Record Staff
The Vanier Towhees continue their nomadic 2010-11 season this week as they are in Calgary to attend the Western Canada Tournament. This past week they were on the road for a North North Island League AAA game and a pair of senior boys basketball exhibition tilts.
Vanier, with only three home league games this season, were in Parksville on Tuesday where they dispatched the Ballenas Whalers 65-36. The Whalers had only one scorer in double figures and had trouble containing Towhee big boys Brad Gunter and Dillon Robson. Ballenas trailed by 14 at the half but stayed close until Vanier pulled away in the fourth quarter.
Vanier led 9-7 after the first quarter but pulled it together led by the feisty play of Jacob Wiebe and Cam Hughes. "We started scoring on any defence Ballenas threw at us," said Vanier coach Larry Street. "Dillon got rolling and scored inside and outside.
"Brad put in a spectacular dunk on a breakaway – well it looked good but didn't count due to travelling. Still, after Ballenas came within 10 points we executed perfectly and broke the score wide open." Robson (20 points) and Gunter (13) paced the scoring while Gunter had nine rebounds to go along with seven by Hughes. Wiebe finished with six assists and two steals.
In exhibition action, the Towhees fell 71-56 to the Dover Bay Dolphins on Jan. 28 and on Jan. 29 they knocked off the Ladysmith 49ers 67-37.
The Towhees took on one of the top 15 teams in the province in Dover Bay – a physical team with many weapons. "They are the team to beat on the Island," said Street of the Nanaimo squad.
"The young Towhees were a bit stunned in the beginning with the intensity shown by Dover Bay and we coughed up too many turnovers early," Street said.
"The whole second half was much different as we showed a lot more warrior spirit, led by Grade 11 guard Mark McGinnis and senior post Gunter. This was an excellent teaching game for our young team."
McGinnis finished with 17 points, six rebounds and five assists while Gunter scored 15 to go along with eight rebounds and two steals. Wiebe added nine points while Trevor McGuire cleared six boards.
On Jan. 29 the Towhees were in Ladysmith where the 49ers stayed close in the first half, holding Vanier to a 35-30 lead. But in the second half Ladysmith had trouble with Vanier's tough 2-3 zone and were to held to only seven points.
"We got much more aggressive offence early in the second half, and that started with not allowing Ladysmith any more rebounds," Street said. "Brad was very difficult to stop inside and was also a warrior on the boards.
"This was probably Dillon Robson's best second half this year as he was a terror on the offensive boards and went strong to the hoop, This was a team defensive effort led by always pesky Jacob Wiebe with eight steals and the improving group of Grade 11 guards."
Gunter scored 27 points to go with 19 rebounds and four blocked shots while Robson finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds. McGinnis added 13 points and six boards.
FREE THROWS Vanier's final home game is a Feb. 17 league tilt against Ballenas ... the North Islands go Feb. 24-26 in Nanaimo followed by the Islands March 3-5 in Victoria and the B.C.s March 15-19 at the Langley Events Centre ...
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