Centennial vs Enver Creek

Billed as the "Game of the Year" as 2 ranked teams went head to head tonight in a winner advances, loser goes home matchup featuring Basketball BC ranked #7 Enver Creek against #14 Centennial. Going into the FV playoffs, the Cougars were the #4 seed while the Centaurs were the #6 seed. The Cougars were upset in their first round game by North Delta then beat Yale in the second round. The Centaurs beat Terry Fox in the first round before losing to Brookswood in the second round. The Cougars are led by Kujo Jhaj and Kyle Grewal. The Centaurs are led by Paul Samra, Lucian Sauciuc, Elvis Balic and Jansper Pineda.

I missed most of the first quarter. But from what I saw towards the latter part of the quarter, both teams got into a run and gun game with both teams trading baskets. The score at the end of the quarter was 20-19 for the Centaurs.

The 2nd quarter slowed considerably as both teams playing 2-3 zone defense. Both teams struggled to find a rhythm on offense and the fouls started adding up. Paul Samra sat most of the 2nd quarter after picking up his 2nd. The Cougars were attacking the rim but the ball just wasn't falling in for them, I couldn't believe how many lip outs and close misses the Cougars had. The score was 31 to 26 with less than 1 minute to go before Pineda scored on a fast break and Balic hit a big 3 at the buzzer to close out the half. Centaurs up 36-26.

The Centaurs really opened things up in the 3rd quarter by working the ball on offense around the soft 2-3 zone and finding the open spots. All of Balic, Sauciuc, and Pineda were hitting their jumpers and stretched their lead to 14 before the Enver Coach Rick Inrig called a timeout. The Cougars came out re-energized with a full court zone press and half-court trap that threw off the Centaurs. The Cougars fought their way back continuing to attack the hoop on offense and cut the lead to 8 before the end of the 3rd, 52-44 for the Centaurs.

The Cougars continued to attack on both offense and defense as they could sense their season slowly slipping away. They managed to cut the lead to 3 with about 5 min to go. The Centaurs really struggled on offense while on defense the Cougars were attacking the zone with dribble penetration and precision passing. As close as the Cougars got, they simply could not make their shots, that included a dozen or so free throws. I've never seen the lid close that tightly on a team, Jhaj and Grewal simply couldn't make any shots down the stretch. The Centaurs hung on in the end hitting their free throws to win 68-62. The Centaurs now face the Gleneagle Talons for a spot at the Provincials.

Here's my analysis on the game,
- Centaurs are a very tight team. They are such a balanced team with scoring coming from inside, outside. They can drive, shoot, post-up, they are the complete package.
- The Centaurs are extremely patient and disciplined in play looking for the open shot. They don't force anything.
- Defensively, the Centaurs are only average. They don't have a ton of height and size (especially when Samra gets in foul trouble) so they tend to give up offensive rebounds.
- Biggest weakness I see in the Centaurs is that they don't have a gamebreaker. They don't have a player that can simply dominate, take over the game when things don't go right.
- Cougars lost this game because they just couldn't make shots. They must've shot less than 50% from the free throw line, and less than 30% from the field.
- The press and trap by the Cougars was one of the best I've seen this season, single reason why they were still in the game up until the end.
- Cougars were the more aggressive team, had they made a shot or 2 more, could have easily won.

It's too bad that 1 of these 2 great teams had to go. I'm not sure the Centaurs were the better team, but they made their shots. If you look at Pineda, Sauciuc, Balic, and Samra, all could be the top 10 in their respective positions in the province. Collectively, when they play as a unit, nobody is better. They play a great team game sharing the ball and utilizing each player's abilities. Pineda is a great passer, penetrator and has a great 5-10 foot floating jumper. Balic is terrific driving baseline and consistent 3 point shooter. Sauciuc is a deadly shooter from just about anywhere on the floor including the 3. Samra uses his football body to outmuscle his opponents on the glass and posting up. Gleneagle won't be a cakewalk, but I do think the Centaurs will win that game and go to Provincials. They can go deep, but without a guy that can dominate a game, I think they're suceptable to a loss along the way.

The Cougars season is done. It's too bad because they really could have done some damage in the Provincial tournament. Jhaj and Grewal are great scorers. They both attack the hoop relentlessly and can finish with a soft touch. They didn't shoot well at all today, but I've seen them play before and they can hit from outside. They have some good complimentary players on the team as well. Defensively, their press was pure hustle. They were all over the court wreaking havoc everywhere. They have a lot of 12s on the team so I don't think they will be anywhere as good come next year. Can you imagine how good the Cougars would have been had Samra stayed with? Oh well, it's over now.