The RC Palmer Griffins are the first Richmond senior boys basketball team to punch their ticket to provincials and more of their city rivals are poised to follow suit.
The Griffins captured last week’s Lower Mainland “AA” championship with a highly entertaining 85-81 victory over the Notre Dame Jugglers in the title game and will head to the provincial tournament March 5 as one of the teams to beat.
Meanwhile, five other Richmond schools can secure B.C. berths this week, with three of them in excellent positions. The McMath Wildcats and McNair Marlins have both advanced to the Lower Mainland “AAA” Tournament semi-finals which take place Wednesday at the Richmond Olympic Oval.
The fourth seed Marlins toppled league rival McRoberts Strikers 85-75 to earn a final four date (2:15 p.m.) with No. 1 St. Thomas More. The No. 3 Wildcats rolled to a 72-51 win over Byrne Creek and will meet No. 2 Tupper at 4 p.m.
The Strikers and Hugh Boyd Trojans also remain in the hunt after posting consolation wins over Burnaby Central (63-59) and Gladstone (73-70) respectively. They square off at 4 p.m. with the loser going home.
You only have to look as far as the Richmond Colts to appreciate just how competitive the city league was this season.
After being edged by Palmer in the quarter-finals of the Richmond playoffs, the Colts moved onto the Lower Mainland AAAA Tournament where they upset No. 4 seed Kitsilano 74-72. Richmond High now faces No. 1 Churchill today (5:45 p.m.) in the semi-finals at the Oval. Even with a loss, the Colts have an excellent shot at earning a provincial berth for the first time since the glory days of legendary coach Bill Disbrow.
Palmer’s run to the Mainland “AA” title featured another outstanding performance from tournament MVP Antonio Jhuty. The high scoring guard poured in 49 points as Palmer took a 37-36 lead into the third quarter and exploded for 34 points to open up a 70-55 advantage.
Still, the Jugglers kept things interesting thanks to the terrific play Aldrich Berrios. The East Vancouver Catholic school pulled with four points in the final minute before the Griffins finally sealed the outcome.
“I just kept looking at the clock and we were up 16 or 18 points and I’m still freaking out thinking we are going to lose the game,” chuckled Palmer head coach Paul Eberhardt. “It was a strange game.
“Maybe it was a bit of my fault too as I kinda started to milk the clock a bit because we had a big lead. I think we got tentative though. It’s a fine line. Sometimes our guys don’t make the best decisions and I kind of micro managed there. Kind of like prevent defense in football. I think I made a bit of a mistake there. Been more aggressive and maintain the lead.”
With the tournament offering two provincial berths, semi-final loser and host MacNeill still had a shot of qualifying but required some help. The Ravens took care of business with a a win over Britannia. That result assured a B.C. berth for Notre Dame but the tournament hosts needed the Jugglers to knock off Palmer to set-up a second place playoff the following day.
Ravens’ supporters were cheering on the Notre Dame comeback bid but to no avail.
“I would have much rather been in (Notre Dame’s) shoes,” Eberhardt continued. “That’s the same position we were in last year and you’re much looser knowing you have that spot locked up. All the pressure was on us and I thought we looked very tight at the start of the game.”
The Griffins will head to Langley looking to win their second-ever B.C. championship. They will continue to lean heavily on the play of Jhuty and point guard Gurjit Pooni who finished with 23 points and seven assists in the final to earn all-star honours.
“I’ve never had (a two man game) like this before,” added Eberhardt of his Grade 12 standouts. “The important thing is the other guys on the team get it and understand what their roles are.”
Palmer opens the provincials against North Delta’s Delview Raiders, third place finishers at the Fraser Valley playoffs.
At the buzzer....
MacNeill standout Umar Tung also was named a tournament all-star.
