Senior Boys Basketball
The SMUS Senior Boys team enjoyed its best week of the basketball season thus far, winning four of five games with the lone loss coming by two points on a buzzer-beater to a highly ranked 3A team.
The Blue Jags began the week with a 72-50 Lower Island AA league victory over visiting Pacific Christian on Tuesday. Davis Hardy led SMUS with 21 points in the win while Elliot Mairet added 13.
The Blue Jags headed to Burnaby on Wednesday for the 16-team Rich Goulet Memorial Chancellor tournament at St. Thomas More. They faced BC’s third-ranked 3A squad in their opener and were unlucky not to record the upset. After battling the Brookswood Bobcats for the entire game and enjoying several leads, the Blue Jags fell 77-75 on a heartbreaking shot at the final buzzer by Brookswood. Mairet had 21 points in that game while Hardy contributed 14.
SMUS quickly shook off that disappointment, however, with a convincing 75-59 victory over GW Graham in its second game. Lincoln Faulkner led the way with 27 points in that win, with Damon Bains adding 12. The Blue Jags needed overtime to beat Rick Hansen 84-80 in their third game with Faulkner’s 20 points again leading the way. Hardy added 18 and Mairet 17 in the win.
The Blue Jags wrapped up the tournament on Saturday with a decisive 74-47 win over McMath. Mairet scored 21 points for SMUS while Bains added 14 and Faulkner 13. Grade 11 Hardy was named a second-team all-star for SMUS for his play over the four-day tournament.
The Senior Boys travel to St. Andrew’s for a game this Monday and also play host to rival Lambrick Park on Tuesday, with both those games tipping off at 7:30 pm. The Blue Jags will host the boys portion of the annual Victoria Police Tournament starting Thursday.
Senior Girls Basketball
The SMUS Senior Girls Basketball team resumed play in 2024 with both Lower Island league and tournament action last week, winning four of five games and taking the silver medal in the Top 10 Tournament at GW Graham.
On Tuesday, the Blue Jags defeated Claremont 55-31 in league play. After a slow start, the Jags’ full-court pressure and swarming defence created many easy scoring chances in transition.
Then it was off to Chilliwack for the Top 10 Tournament, featuring many of the best teams from across the province. The first-round matchup featured the Titans from South Kamloops, the current third-ranked 3A team in BC. The Blue Jags trailed 17-10 after the first quarter, but a shift in tactics to the full-court press enabled them to go into the half up 31-28. After a bizarre third quarter in which both teams struggled to score, SMUS rallied in the fourth to win 45-41. Charlie Anderson led all scorers with 21 points. Alex Motherwell knocked down five three-pointers and finished with 20 points. Maddy Albert was the Blue Jags’ player of the game, recording 11 boards, six steals and five blocks in an excellent defensive effort.
This set up a quarter-final matchup with the host school, GW Graham. In a lunch-hour spirit event, the game was played in front of a packed gymnasium. Once again, the Blue Jags started slowly, down 16-8 after the first quarter. Once again utilizing its press, SMUS began to gather momentum in the second quarter and entered the half up 31-27. The scoring continued early in the third, as the Blue Jags rolled out to a 16-point lead. Unfortunately, the Grizzlies were able to hang around, closing the gap in the fourth quarter. Some late heroics, including two key three-pointers by Anderson and Motherwell, respectively, sent the game into overtime. SMUS found a way to grind it out in the extra period to win 69-62. Motherwell led all scorers with 28 points and Anderson added 26 as the two Blue Jags combined to shoot 8-for-15 from beyond the arc. Albert added 11 points. Anderson was recognized with player-of-the-game honours.
The Blue Jags needed to find a second gear for their semifinal game late Friday night against 4A school Okanagan Mission. In an effort to manage turnovers and take better care of the ball, SMUS looked to control the tempo against a quick and feisty OKM squad. Once again, the press was critical in generating OKM turnovers which led to easy scoring opportunities. The Blue Jags entered the halftime break with a 29-22 lead. Both teams were tired and struggled to find consistent shooting, however, it was the Blue Jags’ consistent defence that helped secure a 48-41 win. Joss Olcen, who is regularly tasked with guarding the opposing team's best player, once again was a force. She is a key factor for the Blue Jags on the defensive end, contributing to the team's success every game. Olcen was recognized as the player of the game.
In the championship game, SMUS faced the Yale Lions of Abbotsford, who were looking to avenge a loss to the Blue Jags earlier in the season. A physical tilt saw multiple early lead changes with neither team able to extend a meaningful margin. The Blue Jags trailed 35-34 heading into the fourth quarter. Unfortunately, easy baskets down the stretch for Yale and some costly late-game turnovers resulted in a 54-48 Blue Jags’ loss. Motherwell led all scorers with 20 points and Anderson added 18. Liv Vincent chipped in with six points. Motherwell and Anderson were recognized for their outstanding play all tournament with first-team all-star awards.
The Blue Jags resume exhibition league play on Tuesday this week at Oak Bay (5:45 pm) before hosting the annual Victoria City Police Athletic Association Tournament beginning Thursday.
Squash
Twenty-two members of the SMUS squash team competed at the Shawnigan Lake Junior Open this past weekend. In the top draw, Gabriel Glyb and Max Arndt placed second and third, respectively. Mila Lampa came away with a silver medal in Tier 3. Elliot Judson, Nick Nguyen and Samnit Birdi also earned second-place finishes in their draws.
Last month, SMUS squash players Anderson Brown and Lucas Quon competed at the Canadian Junior Open in Niagara-on-the Lake, ON. – the biggest and most competitive tournament in Canada.
Brown upset the No. 1-ranked Columbian player and last year's champion along the way to a seventh-place finish in Boys U17. Quon lost a close match in the R16 to a New Zealand opponent, followed by three 3-0 wins in the consolation draw to place ninth in Boys U19.
Based on their results from the past year, Brown was selected to represent Canada at the U.S. Junior Open in Philadelphia, December 16 to 19, and Quon competed at the British Junior Open in Birmingham, January 3 to 7. Both SMUS players claimed wins against top international opponents in their respective competitions.
Junior Girls Basketball
The SMUS Junior Girls Basketball team won three out of four games last week, including a silver-medal finish at the ISAA Tournament at Crofton House in Vancouver.
In a road game on Tuesday, the Blue Jags beat Royal Bay 46-40 to run their undefeated Lower Island league record to 3-0.
SMUS opened the ISAA Tournament with a 49-23 win over host York House on Friday. Mya Beare led all scorers with 17 points in the victory.
On Saturday, the Blue Jags beat Brentwood College 59-8. Elspeth Rodger led the way with 21 points while Indigo Edgington added 16 and Mikaela Dubé had 12. Everyone on the team contributed to the win.
In what was a repeat of last year’s ISAA final, the Blue Jags came out flat and eventually fell 36-32 to Crofton House. SMUS trailed by as many as 13 points in the first half before coming back to make it a close finish. Dubé had eight points in the loss for SMUS.
“They were hungry for revenge, and we couldn't match their intensity,” says Head Coach Tina Lum.
This week, the Junior Girls travel to Pacific Christian for a league game on Tuesday tipping off at 4:15 pm.
Junior Boys Basketball
The Junior Boys Basketball team split four games in what was another very busy week, bringing their overall season record to 15-5.
SMUS ran its Lower Island league record to 6-0 with a 52-45 win over the Edward Milne Wolverines on Wednesday in Sooke. Guard Dani Pelyhe led the way with 22 points in the victory, including 10 in the fourth quarter. Backcourt partner Parker Sheehan was huge for the Blue Jags defensively and also shooting the three-ball, with five three-pointers and 17 points on the night, and Quinn McMeekin did a fine job guarding the EMCS big man.
The Blue Jags played three intense games in the prestigious Vancouver College Junior Emerald Tournament over the weekend, winning one and narrowly losing the other two. SMUS faced BC No. 1-ranked Grandview Heights of Surrey in its first game of the eight-team tournament and led by as many as 12 points in the second half before eventually falling 59-52. Pelyhe scored 18 points to lead the Blue Jags while forward Eliot Tait had 14 and dominated the glass and swingman Henry Williamson added 11.
SMUS shook off that loss in its second game to beat the Kelowna Owls 46-41, leading by as many as 19 points in the second half in what was an impressive defensive performance. Forward Jaiden Daniels led SMUS with 14 points in the win while helping Tait (13 points) and McMeekin (10) control the paint.
While the Blue Jags were excellent defensively and on the boards during the tournament, they struggled shooting from both behind the three-point line and at the free-throw line. That lack of shooting caught up to them in their final game against Lord Tweedsmuir as they dropped a 54-49 decision. Nevertheless, SMUS was a tad unlucky as an excellent look by Pelyhe from three off an inbounds play that would have tied the game with five seconds left in the fourth quarter rimmed out. Tait paced the Blue Jags in the game with a dominant 23-point performance while Pelyhe had 13.
The Junior Jags have another extremely busy week ahead with league games Tuesday (at home vs. Mount Douglas, 5:45 pm) and Wednesday (at Claremont, 7:15 pm). SMUS will travel to the Mainland once again for the eight-team St. Thomas More Junior Chancellor starting Thursday.
Grade 9 Boys Basketball
The SMUS Grade 9 Boys Basketball team faced a tough challenge in its first league game of the new year, hosting a deep and talented Oak Bay team on Thursday. The Blue Jags battled, but ended up on the losing end of a 59-18 score.
“The boys played hard and kept it close in the first half but ultimately lost a bit of steam in the second,” says Coach Graeme Hyde-Lay. “The boys are continuing to show lots of growth and are looking forward to an action-packed week coming up.”
The Grade 9s will play three league games on the road this week – at Vic High on Monday (5:45 pm); at St. Andrew’s on Wednesday (4:15 pm); and at Glenlyon-Norfolk School on Thursday (5:45 pm). The Blue Jags will also play two games Saturday in a tournament at Oak Bay.
