How much does experience play in reaching a goal?
The McMath Wildcats senior boys basketball team is hoping to find out next season after brushing off the disappointment of falling three points shy of a title game appearance in the B.C. Boys High School Basketball Finals last week at the Langley Events Centre.
With about half of this year’s squad — which went into the provincials ranked third in the 3A group — expected back, head coach Bik Chatha said things look good for another run at the tournament in 2016.
Only this time, they will know better what to expect.
“With a good number of Grade 11 players who were starters coming back next year, they’ve seen what it’s like to play on the big court,” said Chatha, whose side lost 78-75 to Surrey’s Fleetwood secondary in the semifinals on Friday (March 13). “I don’t think that, if we make it back to the provincials, we’ll be overawed.”
The Wildcats certainly didn’t seem to be out of their depth as the tournament started last Wednesday, beating Coquitlam’s Charles Best secondary 73-70 in the opening game, then following that up with a convincing 82-70 win over Abbotsford secondary a day later.
But as the tournament wore on, Chatha said his players started to wear out, as the physical demands seemed to catch up with the squad. By the time they entered the semifinal tilt against Fleetwood Park, the challenge proved to be pretty steep.
Chatha said with standout forward/guard Anthony Dench still recovering from a bout of pneumonia, it left the Wildcats in need of some scoring punch that did manage to show some signs of life late in the semifinal game.
“We were down by about 15 points with four minutes to go and went on a late rally, hitting a bunch of three-pointers,” Chatha said. “But in the end it wasn’t enough.”
Still, Chatha said he was proud of his side that managed to give Fleetwood — the tournament’s eventual champions, beating Vancouver’s Sir Charles Tupper 73-65 — a decent game.
Now, it’s time for a well-deserved rest over spring break and begin plans for next year.
“This season, our plan was to make the provincials and have a good shot at winning it,” Chatha said. “Next year, our realistic plan is to just make the tournament, roll the dice and see what happens.”
