Steveston-London Sharks will be defending their Lower Mainland “AAA” boys basketball championship tonight and also are heading back to the provincial tournament.
The Sharks secured their spot at the Langley Events Centre in two weeks time thanks to a 80-76 win over the St. Thomas More Knights Wednesday at the Richmond Olympic Oval in a battle of the province’s No. 4 and No. 3 ranked schools respectively. Steveston-London will play No. 6 Byrne Creek Bulldogs in the Mainland final at 6:15 p.m.
The Richmond champions were again led by the brilliance of 6-foot-10 standout Fardaws Aimaq who poured in 43 points despite getting double-teamed throughout the game.
“It hasn’t been a picture perfect season the way we thought it was going to be but I am so proud of these guys,” said Aimaq. “The way we have stepped up these last three weeks, playing some real good basketball. I’m really excited for Friday and trying to win another banner and moving forward too."
The Sharks entered the semi-final 0-2 against St.Thomas More this season but continued their late season surge and showed their big game experience by staying step-for-step with the highly-regarded Burnaby Catholic school. Neither team enjoyed more than a five point lead. Steveston-London then clutched up in crunch time to score the final seven points of the game to erase a 76-73 deficit.
Isaiah Hunter added 17 for the winners.
“I’m a little choked up right now,” said Sharks head coach Mike Stoneburgh. “It’s been an up and down season, just trying to get the kids mentally focused. Now we are seeing the results.
“I wanted to get (back to provincials). It was tough seeing the kids lose the final last year and having to deal with that. Now we get a chance to get back to (that game) again.”
Steveston-London will be the lone Richmond representative at the “AAA” provincials this year after three other teams came up short this week.
The McMath Wildcats dropped a 74-61 decision to the Lord Byng Grey Ghosts Thursday in a battle of the tournament’s No. 4 and No. 2 seeds. The Wildcats had advanced to the do-or-die game by outlasting league rival Richmond Colts 87-83 a day earlier — in what very well could be a preview of the 2018 city final. Both teams return a number of key players next season and have excellent talent coming up as well.
The McNair Marlins saw their fine season end with a 94-69 loss to St. Thomas More. The Marlins had extended their playoff run with a dominating 105-69 win over Windermere a day earlier but had a hard time dealing with the Knights’ size advantage.
Meanwhile, the Cambie Crusaders have locked up their third straight trip to the provincial “AA” championships.
The Crusaders settled for second place at the Mainland tourney after dropping a 78-33 decision to the No. 2 ranked King George Dragons in Thursday’s championship game.
Cambie had a tough night shooting from the perimeter against the Dragons’ zone defence, including a scoreless second quarter that essentially sealed its fate.
The No. 8 Crusaders clinched a B.C. berth two days earlier with an 84-75 win over St. Pat’s, avenging last year’s loss in the title game.
St. Pat’s then earned the final spot at provincials by edging Palmer 79-74 in the third place game.
The B.C. Championships for both tiers take place March 8-11 at the Langley Events Centre.
