Vanier’s senior boys basketball team faced some tough competition on the weekend at the No Regrets tournament on the North Shore.
On Thursday, the triple-A Towhees faced Mt. Boucherie, an aggressive 4A team from Kelowna with an outstanding scoring point guard. Vanier learned so much from this game, especially that you must hit free throws to win — the boys lost by five, missed 15 free throws — and take care of the ball (32 turnovers). Nerves still plague this team. They lost in the last minute, and were within a point with 50 seconds left, but missed an open layup. Final score: Boucherie 72, Vanier 67.
Peter Greaves led the way with 18 points and nine rebounds, while Macyn Leopkey-Johnson had 17 points and four assists.
On Friday, the boys played Aidan Bowman from Saskatoon, a small but strong shooting team.
“All knew how to play, and did a great job collapsing on our bigs,” coach Larry Street said. “At one point, Vanier was down 20 points and we had to find five players who could spark a comeback.”
It happened mid-third quarter.
The second half proved better for Vanier, who started to get some steals, and took advantage of the 6’8” Greaves, who ended the game with 31 points and 13 rebounds. Justin Watt added 12 points while Brayden Waugh chipped in five rebounds.. Vanier 70, Bowman 67
On Saturday, Vanier played the seventh-ranked Collingwood of North Vancouver. Collingwood had numerous sharpshooters. Taking 27 threes was a big part of their offence. They hit 12 and that was a big difference in the game.
Other than Leopkey with 19 points and Jakob Tortorelli with 18, Vanier had trouble scoring and couldn’t get back within the 20-point lead.
“This was a great game for these young Towhees, and hopefully they learned a lot from the mistakes made,” Street said.
Final score: Vanier 67, Collingwood 77.
The Towhees next play at Mark Isfeld at 7 p.m. Tuesday.