When you talk ancient history, for many, it means Greek scholars, silent films or gas under a dollar a litre.
For Byrne Creek Bulldogs’ head coach Bal Dhillon, it’s an early December game at the Langley Events Centre.
When he considers that game against the McMath Wildcats, there is nothing he feels could apply to today.
That’s because Byrne Creek and McMath lock horns once more, tonight (Friday, 6:15 p.m.) in the Lower Mainland senior boys 3-A basketball final at the Richmond Oval.
What ever happened 10 weeks ago – and it was a 109-63 victory for the Bulldogs – might as well be from a dog-eared scrapbook.
“It’s hard to gauge a team in a game like that. It was months ago,” said Dhillon, after his team had bested Richmond 90-69 to clinch a berth to next month’s B.C. championships. “Both teams are very different now and we’ll see what happens. They’re tough; they’re very good.
“McMath has a lot of size, (Grade 10 Victor Radocaj) who’s six-foot-nine, some bigger guards, guys who can shoot, and they’re well-coached. They’ve got it all.”
Byrne Creek had it all in the semifinal win over Richmond on Wednesday. They opened the game with a 20-point run and held the host squad to eight points in the first quarter.
Martin Djunga counted a game-high 27 points, while Sufi Ahmed notched 24, and Majok Deng added 21. Chipping in with a double-double – with 12 rebounds and 11 assists – was Bithow Wan.
A win over McMath would secure Byrne Creek its second straight Mainland title.
“I don’t need to motivate my guys – it’s a final,” said Dhillon. “They know how good McMath is, and if we’re not motivated we’re going to get our butts kicked.”
The other 3-A Burnaby school, St. Thomas More, kept its hopes alive for a B.C. berth by beating Magee 55-48 on Wednesday.
On the 4-A Lower Mainland stage, the Burnaby South Rebels suffered their first setback of the tourney, falling 85-82 to St. George’s in the semifinal.
It was a grinding battle, as the Rebels erased a seven-point deficit in the second quarter, exiting the half with a 40-34 lead. But St. George’s kept rallying and pulled out a three-point win to lock up a B.C. berth and a shot in the regional final.
Burnaby South now takes on cross-town rival the Burnaby North Vikings, who staved off elimination by knocking out David Thompson 74-54. In that contest, the Vikings broke open a tight game early in the fourth quarter.
“We got a few big stops in a row, hit a few clutch baskets and just solid the rest of the way,” noted North coach Chris Dahan.
Vittorio Solda set the tone with 26 points and 15 rebounds, while Justen Chau contributed 20 points.
The winner of Thursday’s Rebels-Vikings game (played after NOW deadline) will take on the winner between New West and Kitsilano on Friday, 4:30 p.m., with the winner finishing third at the tourney and clinching the final berth to the B.C.s. All games are the Richmond Olympic Oval.
