Extra work proved extra sweet for the Byrne Creek Bulldogs.
The senior boys basketball team faced a tough test last weekend but came out with a confidence-affirming win, beating Argyle 88-78 in overtime at the St. Thomas More Chancellor tournament final.
Led by a 40-point performance from senior guard Martin Djunga, the Bulldogs survived a mercurial game of streaks, cashing in the crucial tying bucket with 16 seconds left, then storming out in overtime to win by 10.
It was some slick work by guard Sufi Ahmed that led to the tying bucket, stealing the ball and feeding the six-foot-two Djunga who carried it to the hoop. Then the defence held firm until the buzzer sounded, cueing an extra 10-minute session where the Burnaby school took control.
“(Argyle is) a big, tough, tough team full of football players who are very well coached,” noted Byrne head coach Bal Dhillon. “It was two ranked teams going at each other and that’s what it should look like. I think it was entertaining for the fans – it wasn’t for me until the end.”
Both teams took turns spinning a nice run during regulation, some in double-digit territory like the Bulldogs’ 39-28 advantage in the second quarter. But the competitive nature of both squads – and that Byrne Creek is ranked No. 1 in 3-A hoops, while Argyle is seeded second – instilled an interesting dynamic to the contest.
“Argyle played really, really well, but what do you say? It’s two top-ranked teams going at each other and it goes into overtime and it’s a championships final,” said Dhillon. “Some of its going to come down to who executes the details a bit better and some of its going to come down to luck. It was our night, and hopefully we can keep it rolling.”
Earlier, the Bulldogs gained momentum from victories over Brookswood (88-54), Steveston-London (91-67) and No. 4-ranked North Delta (88-78), where Djunga cashed in for 34 points.
“That score (with North Delta) is not indicative of how close that game was,” noted Dhillon. “That was a seven, eight point game (until late).”
Like an overview of their season to date, the tourney demonstrated a few key things – on building chemistry and momentum, on the full-team concept that has weathered a lot of obstacles, and on the road map going forward.
“The way we build the schedule we want to play some of the top-ranked teams as soon as possible just to learn where we’re at and what we’re made of. We started the season a little slow in the Heritage (Woods tourney) and bounced back in the (Tsumura tourney in Langley). … We’ve kind of built off our momentum since then. It was a big tournament win (at STM) and it was not easy, let me say that.”
Djunga was awarded the tourney’s MVP award, while Ahmed earned a first all-star team spot. Teammate Bithow Wan was named to the second all-star team.
Byrne Creek applies that test to their own tournament this week, which began Thursday (after the NOW’s deadline) with a game against Eric Hamber, and a possible rematch Friday against Argyle (at 3:15 p.m. at Byrne Creek). The final is slated for 5 p.m. Saturday.
Also competing are Burnaby North, Richmond, Langley, L.A. Matheson and Rick Hansen.
Dhillon said he’s very pleased at the progress since early December and how the defence has taken shape in recent games.
“For us it was just to keep doing what we were doing and control the rebounding. We felt confident that if we did that, we had a good chance of coming out on top,” he said of the STM final.
To get where they want to be come March, they will continue to test themselves against some tough competition, while winding down league play over the next few weeks, including Burnaby Mountain (Jan. 22), New West (Jan. 24), and a highly anticipated match against Burnaby South (Jan. 29). Sandwich the Robert Bateman tournament in there, and Byrne Creek has a lot of intense hoop action on its plate.
But the way they’ve been playing, the Bulldogs have all they need to survive such a schedule.
“Sufi (Ahmed) has been playing great, Bithow Wan, Majok Deng, Titgol Jok and all the guys coming off the bench,” Dhillon added. “Afterwards the guys were feeling like, ‘This is a team win, the team won this tournament.’ That’s a good feeling when that happens.”
