McMath Wildcats overcame the flu bug and some strong competition to be crowned Vancouver and District juvenile boys basketball champions.
The Grade 9 team capped a perfect run on its home floor with a 56-40 win over North Shore champion West Vancouver on Friday. Three of their top scorers — Rio Hutchins, Kenneth Wong and Michael Kitka — were all playing less than 100 percent with a stomach virus. Kitka still managed to pour in 29 points.
The Wildcats roster also features: Jacob Araujo, Nick Kennedy, Elias Khan, Josh Higo, Aaron Bhatti, Ben Falk, Matt Evans, Estanley Angeles, Aiden Hindson, Trevor Young and Miguel Vargas. They are coached by Garth Anderson and Anthony Demch.
The Richmond champions opened the tournament with a 71-59 victory over Burnaby Central, then got past Burnaby Mountain 67-52 in the semi-finals.
McMath now heads to the B.C. Grade 9 Boys Invitational Basketball Championships, slated for March 1-4 at Heritage Woods in Port Moody.
At the V&D Juvenile Girls Championships, it was an all-Richmond final with the host Steveston-London Sharks prevailing 52-34 over McMath.
This friendly rivalry dates back to last season when the teams met in the V&D District Bantam final with the same result. The majority of players were part of a strong age group that came through the Richmond Youth Basketball League (RYBL) together.
The Wildcats gave the Sharks all they could handle in the city final two weeks earlier, dropping a 38-37 thriller.
Steveston-London opened the V&D playoffs with a 60-22 win over St. Thomas Aquanis, then defeated Argyle 48-36 in the semi-finals. McMath reached the championship game with a hard-fought 63-57 win over North Shore champion Collingwood, after rolling past Burnaby South 63-28.
Both teams now head to this week’s B.C. Grade 9 Girls Invitational Championships in Vancouver.
