Hot Shooting Helps Terry Fox Ravens Claim BC Bronze

Top Performers

Terry Fox:

• Scott Hind-31 points 

• Bret MacDonald- 21 points, 10 assists

W.J Mouat:

• Gurminder Kang-21 points, 10 rebounds

LANGLEY,BC–Ah, the infamous bronze medal game. Throughout the years it has earned the reputation of being the game that inspires the least amount of effort. Two teams, whose dreams of gold were dashed the night before, are still reeling from the blow of the loss the night earlier. With that in mind, it is easy to understand why teams may be reluctant to put in a solid night of work, or so you would think.

Saturday night’s bronze medal final at the BC boys AAA basketball provincial championship was one of the most exciting, back-and-forth affair I have ever seen, and I have been to some dandy games, believe me. The third place game between the W.J. Mouat Hawks and the Terry Fox Ravens was something to be commended. The fans should be commended, for creating an atmosphere that was a blast to be apart of. The refs should be commended for calling a straightforward game, yet still allowing the play to continue. The coaches should be commended for mentoring their players to the level of both skill and respect that they showed. And finally, the players deserved a whole lot of praise as the Ravens outlasted the Hawks 75-65 to earn the bronze medal. If this article does nothing but give praise to everyone who put in the time to make that game what it was, my job is done.

High words of praise I know, but they were well earned.

The game got off to a relatively slow start. You could tell that both teams felt a little sluggish competing for third rather than first. But the more the game went on, the more the male competitiveness began to kick in, and both teams started to care more and more about winning the game.

Neither team could do significant damage during the first or second quarter. Terry Fox did improve their 19-17 lead at the end of the first quarter to a 5-point 34-29 advantage. The Ravens were led by grade 12’s Bret MacDonald and Scott Hind who had 13 and 11 points at the half respectively. Mouat was able to keep it very tight, thanks in large part to big efforts from fellow seniors Gurminder Kang and Sunvir Johal who each scored 12 in the opening half.

“We were trying to work on our defensive sets,” said Terry Fox head coach Rich Chambers. “But as the game went on, shots started falling.”

To say that each team was on a hot streak in the third quarter, is an understatement. I believe the only appropriate phrase would be, “They’re on fire!” W.J. Mouat took the lead at one point thanks largely to the shooting heroics of grade 11 Jesse Coy, who hit three 3-point shots. However, with their lead slipping away, the Ravens also went to the long bomb. Hind and MacDonald led the way for the Hawks combining for five 3-pointers in the third as Terry Fox held onto a slim 53-50 lead.

The hot streak continued as Hind and MacDonald combined for another three triples which put the seal on any W.J. Mouat comeback attempt.

After the game, Scott Hind commented, “We came out of the gates pretty slow, but we knew we were a better team than how we were playing, and we were able to put the game away.”

Hind was the high man, scoring 31 points and hitting a total of eight 3-pointers. Bret MacDonald chipped in 21 to aid his fellow graduating senior. The Hawks were led by Kang, Johal and Coy who potted 21, 18 and 16 points respectively.

Although the game did not have the hype of a championship final, it sure exceeded all expectations.  

PHOTO COURTESY: RON HOLE