It wasn't pretty for the Duchess Park Condors but they got the job done.
They fumbled passes, missed half their free throws, lost most of the battles on the boards and in the process very nearly blew their chance to play in today's North Central zone triple-A boys basketball final.
But just when it appeared they were about to wilt under the pressure of a relentless attack from Tyrell Laing and the Prince George Polars, the Condors found a way to win.
They pulled off a 75-70 victory over the Polars and are now one win away from advancing to the triple-A provincial tournament.
"That's a tough team, we've played them multiple times and every game is close and we just managed to come out on top this time," said Condors guard Jasper Yutuc.
"We were just trying to slow Tyrell down, because you can't stop him. It's hard, so you just have to contain him and we managed to do that."
The Condors jumped out to 20-8 lead after one quarter but the Polars made it six-point game by halftime, down 42-37 at the College Heights secondary school gym.
The Condors increased the gap to 11 with the brief flurry to start the second half triggered by some hot shooting from Yutuc and Colburn Pearce, but the Polars would not go away quietly. Not with Laing lighting it up.
Laing scored 56 of his team's 70 points and was absolutely deadly in the second half. The Condors were led by Yutuc's 22-point effort, while Pearce hit for 21.
"We won ugly tonight, but we just stuck with the process," said Condors head coach John MacDonald.
"Colburn pushed the ball and attacked the hoop when he needed to and hit a couple of big threes.
"We were 14-for-29 from the foul line, but Jasper hit the foul shots when we needed them and it got the job done. We were a little tentative when they started to come back and we let them dictate, but you have to give them credit, they played hard."
Did they ever. The Polars came up large with Ethan Penner, Asher Bourque and Keaton Fisher hustling for loose balls and hauling in rebounds to allow Laing to do his thing. The Grade 12 point guard was dialed in, hitting seven 3s which kept the score close in the fourth quarter. He made it a one-point game with 2:46 to play but Pearce gave the Condors some breathing room with a shot off the backboard and Bailey Muxlow followed up with a shot that rolled in off the rim.
Laing had three foul opportunities after the Condors drew a technical call, but could only sink two and at the other end of the court, Yutuc completed a three-point play to seal the win.
Pearce quietly led the Condors out of trouble, a scene PGSS head coach Scott Walton has seen repeated many times this season.
"They have the best player in the city, Colburn is the best player, it's not even close, and we toughed it out," said Polars head coach Scott Walton. "What a lot of people don't see in him is his leadership.
"They follow him and he's the toughest kid that I've seen in along time. He D's up hard, he goes to the hole hard, and he's always there to pick guys up. He's improved by leaps and bounds over last year and he's only in Grade 10. He's going to be spectacular when he gets to Grade 12."
The top-ranked Condors advanced to Friday's night's semifinal with a 111-45 win earlier in the day over the Dawson Creek Penguins. PGSS beat the College Heights Cougars 98-77 on Thursday to set up their clash with the Condors.
The Polars will now have to beat College Heights in a playoff today at 9:30 a.m. to keep their zone title hopes alive. They will have to defeat the Condors twice at 3 and, if necessary, at 8 p.m. to advance to the triple-A provincial tournament, which starts March 9 in Langley.
