Despite no wins, the Charles Hays Secondary School senior boys basketball team had a good experience during the provincial tournament in Langley from March 8 to 11.
“We were super good defensively throughout the whole tournament but just couldn’t score,” Benjamin Mark, one of the coaches said.
While they did not win any of the four games, in their last two games they were just 5 points behind.
For their third game, they played Archbishop Carney and lost 55-60.
It was their final game though that kept everyone on the edge of their seat.
The Rainmakers were paired against another northern school, Nechako Valley, and were up six points with about a minute and a half to go in the fourth quarter, Mark said. Nechako Valley tied it up just before the time ran out, leaving the score at 49-49. Then, in overtime, Nechako Valley pulled ahead, making the final score of 57-52.
Mark noted some of the players who stood out during the tournament including Jon Clifton, who he said played a strong defence and offence, and Josh Aparicio. Josh is currently in grade 11 and the youngest player on the team. During the second game of the provincial tournament, Josh racked up 19 points for the team.
“He’s going to be one of the leaders for us next year,” Mark said.
Kole Leighton, the team captain, was unfortunately sick for a large part of the tournament, Mark added.
“I would say overall it was a good experience … It was really important for our grade 11 students to see what kind of level they need to get to for next season.”
The boys played in the 2A league which included 16 top teams from across B.C. The leagues range from 1A to 4A.
This is Mark’s first year coaching this team, a role he split with Ryan Bishop. For his part, Ryan has been coaching along with his dad, Mel Bishop for the past 10 years, Mark said.
After coaching for 43 years Mel took a step back this year.