Fourth place may not have been where the Terry Fox Ravens wanted to finish the BC High School senior boys AAAA basketball championships, but it wasn’t entirely unexpected other.
Because if there’s one thing Ravens’ coach Brad Petersen has learned over the years, it’s to expect the unexpected when British Columbia’s top 16 high school basketball teams gather to decide who’s the best.
“In this tournament, on any given day, number 16 could upset number one,” Petersen said. “It happens all the time.”
The Ravens, seeded third in the tournament at the Langley Events Centre, lost to fifth-seed Burnaby South Rebels, 86-71, in the consolation final Saturday to determine third place.
Fox led 18-14 after the first quarter, but were outscored 27-15 in the second period and were never really in the game again.
The Heritage Woods Kodiaks finished fifth in the tournament after they defeated the Holy Cross Crusaders, 71-61, on Saturday.
But the simple linescore belies the Port Moody’s school’s Cinderella ascent from the tournament’s 15th seed after they had just squeaked in as the final representative from the Fraser Valley.
The Kodiaks stunned second-seed Kitsilano Blue Demons, 81-68, on the tournament’s first day, but then lost a tough quarter-final battle to Kelowna, 84-77, after holding a 65-61 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Against the Crusaders, Heritage Woods used superior rebounding and 40% accuracy on their shot attempts from the field to fell the Fraser Valley champions who had been the provincial’s number one seed until they lost their quarter-final to Lord Tweedsmuir, the eventual provincial champions.
Grade 12 guard Arshia Movassaghi scored 35 points for the Kodiaks, while Zach Hamed pulled down a game-leading 13 rebounds — 12 of them off the defensive backboard — while pitching in 14 points.
The Centennial Centaurs lost its bid for a seventh-place finish when they were defeated 84-76 by Oak Bay on Saturday.
But the team’s performance as the tournament’s 13th seed that included an opening day upset of fourth-ranked Vancouver College still did Centaurs’ coach Rob Sollero proud.
“We played four high quality teams that were ranked in the top four for some time during the season,” Sollero said.
Those teams included an 81-60 loss to defending champions Burnaby South Rebels in the quarter-final, and a subsequent 80-61 setback to Holy Cross last Friday.
Sollero said the placement of three teams from the Fraser Valley North amongst the top eight teams in the province says a lot about the quality of play in the league.
“Our league is very strong,” he said. “Our young players learned so much on such a big stage.”
• Movassaghi and Terry Fox Ravens’ Cameron Slaymaker were named to the tournament’s first all-star team. Hamed, along with Centennail’s Dominic Parolin were on the second all-star team.
Chris Moon, of Heritage Woods, was named the tournament’s most inspirational player.
