The Byrne Creek Bulldogs finished the BurWest high school boys' basketball regular season with a perfect 8-0 record.
The honourable mention Bulldogs showed a little more depth off the bench in a 65-44 victory over the Burnaby South Rebels in the final league games for both school in the Friday matchup.
The win gave Byrne Creek hosting rights for this week's playoff finals, which begin on Wednesday. With its third-place finish, Burnaby South will host the quarter-final playdowns on Tuesday between Burnaby Central, Burnaby North and Burnaby Mountain, beginning at 5:15 p.m.
Byrne Creek raced out to a 10-2 start and held the lead throughout the 40 minutes against South, which was missing senior post Nick Irvine from the lineup.
"Yeah, it (the score) would have been different I think," said Byrne Creek high scorer Kennedy George, with Irvine in the lineup. "I'm sure we're going to see them (South) in the final. It will be a closer game."
George was not far off a triple-double for the Bulldogs, scoring 14 points, nabbing 10 rebounds and committing seven steals in the game.
Jado Lado and David Majstorovic both contributed six points in a runaway 23-8 third quarter for the 'Dogs, finishing with a dozen points apiece.
Quentin Nguyen netted nine points to lead all South shooters.
The Bulldog bench outpointed South 21-15 in the afternoon contest.
"We were fortunate we had a little more depth tonight," said Byrne Creek head coach Wayne Best.
Byrne led 18-8 at the end of the first quarter, but South, behind some hot three-point shooting reduced the deficit at half time to just six points.
Gino Pagbilao launched a pair of back-to-back bombs early in the second quarter. Nguyen and Andrew Yang, with a five-point effort to end the period, also nailed a three.
But it wasn't enough against Byrne's strength off the bench and tenacious defence that committed 18 thefts in the game.
Grade 11 forward Dejan Posavljak had a strong outing for South, scoring seven points, while adding eight rebounds and four blocked shots.
With Irvine back in the lineup, Best expects the next time the two teams meet to be much closer.
"When we see them again it will be a completely different story," Best said.
On Wednesday, BNW runner-up New Westminster Hyacks will play the winner of South and North at 5:15 p.m. Following the earlier game, Byrne Creek will then host the winner of Central and Mountain.
