Someone forgot to tell the Richmond Colts and McNair Marlins it’s only early December.
The top 10 ranked “AAA” senior boys basketball teams put on a show last Thursday night with the No. 5 Colts outlasting the No. 8 Marlins 89-86 in overtime.
Unlike a year ago, the regular season standings won’t determine seeding for the Lower Mainland Championships in February. That will be decided by the results in the city playoffs. However, with the 11 Richmond teams facing each just once, there is still plenty on the line. That was certainly evident at McNair in front of a vibrant crowd.
“It was a playoff atmosphere and it felt like a playoff game. It’s only Dec. 7. I can’t believe it,” laughed Colts head coach Brandon Harbour. “I know we will definitely be seeing them again in the playoffs if the draw works out. It will be a tough game again. They are a tough team.
“We expect the same from them every year and I think the crowd played into it too.”
Harbour watched his Colts storm out to a 43-21 second quarter lead. By the end of the third, however, it was a brand new game thanks to a huge Marlins surge, led by sharpshooter Tejvir Gill who drained four three-pointers in the quarter.
Richmond weathered the storm and seemed to be on its way to victory when the Marlins again battled back from seven points down in the final two minutes, capped by a clutch three from Puneet Basra in the dying seconds.
The Colts took advantage of a cold McNair start to open up another cushion in overtime and this time hung on, although Basra missed another potential game-tying three at the buzzer.
It was a huge night for Richmond’s Mr. Do Everything — Daniel Afanasiyevskyy. The 6-foot-1 senior poured in a game high 40 points and grabbed 27 rebounds.
“Daniel is unbelievable. Obviously he is the captain and leader of this team,” continued Harbour. “He can play every position. Point guard, centre, you name it. He is tough, resilient and will take it to the hoop anytime. Just so impressive.”
The Colts have other weapons including another talented senior — Murad Mohammed — who added 21 points, with five coming in overtime. Anton Poburko, Ace Adano and Evan Brusse have stepped up from the city champion junior team to be key parts. Senior Ryan Lui is counted on for his ball handling ability while Afanasiyevskyy saw a lot of time in the post, filling in for 6-foot-6 injured starter Karassey Leung.
The Colts won their own tournament last weekend, defeating Okanagan Mission in the final. They dropped to 2-1 in city play with an 100-80 loss to the No. 2 McMath Wildcats on Monday night. A big third quarter allowed the unbeaten hosts (4-0) to pull away for good.
As for the Marlins, it was another gritty performance by a program that has a reputation for it under coaches Jessy Dhillon and Ranj Sangra.
Twice they looked on their way to certain defeat but just kept battling.
“It’s the kind of kids we have at the school and that’s what we try to instill in them,” said Sangra. “It’s a good buy in and they work hard.
“Tonight we came out cold in the first half. We got good looks but we couldn’t hit anything. But the kids still believed and came out and played really hard. The first couple of minutes of overtime they got cold again and took some unwise shots. It’s a matter of teaching them how to play in the moment but not let the moment control you.” Gill finished with 24 points while Basra added 19 and third-year starter Nathan Schroeder 17.
The Marlins earned a top 10 ranking thanks to their upset win over No. 3 Byrne Creek last week. They improved to 2-1 in Richmond play with an 81-72 win over Steveston-London Monday. McNair is headed to a tournament in California next week.
