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One Last Dance

2 April 2020
Jack NG, Ellis ‘21; Photo by Bud Patel
While the final days of second term were coming to a close, the Senior Boys Basketball team ventured over the pond, to the Lower Mainland, to play in the 75th Annual Senior Boys Provincial Championship at the Langley Events Centre. On March 4th, the team - led by their beloved driver, Richie, left class early to head over in the hopes of capping off their season.

After several hours of transit, and a quick stop off at the hotel, the team rolled up to the LEC for their shootaround, and the official start to their ‘business trip’. Post shootaround brought the tournament banquet - a phenomenal dinner, in which roughly 830 of the province’s top athletes gathered together to celebrate the beginning of possibly the best high school sporting event in the nation.

Opening day had the boys up against 13th ranked Clarence Fulton, a solid team who was also looking to finish their season in a top provincial spot. A 6am wakeup, quick breakfast, and arrival at the LEC left the boys ready to go for their 8:30 am tipoff - about the time they would be waking up back at school given that it was sleep-in Wednesday.

With the game close after a quarter, the boys found their rhythm to pull ahead to a 26 point lead at halftime. The boys managed to dominate the rebounding game - a massive focus for this relatively small team over the course of the season - and out-boarded Clarence Fulton 48-32, led by Captain Juan N, Whittall ‘20 who pulled in 14 all by himself. Juan also made an impact on the scoresheet, with 11 points. Brentwood had three other double digit scorers, in Jack NG, Ellis ‘21, who had 19 points, Feury K, Whittall ‘21 with 12 - all of which came from behind the three-point arc, and Dylan G, Whittall ‘23 with 11 points off the bench. Ifeanyi A, Whittall ‘21 took control of the offence in the second half, leading the team with 4 assists. As the final buzzer sounded, the boys left the floor in high spirits, with a 74-28 victory under their belts.

After the Clarence Fulton victory, Brentwood was set to face #5 ranked Abbotsford Christian Knights, a team that had lit up their opponents the previous day. From the tip, there was very little separating these two lineups. Brentwood, down 1 after the first quarter, Brentwood up 1 at half, Brentwood down 1 again after the 3rd. It all boiled down to a nail-biting 4th quarter.

In a game with 7 lead changes, and 6 points at which the score was tied, the two sides in the competition kept it interesting for everyone in the gym. “These guys are gassed.” exclaimed Coach Gage in the huddle before the 4th quarter began, “Their point guard is cramping up, and they’ve been taking cheap fouls! Let’s stay into these guys.” And the boys did, and Coach Gage was right. Brentwood had an explosive 4th quarter, outscoring the Knights 17-8, and after a 7 point Brentwood scoring run lead by Shaw B, Ellis ‘21, and some foul trouble for the team in blue, ACS had nothing left in the tank. Final score: Brentwood 69, Abbotsford Christian 61. 

Shaw B was awarded Player of the Game finishing with 22 points, 4 rebounds, 3 steals, and 3 assists in Brentwood’s push to the top. Juan NP helped out with his second double-double of the campaign: 14 points and 10 rebounds. Jack NG finished with 11 points. Ifeanyi A and Olin D, Whittall ‘21 both came away with 3 steals - possibly a career high for the big man out of Duncan. “We wouldn’t have been able to do it without our unreal fitness.” declared Juan, “Thanks to Mr. Gage and all those lines we ran in practice, we pulled off a tough game down the stretch.” Off to the semis, and yet another Final Four appearance for Coach Gage and Brentwood College.

The semifinal left Brentwood facing the #1 ranked, and reigning champions, the Charles Hays Rainmakers. Tip off was late at night for the second day in a row, and with shortened warm up time due to the game before going late, the boys were slow out of the gate. The veterans in Charles Hayes showed up, and took a 19 point lead going into halftime. Brentwood was a different team in the 3rd quarter however, and went on a quick run to turn the contest back into a game. Brentwood outscored the Rainmakers 21-9 in the 3rd quarter, and even brought the game within 4 points late in the quarter. The experience and skill of the Charles Hays lineup did not falter in the 4th quarter, however, leaving Brentwood at a hardfought 14 point deficit at the final buzzer.

After the heartbreaking defeat to the Rainmakers late the night before, Brentwood regrouped, and prepared for their final game of the season: the Island final rematch against South Island rivals Lambrick Park. This one was for the bronze medal, and a spot on the podium with the Charles Hays Rainmakers and the King George Dragons. Lambrick took the lead right off the tip, and held it for a total of 12 seconds of the entire game, but it was all Brentwood’s show.

With a 19-17 lead after the 1st, the boys were feeling good - not comfortable, but good. Coach Gage got the rotations going, and every player saw floor time at some point in the first half. 44-34 for Brentwood was the story at halftime, and the boys had no intentions of slowing down. The biggest second half boost came from Olin D, who came off the bench for 16 points - many of which came from his four offensive rebounds. He had 10 rebounds total, and dished out a pair of assists, earning himself Player of the Game. After the final game Shaw was named to the First All Star Team and Juan to the Second.

Olin was backed by Shaw B (20 points), and Jack NG (16 points). Justin W, Whittall, and Jamie T, Ellis ‘20 finished off their highschool basketball careers in style combining for 6 points, 7 rebounds, a steal and a block to cap off their final provincial campaign. To say the team’s scoring was well distributed is an understatement - every man who showed up at the LEC that Saturday, got on the floor, and got at least one bucket to contribute to Brentwood’s victory. Down went Lambrick Park: 81-52 in favour of Brentwood. “At the end of the day, one team - and especially our grade 12s - wanted it more” said Mr. Gage.

The future of Brentwoood’s Senior Boys Basketball looks bright, for only 3 out of the 11 young student-athletes to venture to the LEC will be leaving the team at the end of this school year. The current Grade 11s, and the juniors who are moving up the ranks have some big shoes to fill, as the names Rei K, Jamie T, Justin W, Matthias S, and Jaun NP will not be soon forgotten.

Thanks very much to the grade 12s on an unbelievable season; we can not thank you enough for your leadership, dedication, and incredible contributions to this team. Thank you to Mr Gage and Mr Sullivan for their guidance and instruction over the course of the season - and Mr Pasquale for his thorough and insightful scouting reports. Without you pushing us every day, we all know we would not have made it this deep into our season. Thank you to Laurel, Tanner, and Mike, the trainers who worked with us over the majority of our season, and managed to keep us in one piece. And most of all, thank you to our heroic bus driver, Richie. Without you, we quite literally would never have got where we wanted to go.

Thank you for an unreal year of basketball, boys. Family on 3!

Jack NG, Ellis ‘21



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