The Vanier Towhees put forth a solid effort and were rewarded with a fourth-place finish at the Chilliwack Storm Classic senior boys basketball tournament on the weekend.
The Towhees returned from Chilliwack's annual tournament with a two win, one loss weekend. In their first game of their first tournament of the year against Semiahmoo of White Rock they came up just short with a 69-66 defeat.
"It was a close game throughout, although it shouldn't have been as we missed many easy scoring opportunities and turned the ball over too much," said Towhees coach Larry Street. "Still, we had a chance with eight seconds left and one point down, and missed two free throws for the win."
Point guard Joaquin Paterna led the way for Vanier with 23 points on 53 per cent shooting while dishing three assists and hawking four steals.
Scott Stevens had a solid game with 19 points on 69 per cent shooting and eight rebounds. Jaron Piercy chipped in 12 points and four rebounds.
"We outrebounded Semiahmoo 39-28 and led in steals 10-1, but just couldn't finish when it counted. Still, a big improvement over last weekend's games," Street said.
The Towhees' second game of the tournament was against L.A. Matheson of Surrey and was one that every Towhee got plenty of minutes in. Final score was 70-48 Vanier, and Street said all the boys put commendable stats onto the scoresheet.
Piercy led the way with 12 points, Joss Biggins had 11 and Lucas Falconer added eight. Falconer was voted Player of the Game by his peers. Paterna did what he does best and had seven assists while all team members scored a couple of baskets at least.
Game three of the tournament for the Towhees was for the consolation final against Penticton. Street said this was another good game for his improving young team who won 58-46 while being able to play everyone.
"The second half was somewhat a tight one thanks to the hard work of Penticton, so it was a chance to get the starters some valuable time together in a tight situation," Street said.
Stevens had another good game with 13 points and 11 rebounds while the other Towhees spread the scoring amongst themselves evenly.
Joaquin had four assists, five steals and seven points and kept the game under control for the birds from Vanier, who ended up fourth in the 12-team tourney.
This weekend the Towhees are at the eight-team Southridge tournament in White Rock starting Friday, Dec. 14.
– Vanier Towhees