That breeze coming from McNair Secondary on Thursday night was probably the collective sigh of relief from opposing coaches knowing Fardaws Aimaq had played his final game in the Richmond Senior Boys Basketball League.
The 6-foot-10 Grade 12 standout put on one final show in front of a capacity crowd with 44 points and 25 rebounds in leading the Steveston-London Sharks to their second straight city championship in a 94-87 win over the McMath Wildcats.
In an era where true post players in the Richmond League are as rare finding an empty parking spot at Costco on Saturdays, Aimaq has been a difference maker the past two seasons.
He is not only putting up huge offensive numbers but disrupting teams’ strategies as well. The Wildcats actually have a decent inside game but opted to fire up a steady barrage of three-pointers instead of attacking Aimaq, who collected city MVP honours in the post-game awards presentation.
It worked for a a while as McMath trailed 39-37 at the half before its perimeter game eventually cooled off. The Sharks just kept feeding Aimaq for high percentage looks and the lead was up to 16 points by the midway mark of the fourth quarter. A late Wildcats’ flurry cut the margin to five points in the final minute but they would get no closer.
“They were just hitting their shots at the end and it’s just so hard to stop Fardaws,” said McMath head coach Tony Wong-Hen. “He is such a big man. What can you do? He was not only solid tonight but didn’t do anything outside of himself either.”
The Wildcats did earn the No. 1 Richmond seed for the Lower Mainland “AAA” Championships thanks to their regular season win over the Sharks but it proved to be only worth home floor advantage.
The tournament’s fourth seed is expected to clash again with the No. 5 Sharks on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.
At stake is a berth into next week’s semi-finals as the 12-team event shifts to the Richmond Olympic Oval.
The Wildcats are also the early favourite to win the city title in 2018.
They will return two first team all-stars in Jordin Kojima and Bryce Mason, who scored 37 points Thursday. They will also have 6-foot-7 Victor Radocaj as a full-time player. He was a major force as a Grade 9 call-up all season but ineligible to suit-up for two teams during the playoffs.
As for the Sharks, they are still trying to find the consistency that resulted in last year’s outstanding run to the Lower Mainland title and provincial championship game, even with another city title in their back pocket.
Head coach Mike Stoneburgh knows it’s going to take more than Aimaq producing 40-plus points per game.
“I will take half the game of our performance tonight,” said Stoneburgh, “but if we play like the other half, we are going to lose. Last year we went into the Lower Mainlands unbeaten in Richmond and won the final by 30. We had the confidence and knew we were the No. 1 team. This year we are going to get a tougher draw and we have lost to teams like STM, Byng and McMath.
“We have the talent, if the kids can come together. That’s the point I’m going to be hammering home these next couple of days.”
The Wildcats are also well aware what they are up against at the Mainland tourney. They needed a last second basket from Mason to squeak past the McNair Marlins in the city semi-finals.
The Marlins earned the Mainland No. 6 seed and are expected to face Burnaby/New West League champion and No. 3 Byrne Creek for the second straight year in the quarter-finals. The No. 8 Colts will take on No. 1 St. Thomas More should they win their home game against No. 9 Gladstone.
“You know what I am really happy about is all the Richmond teams to be honest,” added Wong-Hen. “The parity is awesome right now. Tonight was a fun game and Steveston-London is an excellent team.”
The Cambie Crusaders, RC Palmer Griffins and Hugh Boyd Trojans all advance to the Lower Mainland “AA” Championships which start Feb. 20 at the Olympic Oval.
Here is a rundown of the Richmond League individual award winners:
MVP: Fardaws Aimaq (Steveston-London).
First Team All-Stars: Jordin Kojima (McMath), Bryce Mason (McMath), Zak Hassen (Cambie), Talvinder Jagde (McNair), Fardaws Aimaq (Steveston-London).
Second Team All-Stars: Ryan Yeung (McMath), Ahmed Mohamud (Steveston-London), Kevin Dhillon (Cambie), Phillip Gundic (Richmond High), Josh Ignacio (MacNeill).
Third Team All-Stars: Daniel Chen (Steveston-London), Nathan Schroeder (McNair), Daniel Afanasivevksy (Richmond High), Sorosh Sidiqi (Palmer), Pavel Prasad (Hugh Boyd).
