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Hometown standouts lead X-Falcons to Dolphin Classic title

Elliot Mason and Brody Greig provide one-two punch for most successful team in tournament's 33-year history

The 33rd annual Dolphin Classic featured plenty of hometown flavor continuing the legacy of the most successful team in the history of the 4-on-4 summer outdoor tournament.

X-Falcons captured their eighth title with a 73-63 victory over G2 Academy before another overlflow crowd at South Arm Park on Sunday night. Leading the way were two of the finest high school talents to come out of the city in the past decade: Elliot Mason and Brody Greig.

Both went on to enjoy outstanding collegiate careers at Langara and now are leading the charge of the “next generation” of talent for the Falcons alumni team.

“Absolutely it means something. Just to follow guys like Randy Nohr and Navi Sekhon who are absolute legends here,” said Mason who was named the tournament’s MVP. “We were blessed to have Navi give us a little speech at halftime. We are honoured to be able to represent that name and are glad they gave us permission to do that.”

It was three years ago when Greig led the new era of X-Falcons to their first tournament win with MVP honours. Now it’s Mason’s turn thanks to clutch shooting throughout the weekend and leaving everything on the court, evident by the scrapes and bruises on his 6-foot-6 frame by the end of Sunday night.

“It’s amazing to get this. Brody is our guy and the team MVP who makes us all go but my shot was on for a lot of the games and my job is to score,” the 26-year-old continued. “When I am shooting well it gives me the opportunity to win the award but it’s still a team game and we are all happy for one another.”

The X-Falcons’ road to the title was a tough one.

They went 3-1 in round-robin play and that meant an extra quarter-final game against perennial powerhouse AthElite. The X-Falcons pulled out a 43-41 win thanks to a tip-in at the buzzer, then defeated a pair of unbeaten teams, including the Academy in the semi-finals.

This was Mason’s fifth-time participating in the Dolphin and he admits his team has come a long way since their debut.

“When I was a kid, I just wanted to play in this tournament and be good enough to participate. Then when I started participating I wanted to make the playoffs and be in the finals,” added Mason. “We got our butts kicked that first year but it’s been a steady climb since. Now, you just want to stretch those goals and it’s a continuing process of getting better.”

At the buzzer...

The women's final proved to be a thriller with Original Grandma's trimming defending champion Fusion 53-52. Former University of the Fraser Valley standout Kayli Sartori earned MVP honours.

Kevin Kemp became a three-time winner of the always popular slam dunk contest. Jerric Palma was the three-point champion.