The Oak Bay junior boys basketball team finished fourth in the province after a nail-biter against St. Patrick on the court Tuesday night.
The third-place game required double overtime as Vancouver’s St. Patrick Celtics hit a late three-pointer to tie the score 55-55 before eventually winning 68-64 over the Oak Bay Bays.
Oak Bay entered the Feb. 26 to March 1 tournament at the Langley Events Centre (LEC) seeded fifth and started strong, defeating Pacific Academy 60-44 and Rick Hansen 68-44 the first day. The Bays edged Brookswood 58-49 in the quarterfinals on Feb. 27.
The run at the title came to a halt during the semifinals Monday night against top-seed Vancouver College. The Bays gave the Fighting Irish – who entered the game having won their first three contests by 28 points or more – a run in the first half, scoring seven of the first nine points and trailing by two late in the first half. Vancouver College pulled away in the second half to defeat the Bays 71-56.
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Earlier, Vancouver College knocked off St. Michaels University School (SMUS) 63-35. SMUS defeated Semiahmoo 61-48 and Claremont 46-39 earlier in the competition. SMUS finished sixth with a 34-54 loss to Fleetwood Park.
Saanich’s Claremont defeated Sa-Hali Secondary (Kamloops) for its first game of the competition, before falling to SMUS, defeating Rutland 53-42 and edging Rick Hansen 59-54. Claremont finished 10th following a tight 56-55 loss toWalnut Grove.
The Vancouver College Fighting Irish went on to win the championship 51-45 over the Burnaby South Rebels.
On the senior boys circuit, the Bays won their seventh consecutive Island championship (2021 was cancelled because of COVID) at Mount Doug Secondary in Saanich. The Bays defeated Claremont 78-69 for first place. Belmont finished fourth in a 77-70 loss to Courtenay’s G.P. Vanier. Host Mount Doug finished fifth.
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Oak Bay Bays player Griffin Arnatt was named most valuable player, while best defensive player honours went to Mike Adarkwa-Nti of Belmont. Vanier was named most sportsmanlike team.
Oak Bay and Claremont qualified for 4A boys basketball provincials March 9 to 12 at LEC.
The Oak Bay High junior girls finished third on Vancouver Island and head for provincials March 2 to 5 in Langley.
The senior girls Bays basketball team finished fourth at Islands.
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