Unity Christian aims for 3-peat while King David searches for first title

King David defeated Aberdeen Hall to advance to their first 1A Tournament final in program history. photo courtesy Vancouver Sports Pictures

It will be No. 1 vs. No. 2 in the finals of the BC School Sports 1A Boys Basketball Provincial Tournament on Saturday night at Langley Events Centre as the two-time defending champion Unity Christian Flames (Chilliwack) will go up against the second-seed King David Lions (Vancouver).  The game will be played at 8:30pm on Saturday, March 11.

King David 85 Aberdeen Hall 68

A massive second quarter has the King David Lions 40 minutes away from the Vancouver school’s first provincial basketball championship in program history. Down a point after the first quarter to Kelowna’s Aberdeen Hall Gryphons, the Lions exploded for 28 points on their way to an 85-68 semi-final victory. The quarter saw a 1-point deficit for King David turn into a 16-point advantage.

The teams were playing in the first semi-final on Friday afternoon at Langley Events Centre.

Arel Steen (24 points) led the way for the Lions as the Grade 11 centre was 11-for-16 from the field, while guard Ezra Heayie scored 22 points, including four 3-pointers, while dishing out five assists.

Another big difference in the game was rebounding, as Joseph Gabay (14 rebounds) and Kristian Galazka (12 rebounds) combined for 26 of their team’s rebounds as King David outrebounded the Gryphons 43-28.

Kyler Assam led Aberdeen Hall with a 31-point effort while Andrew Isa had 14 points, 10 rebounds and seven steals.

Unity Christian 100 Nanaimo Christian 67

They allowed the first nine points, but the two-time defending champions scored 20 of the next 23 points and led the rest of the way as the two-time defending champion Unity Christian Flames crushed the Nanaimo Christian Trail Blazers 100-67.

It sets up a third straight appearance in the gold-medal game for the top seed Flames, who outrebounded their opponent 63-39.

Jay Smiens and Seth Schuurman each scored 19 points with Schuurman adding a dozen rebounds, 6 assists and 5 steals, Daxton Vander Kooi (18 points, 14 rebounds) had a double-double and Ryun Fukumoto finished with 12 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals.

Unity Christian has now averaged more than 107 points per game on their road to a showdown with the second-seed King David Lions.

The trio of Jackson Tonsi (26 points), Calvin Vanderkooi (19 points) and William Johnson (14 points) led the Trail Blazers.

The Unity Christian Flames are appearing in their third consecutive 1A Tournament championship game following a victory over the Nanaimo Christian Trail Blazers. photo courtesy of Vancouver Sports Pictures