The Burnaby South Rebels staved off a fourth-quarter rally by the Sardis Falcons to move on in the championship round to the final eight at the B.C. high school AAA boys' basketball championships in Langley.
Led by the hot hand of first-year senior Martin Bogajev, South held on to defeat the honourable mention Chilliwack school team 73-69 in the opening game at the Langley Events Centre today.
Bogajev led South's balanced scoring with 17 points, including three three-pointers and four-for-four free throws in the final two minutes of play that kept the Rebels in control of the scoreboard in the dying moments of the game.
South post Dejan Posavljak had 14 points on seven-of-nine shooting, while senior guard Gino Pagbilao nailed four long-range bombs in a 15-point contribution that also included seven assists. Nick Garcha also shot in double figures, netting 13 points and nine rebounds for the Lower Mainland runners-up.
Junior varsity standout Jermaine Hayley was a perfect three-for-three from the floor for South, while also chipping in with eight boards in his first playoff game with the senior team.
South led 56-45 heading into the final quarter, but Sardis went on a 12-5 run to close the deficit, but could not get any closer than three points on a couple of occasions late in the game.
Mike Gregory led the Falcons with 18 points, while Hayden Lejeune popped in 17 points and added 14 boards for the Fraser Valley school.
South will next play the winner of either No. 1 Walnut Grove or Lower Mainland No. 5 Winston Churchill on Thursday at 8:15 p.m. at the LEC.
On Tuesday, Burnaby Mountain, making its first-ever appearance at the AAA provincials, may have been experiencing some first-time jitters, falling to the unheralded Caledonia Kermodes 59-50.
Marcus MacKay was the Kermodes' main man, scoring a game-high 30 points, including making good on seven-of-17 three-point attempts.
Atdhe Hajrizi led the Mountain Lions with 21 points and 13 rebounds.
