Brookswood Bobcats

Brookswood Bobcats Preview

Last man standing. The Brookswood Bobcats were the last ones standing last weekend taking out Pinetree in the finals of the Fraser Valley Championships. It's been quite the roller coaster ride for the Bobcats so far this season. There were very high expectations for the Bobcats before the season started, many predicted they would finish as the Fraser Valley Champion. But the start was slow for the Bobcats. They lost to arch-rival Centennial a couple of times early in the season including a loss in the quarterfinals of the HSBC Classic. The Bobcats were mostly mediocre throughout the regular season and had some shocking losses including to cross-town divisional opponent Walnut Grove. But when the chips were down, the Bobcats went "All-in" and came up big winning the Fraser Valleys.

Brookswood basketball has been more identified by the powerhouse Girls program recently with all of their success. But with Brent Malish leading the way, the boys are making a lot of noise as a legitemate contender in this year's Boys Tournament. Malish, who recently commited to play at UBC next year, is one of the most dominate players in the class of 2006. Next to Rob Sacre, Malish is probably the next best post player that I've seen this year. He's a natural scorer with a knack for being around the ball.

Key to a long run at this year's tournament will be how Malish's teammates play. Graham Bath is the next big scoring threat for Brookswood. He's a good compliment to Malish using his size to own the glass and man up on D. The guard play will be key to balance the scoring, but even more important will be to shut down the speedy guards they'll face on their side of the draw. Most recently, James Arbuah and Dan Allingham did a number on Pinetree's Aneetan Braich limiting him to 12 points in the win at the Final game of the Valleys.

Players to Watch for: Brent Malish, Graham Bath, John Pankratz, Brent Lawrie
Outlook: Killarney could be a difficult matchup with the speedy Tony Otim to contain. Oak Bay and Kitsilano are tenfold tougher, especially with their star guards. Malish will get his points, how the rest of the team plays will determine their fate.