Battle of the North Shore Lives up to the Hype
West Vancouver Highlanders Sr. Boys vs. Handsworth Royals
December 10, 2023
A North Shore rivalry game started with each team looking a bit hesitant, but the scoring floodgates opened early between the Handsworth Royals and the West Vancouver Highlanders on Saturday morning at the No Regrets Basketball Tournament semi-final. Handsworth sophomore #5 Liam Hadrill got things going with some smooth shooting from the outside and silky takes to the hoop, while West Van’s #9 Calvin Kuzyk answered for the Highlanders. Each team entered the second quarter on pace to score nearly 100 points in what looked like would be a high scoring affair!
West Van was effective at limiting Handsworth’s #2 Ashton Bain’s height and athleticism throughout the first half and responded with their own athletic wing #6 Max Ndolvu-Fraser, who showed his ability to knock down long-range threes and attack the hoop. The first 2 quarters of this game were a clear indication that each team was here to battle from tip to buzzer.
West Van started to pull away late in the second quarter thanks to their long-range shooting and tough defense. The Highlanders locked down on defense keying on #5 Hadrill and #2 Bain, but the support troops came riding in for the Royals as they pulled back to even things at 42-42 at the half, setting the tone for what looked to be a nail biter.
Halftime: a tie at 42
The Royals came out of the half focused, playing together and moving the ball nicely, but the Highlanders answered with more long-range shooting and physical play around the basket -allowing them to get to the free-throw line and clean up loose rebounds. #2 Bain finally broke the ice from 3 in the 3rd quarter, but it wasn’t enough as the Highlanders strong team play, highlighted by an absolutely monster block by #6 Ndolvu-Fraser, gave the Highlanders the momentum they needed to spring ahead to an 8-point lead heading into the 4th quarter.
The Royals seemed to regain life with a late fourth-quarter 3 from Bain and another from #5 Hadrill, pulling them within three with 2 minutes left in the game. They continued to battle and, with 30 seconds left, missed a close shot around the hoop and held on for dear life, managing to get two more baseline inbound attempts down by two with seconds left on the clock. But it proved to be too little too late… Norm Plumb (a legendary father figure in the basketball community) leaned over to me earlier in the game and said – “this might come down to the last shot.” He wasn’t wrong as #5 Hadrill hoisted a last-second three from the corner with a second left on the clock which didn’t land for the Royals capping off the nail-biter semi-final at 74-72 in favour of the Highlanders.
The one constant for the Highlanders throughout was #9 Calvin Kuzyk. He was a calming influence throughout and did a variety of things to help push his team through to the finals - strong defense, rebounding, scoring and ability to find his teammates in opportunistic situations shows just how valuable he is to the Highlanders as they ride into the finals on Saturday night!
Final score; West Van 74, Handsworth 72