When was the last time a team from Smithers won a senior boys basketball tournament?
That was the question going around the court Saturday night at D.P. Todd gym in the aftermath of the Smithers Griphons' 76-63 win over the Duchess Park Condors in the Trojan Wars final.
Griphons first-year coach Matt Lowndes wasn't sure. Some of his players were using the word "never" but that's a dangerous assumption. But from the perspective of the Griphon players, who are all under the age of 19, their tournament win is about as rare as blue moon falling on the same day as solar eclipse.
How did they do it? Start with tournament MVP Trent Monkman, the Griphons' shooting guard who scored 18 points in the final and had 33 in a 72-64 semifinal win over the host D.P. Todd Trojans. Monkman provided energy for his teammates all game. He laid down the law with a one-handed dunk in the second quarter and used both mitts to put down another slam late in the game.
"We just worked really hard in the paint for rebounds and defensively we went after it, and that's what won it for us," said Monkman.
Grade 12 pointguard Steven Tworow was money in the bank for Smithers when he had the ball, finishing with a game-high 20 points, and post Matt Fowler was a workhorse distributing the ball and hauling in rebounds. Tworow nailed a couple shots early from three-point range to set the tone and the Trojans were playing catchup the entire game, trailing 42-35 at the half. Smithers increased the lead to as much as 17 by the start of the fourth quarter.
"I think we just battled harder, we wanted it more," said Tworow. "We had a longer rest and they had a huge comeback win and that drains a team emotionally and we were able to get the rest we needed and come back and win."
What they lack in size, the Griphons made up for in hustle and smart playmaking. The Condors showed signs of fatigue in the final after an epic semifinal 101-97 overtime win over the Prince George Polars Saturday afternoon. In that game, Condors guard Owen Trepanier hit five treys in the second half to help the Condors overcome a 25-point third-quarter deficit.
But in the final, too often they missed on layups or misfired on easy shots from close range and suffered lapses with the ball in their hands they led to turnovers.
"Our guys played their guts out all day and I'm proud of them," said Condors coach John MacDonald. "We laid an egg. The semifinal took a lot of wind out of our sails but taking nothing from [the Griphons], they hit their shots and they were the better team out there."
The Gryphons were a much better team than they showed a month ago at the Vanderhoof tournament when they lost by two to Duchess Park and by 30 to D.P. Todd. Smithers is a triple-A team and they know they will hard-pressed to get out of the northwest zone where the Charles Hays Rainmakers of Prince Rupert cast a long shadow as the No. 3-ranked triple-A team in the province.
"That is a tough one, it's daunting," said Monkman. "All we can do is work as hard as we can and try to get ready for it. We're leaving this [tournament] a lot more confident than we entered."
"We want to get to that next level and play with the top teams in the north, trying to build our program up and get a bit of a reputation so we have to keep working," said Lowndes.
Jasper Yutuc picked up 25 points for the Condors, who were missing starting post Steven Kidwell, who broke his foot in the semifinal.
"They just had more energy than we did and we didn't execute on offence, and defensively we weren't there," said Yutuc. "We were just tired from the first game in the afternoon and we didn't have the energy to start the game. They're a way better team and they were hard to contain."
In the bronze medal game, PGSS defeated D.P. Todd 80-76. Johnny Tatla led the Polars with 16 points. Cale Davidson shot 22 for the Trojans. The Trojans were left shorthanded when the Grade 12 Molcak triplets -- Haydn, Joel and Colby -- walked out on the team during practice last week. Haydn, who starred in last year's City League final, was being touted as a CIS prospect.
