For a showdown for first place, Monday’s tilt between the Burnaby Central Wildcats and New Westminster Hyacks was a little under the radar.
The senior girls matchup admittedly wasn’t a battle of the top ranked based on a big build-up – despite the fact that both teams entered the fray with perfect league records.
New West prevailed 76-52, locking up the Burnaby-New West league crown with one game remaining. It means they will hold court next week for the playoffs and earn a bye into the semifinals.
But for the Wildcats, the experience gained from competing with the Hyacks — among the honourably mentioned in recent Triple A rankings — is a valuable lesson.
“We wanted to throw kind of everything that we had and just expose them for the weaknesses in their game,” remarked Central coach Chris Ducharme. “We didn’t really see a ton (of weaknesses). We saw some stuff that we did that worked, some flaws and some of our girls had a bit of a tough day today.”
Trailing 38-18 at the half, the Wildcats saw the deficit grow to 32 points before outscoring New West 17-13 over the final 10 minutes. It was a gutsy effort for the youthful lineup, which includes a pair of Grade 9s and Grade 10.
New West’s Grade 10 sharpshooter Sara Forgie led all scorers with 26 points, while Madisen Obrovac drained 14 points in support.
For Burnaby, Grade 11 Christine Lin hit for 18 points, while shooting guard Jalynne Hyuhn counted 10 points, including three third quarter treys.
It wasn’t an ideal matchup, with the Hyacks boasting four players 5-foot-10 or taller, including a pair of 6-footers in post Rhiannon Leidl and Zoe Roberts. Playable height isn’t part of the Wildcats’ attributes, so the battle on the boards was one-sided.
A reliance on a big three-point shot is a tricky thing; Burnaby took advantage in the second half and chalked up seven on the night, five of them in the second half. But gaining that second shot on those that clanked off the iron was difficult. When the range is good, momentum is in play.
“A three-point team has to be consistent. Once in a while you get a couple but the rest bounce off,” said New West coach Doug Woodward, who in 20 years has had lineups that faced similar obstacles. “You need to win some of those (rebounds), and if you don’t it’s very tough.”
Ducharme says his team is learning all about those challenges.
“We have some girls that can shoot, some good depth at shooter. They just have to know when that shot’s open, learn the game a bit. What we don’t have in height we make up with speed and energy,” noted Ducharme.
Central wrapped up the regular season at 7-1, with New West ending a streak that saw them steamroll to all but one win by margins of 23 or more. Two of their wins were by 45 and 47 points.
Their closest victory was a six-point decision over Byrne Creek 10 days ago.
New West and Burnaby South complete the schedule today.
Other scores from Monday saw Moscrop claim the sixth and final playoff spot by edging Cariboo Hill 43-38, Burnaby North scoring its lone win of the season, topping Alpha 40-39, while Byrne Creek downed Burnaby South 76-33.
Ducharme is anticipating another shot at the Hyacks come the playoffs.
“A lot of teams don’t handle our pressure that well, but New West is a little more seasoned at it and knew to go over top of us,” said Ducharme.
“I took notes. It was a great match with coach Doug and we’ll have three, four practices before we see them again and all of it will be on that.”
The playoffs start next Tuesday at New West, with South playing Burnaby Mountain and Moscrop taking on Byrne.
