Vanier Secondary’s junior boys basketball team swept aside Ballenas, Nanaimo District Secondary and Ladysmith at the North Island playoffs on the weekend to advance as the top seed from the North at the Island Championships this weekend in Shawnigan Lake.
Vanier wore down their opponents with aggressive defence, fast break offence and timely shooting.
In the final against Ladysmith, they had a slow start before taking control to win 53-37.
It was the closest game of the tourney for the boys, who compiled a 29-2 regular season record.
The team is anchored by a towering group of forwards: Jeff Powell, Brayden Waugh, Peter Greaves, Justin Watt and Jeremy Knopp. Guiding the offence are guards Macyn Loepkey, Spencer Fleming and Paolo Toribio. Providing great shooting and hustle are wings Cameron Bell, Curtis Trask, Braden Perfitt, Simon Ou and Zoltan Horvath.
With their sights on a berth to provincials Feb. 24–27 in Langley, Vanier plays its first game at Shawnigan Thursday at 8 p.m.
The Vanier team has grabbed the attention of teams across B.C., with a provincial ranking and consensus number one on Vancouver Island. The boys realize there is much work ahead, but hope to finish the season as the top Vanier junior team in a generation.