BRITANNIA 67 - 78 TUPPER
The Britannia Bruins made B.C.’s No. 1 AAA senior boys basketball team prove they were worthy of their top ranking Friday night in the city championship at Churchill secondary.
The Bruins held the Tupper Tigers to one of their lowest first half outputs of the season, keeping the score close at 36-35. Muscling through on 21 second-half points from forward Chris Schneller, the defending AA/AAA city champs outpaced the Bruins down the stretch to win the 2015 title by 11 points.
“We know we’re a better second half team and if we kept it close, we were going to do well,” said Schneller, who scored half of Tupper’s 42 points after the half and totalled 23 when the night was done.
He was also named the tournament MVP. “They’re a hard team to play against, they play tough and they have some really good shooters,” he said.
Britannia’s Dylan Joe led all scorers with 27 points before he came off in the fourth quarter with a leg cramp. His mid-court steals interrupted the Tigers’ offence and led to numerous fast-break counterpunches.
“Because we’re a running team, my teammates get me the ball and I just go,” said Joe. “We’re a fast team, we work hard.”
It was also an emotional night for the Bruins. For one of the few games this season, coach Eric Ming was on the bench with his team. Ming was in remission from leukemia but earlier this year, cancer returned.
“We all wanted to dedicate it to our coach,” said Joe. “He told us to leave everything on the floor. It was really motivating seeing him on the court.”
Britannia coach Wayne Hoang said the unranked AA Bruins were ready to take it to the No. 1 AAA ranked team in B.C.
“Our team is really under the radar,” he said. “I don’t think many schools or teams know who we are. These kids are really gritty and they always give 100 per cent.
“These are two really good East Side schools clashing,” said Hoang, adding that Joe has been a leader all season and averages 30 points a night.
“Dylan’s been our heart and soul,” said Hoang. “He’s a really gritty tough kid.”
In 2014, the first time for a AA/AAA city championship bracket, Tupper beat Britannia 68-52 in the final and continued to finish fifth in the province at AAA.
Tupper will advance to the AAA Lower Mainland tournament as the No. 1 seed from Vancouver. Britannia advances to the AA regional tournament as the city’s top seed.
Schneller was the tournament MPV. Joe was named a first-team all star along with Tupper’s Santi Ubial Taylor Ross and Niko Mottus and John Oliver’s Devin Johal. Britannia’s Andrew Fang, Point Grey’s Evan Urquhart, Lord Byng’s Jens Perrson-Thomas and J.O.’s Oghosa Abonmwandolor were named to the second all-star team.
