The home gym of the Tupper Tigers was the site of the eighth annual senior and junior boys basketball all-star games and on Wednesday night, with the West narrowly edging the East for back-to-back bragging rights. (The VSSAA is the city’s public school league.)
“This year’s games were two of the most entertaining and thrilling in memory,” wrote the host’s coach Jeff Gourley in an email.
In the junior bout, players were drawn from across the city and from the two teams that battled earlier this month for the 2014 B.C. championship title, Killarney and Kitsilano.
The West, led by Kitilano’s George Dokmanovic with 26 points and Luka Lizdek with 12 more, prevailed 73-70 over the East. In the loss, the East counted 18 points from Killarney’s Kinate Knight with 13 more from teammate Jason Tantengco.
The seniors contest came down to a fifth-frame game-winning shot, but the East’s would-be buzzer beater fell short and the West came away with the 98-97 win in overtime.
Churchill standouts Gary Minhas and Jerwin Ibit led the West with 25 and 19 points, respectively, and Tupper’s Santi Ubial added 14 in the win.
The East’s Devin Johal racked up nine of his 13 points on three straight treys in the last 90 seconds of regulation to push the game into overtime, said Gourley.
The East’s marksmanship persisted as Windermere’s high-tempo pointsman Ravi Basra lit up the scoreboard with a game-high 29, including a string of three-pointers in OT.
Gourley said he was pleased with the action and the turnout that packed the bleachers at the East King Edward Avenue school.
“With a crowd estimated at over 300, which included coaching representatives from almost every college and university in the Lower Mainland, this was one of the most successful all-star nights,” he wrote.
The VSSAA, the Vancouver public school sports league, will hold the junior and senior girls all-star games Thursday night at Langara. The juniors tip off at 6 p.m. and the seniors at 7:30 p.m.
