One of B.C.’s storied basketball schools is heading back to the showcase event for the first-time in over 15 years.
The Richmond Colts have locked up a spot in the B.C. 3A Championships — March 7-10 at the Langley Events Centre — thanks to their fourth place finish at the Lower Mainland Championships.
The Colts closed out play Friday at the Richmond Olympic Oval with 92-75 loss to the Tupper Tigers in the third place game. Their work had been done 24 hours earlier in a 69-54 victory over St. Thomas More which punched their ticket to the LEC.
Momentum and plenty of hard work have led to this breakthrough season.
It was only two years ago when Richmond High’s enrolment numbers were low enough to compete at the 3A level after dealing with much larger 4A schools in the past, including in 2015 when the Colts won the city title. A primarily Grade 11 team came within two games of qualifying for provincials a year ago, including an 87-83 season-ending loss to league rival McMath.
“I can’t wait. I’m so excited,” said Colts head coach Brandon Harbour. “We have put tons of time into this. It started with these (seniors) when they were in Grade 8. We have gone to provincials once before (Grade 9) but this time it’s more special. It’s going to be huge playing under the big lights.”
The Colts dropped a 90-69 decision to eventual champion Byrne Creek Bulldogs in the semi-finals — falling into an early 20-0 hole and never recovering against the province’s top ranked team. They used the Bulldogs’ recipe to defeat STM although the Knights weren’t going to go away that easily.
Richmond enjoyed a 21-2 lead after one quarter and the margin was up to 39-6 late in the opening half. The Knights opened the third on a 22-3 run and suddenly were within striking distance.
It was a six-point game (60-54) midway through the final quarter but the Burnaby Catholic school would get no closer.
“It never can be easy with a Richmond High team. They like to keep me on my toes I guess to say the least,” laughed Harbour. “They just kind of stopped playing in the second half and lost our legs there. It’s been a long couple of weeks. I think we thought we had it and against a team like STM nothing is guaranteed.
“We went into the Byrne Creek game just wanting to give it our best. We were down 20-0 and lost by 21. Against the No. 1 team in the province, you can’t play a 30 minute game. I think the kids realized (the next day) and came out firing in the first half.”
City MVP Daniel Afanasiyevskyy added to his hardware collection as a Second Team Lower Mainland All-Star. He had 17 in the win over STM. Murad Mohammed chipped in with 15, while Ahmed Shehata had 13.
At the buzzer...
Steveston-London Sharks' provincial tournament bid ended Thursday night with an 88-71 loss to Tupper. Grade 12 Parker Shaw was named a Lower Mainland Second Team All-Star.
