The Bulkley Valley Christian School Senior Boys basketball team had one of the best performances in school history at the recent BC Boys Provincial “A” Championship in Langley. Because of the COVID-impacted year, the Royals did not play a team outside of their zone leading up to the tournament, resulting in an eighth place ranking. But the Royals, fueled by a dominant zone victory, were up to the challenge to finish better than their ranking.
The Royals’ first game was against the #2 Vancouver Island team, the Nanaimo Christian Trailblazers, a team led by Jackson Tonsi, a Grade 10 guard scoring almost 40 points a game on average.
Focusing on a defensive strategy to slow down Tonsi, the Royals pulled away throughout the game, with BVCS Grade 10 guard David Loki racking up 40 points to outscore Tonsi.
The second game saw the Royals going up against the #1 seed Unity Christian Flames. The Royals battled valiantly, and were only down by four in the second quarter.
However, the Flames’ athleticism wore the Royals down and Unity won easily 96-57.
The Royals needed to regroup quickly because their next opponent was the top seed in the strong Okanagan zone, the Kelowna Christian Knights.
The Royals went up early and, after withstanding a valiant Knights comeback, prevailed 71-67. The Royals were led by the tenacious defense and athleticism of grade 11 guard Paul Loki.
With a win in their last game, the Royals could finish a very respectable fifth. They were up against the Aberdeen Hall Gryphons, a relatively new school from the Okanagan. The Royals led from the start, pulling away throughout the game as they simply wore out the Gryphons with their fast break and rebounding dominance.
Once again, David Loki led the way with 25 points with Jada picking up 19 rebounds.
“We played our best basketball at zones and provincials,” said head coach James Horner. “Our guys were able to adapt to different strategies and game situations very well.”
“I’m really proud of our team’s resilience during the season. We are going to miss our graduating players and will need to work hard at improving next year to repeat or improve our performance.”
David Loki’s performance earned him Second Team All-Star in the tournament, an impressive feat considering he is only in Grade 10, said assistant coach Chris Steenhof. His play earned him the notice of a wide variety of coaches and players during the week.
“David has a tremendous upside,” Steenhof said. “He’s very athletic and coachable. I’m hoping playing at this tournament gives him a chance to get even better,”
However, the team’s success was not about individual performance but rather a commitment to putting the team first.
“This year has had so many ups and downs with COVID, injuries, no tournaments,” said Horner. “But it’s been such a joy to be able to compete with this group of guys. It was a great way to end the season.”
editor@interior-news.com
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter