Day 1 Recap

Round 1 recap on DRIVE

First off, I was amazed to see so many different players from the different teams at the games today. Many of whom weren't even playing. Do all these kids have the day off?? I thought school was still in session. Hmm, oh well, I guess things have changed since my day. Anyways, let's roll...

Killarney Cougars vs Kelly Road Roadrunners

Talk about nerves. Watching the first 5 min you would've thought Killarney was the team that had never been to the Provincials before. I'm not sure if it was due to the early start, or the first game of the Provincials, but both teams were really bad. The ball was going in between people's legs, passes to nowhere, airballs galore. Things did start to get better though for both teams at the end of the first and onwards.

Kelly Road is a decent team. They don't have the best talent, but they play within their abilities. One telling sign of that is the over-passing. Nobody wants to actually shoot it. The Roadrunners were in the game all the way until the 4 minute mark of the 4th. They're best players were Jesse Greenwood and Dennis Stark. Both were effective inside and had decent range.

As for Kill, they've had better games. But that always seems to be the case with the Cougars. You look at their players and on paper, they should be awesome. But then you watch them play, and they're not really that good. Offensively, they never seem to have a real gameplan, like use the posts down low, or Otim drive and dish. And when they do have one, it seems like it's always the wrong one. Defensively, they're very good defending the open court, but with their size, really should be better rebounders and shot blockers. Brookswood will be tough, I don't see anyone on the Cougars able to man up against Malish.

Mt Baker Wild vs Gleneagle Talons

This was a wierd game. Gleneagle should've blown the doors off of this one, but somehow they almost let it slip away. After a terrific start, the Talons starting guards, Damien and Slaght got into foul trouble and the rest of the team seemed out of sync most of the rest of the way. After their lead dwindled, Damien and Slaght were back in and the Talons pulled away. The game was way, way closer than it should've been.

Suprisingly, Mt Baker is a pretty decent team. I think they were extremely nervous more than anything. They shot several airball freethrows. Any one who plays basketball knows that when you shoot airball freethrows, it's definitely the nerves. The 100 or so heckling Talons fans didn't help the manner either. The Wild are tough inside, they out-muscled the Talons inside and won the rebounding battles. Should be a good consolation round.

Hopefully this game is just an abberation and not a sign of things to come for the Talons. The foul trouble to Daniel Damien and Drew Slaght really hurt them exposing their depth. Gr. 9 player Troy Gran did not look out of place, he'll be a star soon enough. Brandon Dunn was their best player, mainly because he played almost the entire game. Great matchup next round vs St. George's. Murphy thrives on shutting down his opponents. Murphy vs Damien will be good to watch. Unfortunately, the Talons lack of size will mean they will go down to the Saints tomorrow.

Centennial Centaurs vs Kelowna Owls

First half was a snoozer. Kelowna was the better team at the start. The Centaurs looked like they were asleep, there was no energy, no emotion. If it weren't for Jansper Pineda, the Centaurs would've been down big in the first half. Kelowna was good again in the 2nd half. But Elvis Balic for the Centaurs got hot. Down the stretch, the Owls couldn't execute, they basically fell apart. It's too bad, because for most of the game they were the better team. The Centaurs got on a late run and closed it out.

The Owls are a very good team. And they're mostly Gr 11's so they'll be even better next year. They are a little undersized, but it didn't hurt them that much. I'm still predicting they will win the 17-20 consolation round. Zack Frehlick, Kealey McDonald, Tyler Myroon, and Dean Kmyta lead the way.

Although Centennial won, the Centaurs didn't impress me enough to make me believe they will beat Kitsilano tomorrow. Today, they were saved by Elvis Balic and Jansper Pineda. Paul Samra was decent, but I have 1 major problem with his game, he doesn't play aggressively enough. As a football stud, I expect him to be manhandling his opponents. Instead I see him on the ground way more than his opponent is. Also, when he posts up, he will usually fade away or baby hook it instead of a power drop step. There were some new faces on the bench, some Gr. 10s I believe that finished off their seasons. They actually played today and looked OK atheletically, but seemed to not know the plays and so could be a liablility. Like I said, Kitsilano will be a stretch here, I don't see enough for there to be an upset tomorrow.

Caledonia Kermodes vs Magee Lions

I must admit I didn't watch this whole game, but I have a gut feel that it wouldn't have mattered. Just from the warmups I knew that Cal had basically zero chance.

Magee is a really good team. Obviously, their height gives them a huge advantage over many teams. Hunter Jordan is a great player, very good finisher, soft hands. Definitely needs to build up his upper body strength if he has any plans on playing in college though. Aaron Mah is a decent PG, forward Kyle Sartorious is decent as well. Sartorius will have more than 2 hands full going up against Handsworth tomorrow. Problem won't be height, it will be strength. The Lions aren't strong enough to defend Sacre.