Rebels ground Falcons at provincials
The Burnaby South Rebels have reached the quarter-finals of the B.C. AAA senior boys high school basketball championship.
The Rebels defeated Chilliwack's Sardis Falcons 73-69 Wednesday morning in their first round match at the Langley Events Centre.
South controlled most of the game and had a 14-point lead late in the third quarter. But Sardis kept plugging away and reduced the deficit down to three with four minutes remaining in the game. The Rebels' lead was even down to two, 71-69, with 21 seconds left but Burnaby South managed to sink a couple of free throws to secure the victory.
The win put the Rebels into a quarter-final matchup Thursday (8:15 p.m.) against either the province's top-ranked team, the Walnut Grove Gators from Langley, or the No. 7 Churchill Bulldogs of Vancouver, who play each other in a first-round matchup later Wednesday.
Five-foot-six Guard Gino Pabilao was named player of the game scoring 15 points and racking up seven assists and six turnovers. Martin Bogajev was the team's top scorer with 17 points. South's scoring was spread around with six-foot-four forward Djordje Obradovic getting 14 points and Nick Garcha contributing 13.
• The Burnaby Mountain Lions' first venture to the tourney was a memorable one, but for the wrong reason.
In their opening round game Tuesday, the Lions were defeated 59-50 by the Caledonia Kermodes from Terrace. It was the first time Burnaby Mountain had made it to the tournament since the school opened 13 years ago.
Atdhe Hajrizi was Mountain's top scorer with 21 points. He also collected 13 rebounds.
The loss relegated the Lions to the consolation side where they were to face the Pitt Meadows Marauders on Wednesday afternoon.
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