All good things must come to an end and it finally did for the RC Palmer Griffins after 68 games.
For the first time in five years, the Griffins lost in the Richmond Senior Boys Basketball League - a thrilling 72-70 setback to the Steveston-London Sharks on Tuesday night. The game was played with post-season intensity from start to finish and provided a preview of what should be an exciting tournament when the city playoffs tip off next month.
The Griffins trailed by six at the half but relied mainly on the three-point shooting of Karn Mann to stay within striking distance. Palmer had two excellent looks to keep its amazing win streak alive but both long range jump shots found iron.
The result wasn't a big surprise given the Griffins return only one key player from last year's provincial championship team.
But it did serve notice of what the Sharks are capable of when firing close to all cylinders.
Steveston-London was coming off a heartbreaking loss to Hugh Boyd at its own Carkner Classic three days earlier, however, head coach Mike Stoneburgh had little trouble getting his players fired up for what was a rematch of last season's city final.
"The kids wanted it big time," said Stoneburgh. "This game has been circled since the beginning the season. It's kind of got us a couple of losses too I think because they kept looking ahead to Palmer."
The Sharks game plan was simple: make good use of their size advantage in the paint and do their best to shut down Palmer star Jamie Madewan.
Andrew Huang showed why he is considered the most dominant post in Richmond with a game-high 24 point performance. Carlos Preda added 20. At the defensive end of the floor, the Sharks used a triangle two switch to contain Madewan, led by the efforts of Grade 11 Malcolm Lee.
"He maybe didn't score much but Malcolm had the game of his life," continued Stoneburgh. "We needed him to shutdown one of the best players in the province and he came through."
The game featured contrasting styles with the Griffins dialling it up from long distance much of the night while the Sharks relied on their lighting quick guard Kingston Chung to feed the ball inside to Huang.
"With our game, it's getting the ball to Andrew," added Stoneburgh. He is the biggest kid in Richmond and we like to use him."
"Lot of people expected us to be the number one team in Richmond this year but we really have nothing to lose. We aren't the defending champions. We just had to go out and play our game. Thats what I tried to get across to the kids."
The Sharks now have the inside track to earn the top seed for the city playoffs but suggesting these two teams will meet again in the final is far from certain.
Hugh Boyd, Cambie and Richmond High have all shown they are capable of being in the mix.
For the first time in five years, the championship looks to be wide open.
