Jackson Kuc remembers all too well that feeling of being kicked in the gut and getting robbed.
So do his Duchess Park Condor senior boys basketball teammates who were with him on the court at the Langley Events Centre last March.
They've had nine months to think about that buzzer-beater in the triple-A provincial championship semifinal and how they lost their chance for B.C. banner when the North Delta Huskies beat them with a three-point shot off the backboard with nine seconds left.
Time heals wounds and the Condors have moved on from that devastating defeat but there's no denying it's in the back of their minds fueling their drive to end the high school season on the winning side of the ledger.
"Our goal all last year, everyone said it, was to win provincials, and to get that close and lose off something like that it was just super-sad," said Condors Grade 12 forward Connor Lewis. "That was a one-in-a-million shot. Hopefully this is the year it all culminates together.
"We have lots of skill and lots of talent and we can push it. I think we're one of the fastest teams in transition in the province."
The Condors made an impressive showing two weekends ago when they finished fourth at the Howard Tsumura Invitational tournament in Langley, which featured 20 of the top quad-A and triple-A teams in B.C.
"We really got our confidence that weekend, everything started clicking," said Lewis. "We really saw how good we can be and we contended with some of the top teams in the province."
After wins over Walnut Grove and Holy Cross (No. 7-ranked quad-A), the Condors blew a halftime lead and lost in the semifinals 83-67 to Centennial of Coquitlam (the top-ranked quad-A team). They ended up with an 81-63 loss in the bronze-medal game to South Burnaby (No. 3-ranked quad-A).
That raised Duchess Park's ranking up a notch to No. 2 among triple-A teams in B.C. and they now sit No. 4 in the power ranking, which includes all teams.
"That's the best we've ever done at that tournament," said Condors assistant coach Joe Luong. "The boys went into it treating it like a mini-provincial championship. Some might even say that tournament is even tougher than the actual provincial championship because you're playing against all tiers. It was a good test for us to see where we rank against other top-tier teams.
"They never backed down. Some games we had slow starts and some games we had amazing starts and they always found ways to dig deep. Our team is quite deep this year and on any given day we'll have a different leading scorer."
Chances are Kuc will be one of them. The senior Condor guard knows how to find the open court and gives the Condors a dependable scoring threat and he can't wait to get back to Langley for another shot at the provincial title.
"I think we're doing great here and I'm excited for provincials and all the tournaments we've got going here," said Kuc. "Our defensive intensity really helped us win those games (at the Tsumura tournament), that was big for us. We've got a bunch of young guys, too, and everyone's competing and working hard and we're looking good so far."
Six seniors are on the team, including Kuc, Lewis, Ethan Wood, Benjamin Dyck and twins Tony and Emir Zejnulahovic. The Grade 11s are Tanner Cruz, Caleb Lyons, Logan Schlick and Aedan Aksenchuk. Aiden Lewis and Cole Laing cracked the roster as Grade 10 rookies.
"We're feeling really good about our game coming into this weekend," said Connor Lewis.
The Condors don't have a dominant big man like Centennial Centaurs' six-foot-eight, 250-pound giant Dominic Parolin, who keyed the second-half comeback against the Condors. What they do have going for them is group of hard-working hustlers who average well over six-feet tall, somewhat taller than Condor teams of the past couple years.
Aiden Lewis and Schlick are pushing six-foot-six, while Cruz isn't far behind at six-foot-four but the Condors know their physical limitations and will try to make up for that with athletic ability and basketball smarts.
Laing, the younger brother of UNBC T-wolves point guard Tyrell Laing, will be one to watch this season. Both have explosive ability to be gamebreakers and a tremendous work ethic.
"Tyrell is just a gritty basketball player who just never stops and that's what Cole is too," said Luong. "Our first weekend in Vancouver (for preseason games) you could see moments in the games where our Grade 11 and 12 s would shy away and you put Cole out there and he doesn't care. He just kept going and gave us little energy boosts when we needed them."
Luong grew up in Prince Rupert and was head coach of the PGSS Polars last season and now teaches at Duchess Park where he's replaced the retired Al Erricson as an assistant to head coach Jordan Yu. Former O'Grady Totems high school star Lee Wei-Yu, Jordan's brother, and former UNBC T-wolf Sam Zhang are also helping coach the Condors.
"We're so blessed to have these great coaches who know basketball so well," said Kuc.
