The Vanier Towhees senior boys basketball team opened its season with an 82-64 win over John Barsby last Monday in Nanaimo. Four players reached double figures: Kyle Piercy with 18 points, four steals and three dunks; Levi Timmermans 19 points and 11 rebounds; Riley Meyerhoff 14 points and 10 rebounds, and Grade 10 Peter Greaves rounded out the scoring with 11 points. Dawson Kipp laid out eight assists while netting nine points.
In a second game Monday, the AAA Towhees beat the 4A Cowichan 69-48. Greaves scored 10 points, Meyerhoff 15 and 11 rebounds, Timmermans 11 and 13 rebounds, Piercy 12 and Kipp had nine assists.
The team then competed at a Chilliwack tournament with 12 teams from 4A, 3A and 2A. Vanier beat Abbotsford Traditional 72-48 in the first game. Timmermans had 22 points and 12 rebounds, Bentley Barth ran in 13 hustle points, Piercy had 12 points and 10 rebounds, and Kipp had 11 rebounds and 10 assists. For the first time in many years, four players registered double-figure rebounding.
Vanier beat the host Chilliwack 76-65 in the semi-final. Timmermans had 20 points and 19 rebounds while Piercy scored 29 points (including a pair of dunks) and nine steals.
In the final, the Towhees lost 70-44 to GW Graham of Chilliwack, a top five AAA team.
“This was a very fine-tuned, athletic, fast team who love to run and gun, while the Towhees had initial problems with their various traps and presses,” Towhees coach Larry Street said. “Not a stellar game for Vanier, but a huge chip in the block for experience. We learned a lot from Graham on how to play, and look forward to possibly seeing them again in late season.”
Timmermans finished with 13 points and 11 rebounds.
The Towhees first league game is at home Tuesday, Dec. 5, 7 p.m., versus CARIHI of Campbell River.