A thrilling three-day ride at the Langley Events Centre has the McMath Wildcats playing for the B.C. Junior Boys Invitational Basketball Championship on Tuesday night.
The No. 6 seed Wildcats advanced to the title game with heart-stopping 69-67 semi-final win over the No. 2 Vancouver College Fighting Irish on Monday. Elias Khan’s basket with two seconds remaining provided the difference when the Irish’s desperation shot at the buzzer rimmed out.
It was an uphill climb much of the night for the Richmond champions who trailed 17-6 in the opening quarter and were still down 43-30 in the third. That’s when McMath kicked its game into high gear — outscoring the Irish 15-4 to close out the quarter and trail by just a single point. From there, the lead changed four times before VC forced overtime by sinking one of two free throws with 14.1 seconds to go.
Standout Travis Hamberger had a chance to win it at the buzzer but was off the mark with his three-point attempt. He more than atoned for the missed shot, hitting a three-pointer to even the score at 65-65 in overtime. He then stole the ball on the ensuing possession and scored on a driving lay-up to put the Wildcats up 67-65.
His outstanding evening was completed when he passed out of a double team to find Kahn for the winning basket. Hamberger finished with 21 points while Rio Hutchful added 18.
The victory came on the heels of another comeback effort in the quarter-finals on Sunday against the Yale Lions, a 49-41 result.
McMath opened the 32-team tournament with a 66-48 win over Sa-Hali, then produced a 57-56 nail-biter against defending champion St. Georges.
McMath will play No. 1 Burnaby South in the final with tip-off slated for 7 p.m. at the LEC. It’s a rematch of the Vancouver and District final played 10 days ago that saw the Rebels go on a big run in the third quarter en route to a 71-57 win on their home court.
City rival MacNeill will conclude its fine season with a consolation game on Tuesday.
