Junior Girls Basketball
The SMUS Junior Girls won three straight games to bring home the championship from the Charles Best tournament held on Friday and Saturday in Coquitlam.
Indigo Edgington poured in 24 points to lead the Blue Jags to a 66-25 victory over the New Westminster Hyacks in their opening game of the tournament. Mya Beare added 16 points and Elspeth Rodger 10 in what SMUS Head Coach Tina Lum describes as “a solid performance by everyone.”
SMUS got 14 points from Edgington and 13 from Beare in its 42-19 win over the Burnaby Central Wildcats in a Saturday semifinal. “We had a great first half and grinded it out the second half,” Lum says.
Mikaela Dube scored 12 points and Edgington had 11 as the Blue Jags beat Lord Tweedsmuir 46-39 in the championship game. SMUS clinched the tournament title by going on an 8-0 run over the final three minutes, including a decisive three-pointer from Beare to extend the Blue Jags’ lead to five points.
“A big shout out to Crystal Cai, who was amazing on the defensive end – always assigned to the other team's best offensive player – and Elspeth Rodger for her rebounding all tournament long,” Lum says.
The Blue Jags opened their week with a Lower Island League game, edging Lambrick Park 47-44, to push their league record to 2-0.
Senior Girls Basketball
The Senior Girls Basketball team had a busy week, beginning with its league opener against Royal Bay. A quick start saw the Blue Jags up 13-0 in the opening minutes. The Royals narrowed the gap, going into halftime with the Jags up 30-20. An explosive third quarter blew the game open and the Blue Jags went on to win 73-31. Charlie Anderson led all scorers with 23 points, Alex Motherwell added 18 and Olivia Vincent chipped in 10. Joss Olcen, making her Blue Jags debut, was a force defensively.
With their sights now turned to the Tsumura Basketball Invitational tournament in Langley, the Blue Jags opened against Okanagan Mission, the sixth-ranked 4A team in BC. It was an up and down affair, with OKM looking to push the tempo with full court pressure and offensive transition for much of the game. Down 34-28 at the half, the Blue Jags battled back on the shoulders of Anderson and Motherwell, who combined for 47 points, including nine three-pointers. Maddy Albert was a force on the boards, pulling down 11 rebounds and finishing with nine points. Anderson was named the player of the game as the Blue Jags won by a final score of 60-52.
That win set up a quarter-final match up with Riverside, the No. 2-ranked 4A team in the province. Once again, Riverside's trapping pressure wreaked havoc on the Blue Jags, and they faced a halftime deficit of 47-22. In SMUS style, the Blue Jags did not give up. Taking the opportunity to improve and to work against one of the top teams in the province, SMUS rallied to narrow the final gap to 70-52. Motherwell led the Jags with 17 points with Albert adding another 13. Olivia Pickering made an impact on the boards, pulling down 12 rebounds – eight on the offensive end. Motherwell was named the SMUS player of the game.
On the consolation side of the draw, SMUS faced another highly ranked 4A team in Yale of Abbotsford. The sharp-shooting Lions experienced some early foul trouble, allowing the Blue Jags to find their groove offensively. Up 32-27 at the half, SMUS dug in defensively thanks largely to the efforts of Olcen and Albert. SMUS went on to win 58-51. Anderson led the way with 28 points and 14 rebounds. Motherwell added 14 points and Albert finished with 11 points and 11 rebounds – eight on the offensive glass. Albert's efforts were recognized with a player-of-the-game award.
Now playing for fifth place in the 16-team TBI draw, the Blue Jags faced the current No. 1-ranked 4A team Argyle, which had been upended earlier in the tournament by eventual TBI winner Seaquam. Argyle's onslaught of three-point shooting and trapping pressure were too much for the Jags to handle as they fell 69-52. Olivia Vincent had a good effort on both ends of the court, finishing with eight rebounds, and was recognized with a player-of-the-game award.
Despite the school holiday, the Blue Jags will get back to work this week, as they prepare to compete in the Tournament for Emily, hosted by Riverside. The set draw will see the Blue Jags take on Langley Christian (2A), Brookswood (3A No. 1) and Argyle (4A) again.
Junior Boys Basketball
It was another extremely busy week for the Junior Boys Basketball team, which played five games in six days, winning four of them to up their overall record at the holiday break to 13-3.
The Junior Jags prevailed in a pair of league games during the week, despite a depleted roster due to sickness, injury and players leaving town for the holiday break. On Tuesday, visiting SMUS trailed Spectrum 25-21 at halftime before storming back in the second half to win 50-33, including a 17-1 fourth-quarter advantage. Point guard Dani Pelyhe led the way with 17 points while Jaiden Daniels had 13 and Quinn McMeekin 10.
In another Lower Island League game on Wednesday, the host Blue Jags got off to a shaky start again, trailing Lambrick Park 30-28 at the break before eking out a 60-56 win. The victory pushed the Blue Jags’ pre-Christmas league record to 5-0, leaving them atop the Lower Island standings. Pelyhe had 15 for the Blue Jags in the win while Daniels had 14 and McMeekin 13.
With only eight players dressed, including two Grade 9 callups, for the weekend’s Gary Taylor Classic junior tournament at Oak Bay, the Blue Jags still managed a third-place finish. SMUS began the tournament on Thursday with a convincing 81-48 win over Pacific Academy of Surrey, BC’s ninth-ranked junior squad. McMeekin was huge in that victory with 23 points and 15 rebounds, as was Eliot Tait who had 19 points and helped control the boards. Pelyhe added 18 points in the win.
The Junior Jags faced BC No. 2 Vancouver College in a Friday night semifinal. They battled the Fighting Irish toe-to-toe in the first half, trailing by one point at the quarter and were a little unlucky to be down nine points at the half. However, the depth of eventual tournament champion Vancouver College proved too much in the second half as both Tait and Pelyhe fouled out and the deep Irish kept extending their lead for a 61-33 win. Pelyhe led all scorers in the game with 14 points.
Facing Lambrick Park for the second time in four days in Saturday’s third-place game, SMUS dominated from start to finish, rolling to a 73-45 victory. Tait was the player of the game with 18 points while Pelyhe had 14 and Parker Sheehan and Henry Williamson contributed 12 each. Following the tournament, Pelyhe was named to the five-player Gary Taylor Classic junior all-star team.
The Junior Boys will see their next action with an exhibition game against the Saratoga High School JV team from San Jose, California, on December 28 at 9:30 am. That game will tip-off on UVic’s CARSA main court at 9:30 am.
Senior Boys Basketball
The SMUS Senior Boys opened their Lower Island League regular season last week with a pair of convincing wins over Glenlyon-Norfolk School and St. Andrew’s. But their most impressive performance of the campaign to date was a 79-47 victory over the St. Thomas More Knights of Burnaby in Thursday’s play-in round of the Gary Taylor Classic at Oak Bay.
The Blue Jags began league play on Tuesday with a 97-35 win at GNS and followed that up the next night with an 80-47 decision over St. Andrew’s. Lincoln Faulkner had 25 points, Damon Bains 21 and Taiga Parmar 20 to pace the Blue Jags at GNS. Kian Colgate led the way in the win over St. Andrew’s with 22 points while Zaki Pelyhe had 14.
SMUS faced STM, BC’s third-ranked 3A team, in a play-in game at the Gary Taylor Classic on Thursday. The Blue Jags shook off a poor start, which saw them trailing 10-2 in the first few minutes, to roll to an eventual 32-point win over the Knights in what was a fine team performance. Faulkner scored 19 to lead the Jags to the win while Parmar added 18 on six threes. The Blue Jags hit a total 16 shots from behind the arc in the signature victory.
The win moved SMUS into the main eight-team draw in the tournament, where it faced 4A power Vancouver College in a quarter-final. Playing their second game in a day, the Blue Jags struggled against the intense pressure defence of the Irish, falling 84-58. Faulkner had 13 points to lead SMUS in that one while Colgate contributed 12.
The Blue Jags’ final two games of the tournament – also against 4A opponents – were much closer affairs. SMUS lost 81-74 to Belmont on Friday before dropping a 76-64 decision to Fleetwood Park. Faulkner scored 18 points while Parmar, Pelyhe and Davis Hardy had 12 each against Belmont. Colgate had 21 points to lead SMUS against Fleetwood and Park and Pelyhe contributed 12 apiece.
The Blue Jags will now prepare for the UVic Vikes Alumni holiday tournament at CARSA. SMUS will play North Vancouver’s Handsworth Royals in its first game of that tournament on December 28 at 12:45 pm.
November Athletes of the Month
A trio of Blue Jags were honoured recently as the SMUS Athletes of the Month for November.
Earning those honours were Senior Girls Volleyball setter Ava Gillespie, Senior Girls Field Hockey standout Wynn Brown, and striker Kian Colgate of the Senior Boys Soccer squad.
Gillespie was the starting varsity setter for the past three seasons. In her Grade 12 season, she served as the Blue Jags’ captain. Says Head Coach Melanie Bendfeld: “Ava’s technical skill and athleticism have continuously grown over the past three seasons and her tactical game sense makes her stand out, with consistent praise and admiration from other coaches and referees each week. In an often-thankless position, Ava thrives on the success of her teammates, she digs in when situations are challenging, and she can be counted on, particularly on the service line, to help score key points for her team.”
Brown was the captain of the SMUS Field Hockey squad, which finished fifth in the BC AA tournament after placing second on the Island. “Not only was Wynn the captain of the team, but she had a fine end to the year and was an inspiration to the whole team with her superb play on the field and motivation of the team on and off the turf,” says Head Coach David Kerr.
Moved by SMUS Head Coach Evan Fryer to the striker position at the end of the season, Colgate scored an impressive eight goals in five games to win the prestigious Golden Boot award at the BC AA Boys Soccer tournament and help his team to a 10th-place finish. The Grade 12 Colgate is also a key member of the SMUS Senior Boys Basketball team.
