Ten days before they met the College Heights Cougars in the Cougar Classic senior boys basketball tournament championship game, the Duchess Park Condors had to dig deep to defeat the Cougars in a City League match.
The Condors got off to a rough start and needed a 16-2 run in the final five minutes to beat their crosstown rivals by six points.
So how do you explain the Condors’ 91-45 blowout in the tournament finale Saturday at College Heights gym? Were the Condors that good, or was it a case of the Cougars coming up with one of their worst efforts of the season? Probably a combination of both.
Inspired by the tenacity of their high-energy guards, Soren Erricson, Colburn Pearce and Malcolm MacDonald, who pressured the Cougars into wayward shots and misguided passes, the Condors had no trouble getting their act together in the offensive zone and found the net with such efficiency they had this one wrapped up by halftime. The Condors led 50-26 after 20 minutes and did not need another point in the second half to seal the win.
“Our guys played great, that was our best first half of the year,” said Condors head coach John MacDonald. “They’re a talented team but we stuck with our game-plan and defensively we wore them down. Through our defence comes our offence, and we hit the shots we needed to hit and it mushroomed from there. We’re young we're fast, and we’re just starting to hit our stride now.”
The Cougars were missing one of their top players, Grade 12 guard Nigel Thompson, who aggravated an old ankle injury prior to the tournament. That meant more playing time and a bigger role for Josh Gillin, the Cougars senior guard, and he kept running into fresh young legs coming off the Condor bench.
“We didn’t come out too well and we let it get to our heads too soon in the game and it just set a bad pace for the rest of it,” said Gillin. “I’m positive we’ll be better (this) week."
Pearce led the way with 15 points, while Erricson and Grade 12 forward Andrew Heitman each picked up 13 points. Cody Boulding and Garet Anderson had 10 apiece. Gillin collected a team-high 14, the only Cougar to reach double figures.
“They came out with a lot of energy and it was hard for us to match,” said Cougars coach Mitchell Johnston. “They’re a very deep team and they listen to their coaches well. My team is capable and talented and we just have to put those pieces together and be a little sharper.”
In their only other meeting this season, in December at the Condor Classic, Duchess Park went home with a seven-point victory.
“We’ve had really bad starts against them. Also we wanted to focus on scoring first and getting off to a good start and keeping up the defensive intensity,” said Pearce. “As soon as you can get running on a team then everything starts to fall apart for them and you can start pushing the lead.”
Pearce is one of eight Grade 11s on the Condors senior team.
“We’re really young but we’ve played together a lot and we know each other’s tendencies and we’re just going to keep growing for next year,” he said.
Nechako Valley of Vanderhoof won the third-place game 98-44 over PGSS, while Bulkley Valley Christian of Smithers topped Correlieu of Quesnel 71-31 for fifth place.
The Condors play the Prince George Polars Tuesday at Duchess Park in a City League playoff semifinal, while on Wednesday night the Cougars host the Kelly Road Roadrunners in the other semifinal. The winners meet in the city final at the Northern Sport Centre Feb. 8.
The double-A boys zone finals, which will involve Duchess Park, College Heights and Kelly Road, start Feb. 25 at Duchess Park.
