Call it a holiday break or seasonal celebration, but for many high school basketball coaches it’s anything but.
Any momentum built in the first month usually needs to be reclaimed, while teams off to a slow start have a layoff to put behind them.
For the highly tuned Byrne Creek Bulldogs, it only took a half to shake off the last remmants of the holiday revelry.
The Bulldogs topped Maple Ridge 71-51 in its first game of the 51st St. Thomas More Chancellor tournament, looking to continue the roll the club had enjoyed for much of December.
“It was a bit back-and-forth in the first quarter, where we made some adjustments that they had some trouble with in the second half,” remarked Byrne Creek coach Bal Dhillon.
Up by seven points at the half, Byrne Creek widened the gap with a solid second half. Leading the way with 19 points apiece were Martin Djunga and Bithow Wan. Chipping in with 10 points was 6-foot-6 Majok Deng.
It improved the No. 3-ranked Bulldogs’ record to 9-4, with three of those losses coming to Quad-A ranked Kelowna (No. 1), Kitsilano (No. 4) and Holy Cross (No. 7).
After Wednesday’s win, Byrne Creek drew St. Michael’s, who are ranked No. 1 in Double-A, in its second test (played Thursday, past the NOW’s deadline).
The No. 2-ranked St. Thomas More Knights, meanwhile, also racked up a win to start the tourney, edging Pitt Meadows 59-51.
The big quarter for the Knights was the second, where they went on a 25-7 run. Cam Morris cashed in 23 points to lead the home team.
“We finally made some shots against their zone but need to be better in attacking,” remarked STM coach Aaron Mitchell. “It was an ugly slow game but we will continue to improve.”
They played Sutherland on Thursday.
A win would catapult them into the semifinals, which go Friday, 7 and 8:45 p.m.
The Burnaby Mountain Lions fell to the consolation side of the draw after suffering a 61-49 defeat at the hands of McMath. In their second game, they were topped 73-52 by Centennial.
Action continues as STM until Saturday, when the final goes Saturday at 6 p.m.
