Chargers’ placing the best ever
Duncan Christian School Chargers senior boys’ basketball team achieved its best-ever finish at the provincial championships.
The team placed fifth overall in the single-A section of the tournament held at the University of the Fraser Valley in Abbotsford.
Despite the result being the Chargers’ best result in history, coach Heidi Padjen couldn’t hide her disappointment with her team being ranked third heading into the championships.
“We were a little disappointed but I’m still very proud of the team,” said Padjen. “We knew we had the potential to win as we’d beaten the team that was ranked first heading into the tournament (West Point Grey Academy) earlier in the season.”
The team lost in the quarter-final 69-53 to St Patrick’s in a game in which Padjen admitted her team “didn’t play their best,” following an opening game 81-40 win over Northside Christian.
“We had a bit of a tough draw meeting St Patrick’s in the quarter-final as they were the only team in the league that had beaten us by any amount of points really.”
Despite the heartbreaking quarter-final loss, the Chargers went on to win their final two games of the tournament, beating B.C. Christian Academy 56-43 and Unity Christian 56-54.
Point guard and star player Josh Klassen ended the tournament as a second team all-Star. Douglas Groenendijk was an honourable mention.
“We all wanted to win the provincial championship but looking back, we were still able to show we are a strong team by winning our last two games,’’ said Klassen. “Fifth place was still a good finish.’’
Klassen rolled his ankle during the St Patrick’s loss but insisted that “didn’t slow me down too much.
“I was playing defence and a guy drove to the baseline to do a reverse layup. I jumped up to contest the shot but landed awkwardly. It was really sore.
“St Patrick’s were a pretty quick team and that day they were hitting their outside shots too so it was harder to defend. We were disappointed as for some of us it was our last chance to make it to the final and the same thing happened to some of us at the volleyball provincials in the semis this past December.”
Klassen finished the tournament with 71 points from the four games.
Groenendijk had 30 points, eight rebounds and eight assists against Northside Christian. Klassen contributed 27 points, eight rebounds and six assists.
Other scorers were: Jon Climie (6), rookies Mike Brandsma and Adam Kapteyn (5 each), Nick Kapteyn (4), Chaz Milne (3), Johnny Caron (1).
In the St. Pat’s game, Klassen scored 15 points, Bennett King-Nyberg added 13 points and Groenendijk tallied 10.
Groenendijk’s 21 points and 11 rebounds set the pace against B.C. Christian Academy. Klassen managed 18 points and 12 rebounds and King-Nyberg scored 11.
Nick Kapteyn collected 17 points and 19 rebounds against Unity Christian 54. Groenendijk’s stats were 13 points and seven rebounds while Klassen posted 11 points and six assists and King-Nyberg added 10 points.
— with a file from Don Bodger
COMMENTS
Let's keep comments:
We ask that all participants own their words by logging in with their Facebook account. It's a simple process that will take seconds and helps keep our comments free of trolls, cranks, and “drive-by” commenters.
We reserve the right to remove comments from anyone using screen names, pseudonyms or false identities. Please see our FAQ if you have questions or concerns about using Facebook to comment.