023

Mulgrave v. Okanagan Mission

The visiting Okanagan Mission (OKM) Huskies have traveled from Kelowna to kick-off their No Regrets tourney against the hometown Mulgrave Titans. On a rainy afternoon on Cypress Mountain, we have two teams looking to get started with a W - no doubt no one hungrier for the win than the hometown Titans with their family and friends filling up the stands.

The Huskies are rocking their North Carolina baby blue away jerseys, and facing a three-quarter court zone D to start this game. #3 for the Titans, Abtin Zehtab, has started the game energized and confident - getting 3 quick buckets to give his team an early 6-0 lead. Some days things are just clicking, and so far that certainly seemed to be the case for Zehtab as he hits double digits in points before we get to the 5-minute mark. #12 for the Huskies, Nick Plummer, just tried to bring the house down with an attempted dunk down the middle of the lane that rattled off the rim. 

The support of the crowd plus what feels like a team that can’t miss has the Titans up big, 23-6, late in the first Q. OKM continues to search for an answer to the zone D, both in the full-court and half-court. Bringing some fresh legs off the bench for the Huskies and returning the favour with a full court press of their own, OKM is looking to flip the momentum around. At the end of the first quarter, the Titans are up 30-10.

Some motivational speeches from OKM players and coaches in between quarters has put a zip in the step of the Huskies, as they will undoubtedly be looking to get this down to a single-digit deficit before the half. With bodies flying all over the place, it feels like we got robbers to the east, clowns to the west and a circus in the paint! Great entertainment for this crowd. 

The pace of play has picked up and OKM has now been able to establish their presence, narrowing the lead down to just 7 a few minutes into the second quarter.  A few missed opportunities inside by the Huskies has resulted in the Titans building on their lead, getting themselves up 13 with under 2 minutes before the half.  As we enter the half, Mulgrave is up 46-35 over OKM.

Halftime Fact #1: Kelowna receives over 2,000 hours of sunshine annually, and also is the home to 40 wineries within 20 minutes of each other. 

Halftime Fact #2: The name Cypress Mountain is confusing, as there is no mountain named “Cypress”; Cypress mountain is actually made up of two mountains - Mt Strachan and Black Mountain.

OKM appears to be sick and tired of Zehtab doing the majority of the scoring damage for the Titans, and have turned to face-guarding him to start the second half. They are going to try to force Mulgrave to earn this W with some of the other Titans being responsible for the scoring. Zehtab is still finding his opportunities by going full steam ahead when he gets the ball in transition, and has been able to find his points early in the second half.  Zehtab is officially going off, hitting a combination of buckets around the rim, stepback jumpers and three balls. A back and forth quarter has the Titans up 7, and we are teed up for a thriller of a final Q.

As an aside, remember when teams used to choose their shoe colour to match their jerseys? That is very much no longer the trend. 

A solid late push in the third quarter for the Huskies has given them some momentum heading into the final quarter, and you can expect them to come out motivated to erase that deficit immediately. Just as one may have expected, a quick push by OKM gave themselves their first lead of the game with 7 minutes remaining. OKM’s Plummer hit a high arching 3, followed by a layup in transition by #8 Issac Hamilton, increasing the lead to 6 - what a turnaround! The boys were fired up as they headed into a timeout - with a subtle reminder from their level-headed coach to not get ahead of themselves with over 5 minutes to go. Hamilton attempted to throw down a one-handed slamma jamma on his breakaway, which would have quieted this crowd in a hurry. 

Huskies maintain their 6 point lead with 2 minutes remaining, and are electing to slow the pace down and try to run down the clock. The finish line is visible. A clutch floater by #3 Zehtab pulled this into a one possession game, with the Titans only down 2 with a minute to go. After some penetration and the kick-out, Zehtab hits a 3 from deep to give the Titans a one point lead with 20 seconds remaining. Plummer breaks his man down off the dribble and draws the foul, giving him an opportunity to get a lead back with 14 seconds on the clock. Swish the first, back rim the second. A game winning attempt from Hamilton banks off the backboard and misses - OT it is!

Mulgrave started OT with a sense of urgency, not wanting to let this game slip away. A quick 6 point lead has the Huskies back fighting, trying to give themselves a shot at the W. In the end, a dominant performance by Zehtab was too much for OKM, and the Titans came away with a big home opener W.

Final Score: Mulgrave: 89 - OKM: 83.

No Regrets.