Battle tested, the Douglas College Royals will face their next challenge just like the last ones.
Only this time, the opposition will be mostly unknown and the focus will be to just keep on truckin’.
The men’s basketball team achieved its regional goal Saturday by dousing the Vancouver Island Mariners 97-89 in a gruelling PacWest League final, spending much of the first 30 minutes in a back-and-forth tug of war.
Dominating the boards and cashing in on 52 per cent of their field goal shots proved to be the integral separators, earning the Royals their second league crown in three years. Now, they – as well as Vancouver Island – take that experience to the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association championships in two weeks with an eye on a national title.
“We had two goals – we wanted to get ourselves back to the national tournament, but we also wanted to win a PacWest championship. We were fortunate enough to accomplish both this weekend,” noted Douglas coach Joe Enevoldson of the achievement, which followed a first-place finish and a 17-1 regular season.
The two teams spent the first five minutes of the third quarter trading shots, going from a 47-47 deadlock to a 59-59 tie. But Cameron Morris’ third trey of the quarter triggered a bit of a run that saw the Royals ahead 76-69 with 10 minutes to play.
And while Vancouver Island would get within five points with 2:44 remaining, the New West-based Royals garnered some breathing room when Courtney Anderson and Reese Morris drained their shots to quell any comeback attempt.
Anderson, a Texas import who posted a team-high 29 points and added nine rebounds and six assists, was named the tournament’s MVP. Burnaby’s Cam Morris finished the final with 19 points, including 14 in the crucial third quarter, and four blocks, while older brother Reese finished with 15 points and 10 boards.
The Morris brothers were named to the all-star team.
“We hit some shots, which you need to do. … Courtney did a great job in the first half from the three-point line, four in the first half. Cam kind of took over in the second half, and he has the ability to score in bunches,” said Enevoldson.
One of the biggest stats that has separated Douglas from the competition all year has been its dominance on the boards. That could go a long way if the team is to make it back to the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association final.
“I think we’ve been very, very dominant on the glass. I’ve looked at our last four games (and) we’ve won the glass by an average margin of 20,” said Enevoldson. “That’s incredible. We beat Camosun the last (regular season) we played them by 32, then it was 25 and 20-something on Friday. To out-rebound VIU by 27 was incredible. We just give ourselves so many more opportunities on the offensive end. We really pride ourselves in teams only getting one shot.”
The New West squad will be looking for its second national title, ending a drought that extends back to 2008.
With four holdovers from the 2017 final, where the Royals fell 86-73 to Seneca College, there will be more than muscle memory to get them in the right frame of mind. Reese Morris, Ben Rabel, Shane Toporowski and PoCo’s Josiah Mastandrea all know what the pressure is like on the national stage.
The recent high school provincial championship experiences of Burnaby South alumni Jiordano Khan and Aidan Wilson will also be beneficial, Enevoldson said.
“The guys know what’s at stake, and they’re not blind to it. We have a lot of guys who’ve been to a championship game before, having Reese, Josiah, Shayne and Ben being in a national championship before, they know what it takes to get there,” he noted.
“You don’t change who you are. I think if you try to mass-overhaul what you’ve done on the year, you are hitting the panic button a little bit. Our plan is to go in calm, just be who we are, and we have been pretty successful with that this year.”
The nationals run March 19 to 21 in Etobicoke, Ont.
