The Steveston-London Sharks have capped off a dominating run in the Richmond Senior Boys Basketball League with their first-ever city championship.
The host Sharks completed a perfect season (13-0) in the Lulu Island circuit with a 106-77 win over the McMath Wildcats in front of a capacity crowd on Friday night. They had reached the final once before since the school opened back in 2007, after the merger of Steveston High and Charles London. It was also the first Richmond title in 15 years of coaching for Mike Stoneburgh, including a six-year run at Steveston-London.
It may just be the start of a dynasty too.
The Sharks’ roster is loaded with talented Grade 11s. The school also captured city titles at the Junior and Grade 9 levels, while the Grade 8 team was third.
“I was fighting back the tears,” smiled Stoneburgh. “It’s been 15 years and I have been 0-5 in banner games too. These playoffs were a first for me. I had never beaten Palmer in a playoff game and never won (the whole thing) either. I’ve done both now and this is amazing.
“We have a good program here and this could be the start of something. We have a great coaching fraternity here and we are very tight, talking all the time.”
The No. 3 AAA provincially ranked Sharks won all but one of their 10 regular season games by 15 points or more, including a 94-77 win over McMath a month ago. However, the No. 8 ranked Wildcats have quietly put together another solid season and were playing in the city final for the third consecutive year.
That experience wasn’t evident in the early going as the ’Cats came out timid and the Sharks jumped all over them to the tune of a 16-0 run to start the game.
“It was a very poor start and that was exactly what we talked about before the game,” sighed Wildcats coach Bik Chatha. “They are a good team and you just can’t fall behind like that. You end up chasing the game and can’t use your bench which means you end up wearing down your starters.”
Still, Wildcats dug deep to turn a potential early blowout back into a competitive game.
They took advantage of Shark foul trouble to outscore them 31-18 in the second quarter and cut the margin to just 51-42 at the break. The rally was ignited by five treys, including three from Grade 10 Bryce Mason.
What had the makings of a tight second half became a lopsided affair again thanks to Ahmed Mohamud. The Grade 11 guard caught fire from three point range, hitting five bombs, well beyond the arc. The Sharks lead was back up to 23 and the game was essentially over.
“He’s had a huge couple of games for us this year and he can be a killer,” said Stoneburgh. “That was their comeback in the second quarter and we needed to go out and finish it off. The kids came out in the third guns a blazing and (Ahmed) was the catalyst.”
The Wildcats already had their hands full trying to shutdown 6-foot-9 standout Fardaws Aimaq and city MVP Nigel Boyd. A third threat to deal with was simply too much.
“We were going to live and die with that shot because we had to guard inside against Fardaws and Nigel,” said Chatha. “Unfortunately for us, he was on tonight and that was the difference once we had got back in the game.”
Aimaq led the Sharks with 27 points. Mohamud added 24 on eight three-pointers, while Boyd also had 24. Impressive Grade 11 guard Ryan Yeung led the Wildcats with 17. Graham Flynn added 14 and Ido Gortler 13.
Both teams now turn their attention to the Lower Mainland AAA Championships which start next week and conclude the following week at the Richmond Olympic Oval.
The Sharks are expected to be the tournament’s top seed. The Wildcats will likely fall right behind other zone champions Byrne Creek (New West Burnaby), St. Thomas More (Independent) and Windermere (Vancouver). The McNair Marlins (Richmond #3) are also in the mix, along with the McRoberts Strikers (Richmond #4) and Richmond Colts (Richmond #5). Four provincial berths are on the line.
RC Palmer, Cambie and Richmond Christian are the top three city teams respectively headed to the Lower Mainland AA Championships. It will also conclude at the Oval.
No. 4 King George, No. 7 Palmer and No. 10 Cambie are expected to battle for the two provincial berths up for grabs.
At the buzzer…
This year’s city all-star teams include:
First Team: Ryan Angala (McNair), Fardaws Aimaq (Steveston-London), Nigel Boyd (Steveston-London), David Medina (Palmer), Ryan Yeung (McMath).
Second Team: Phillip Gundic (Richmond High), Bryce Mason (McMath), Riley Paulik (Cambie), Nathan Schroeder (McNair), Pierce Strutt (Steveston-London).
Third Team: Kevin Dhillon (Cambie), Ido Gorter (McMath), Edmond Lin (McRoberts), Marko Stokjanovic (Palmer), Wilson Wong (MacNeill).
Richmond MVP: Nigel Boyd (Steveston-London).
