BURSTVancouver College Fighting Irish won their eighth Junior Boys Basketball Invitational Tournament championship in Langley Tuesday night, capping a perfect 34-0 season with a 73-60 win over the Burnaby South Rebels in front of a capacity crowd on South Court at Langley Events Centre.
A field of 32 teams from across B.C. competed in the event, a premier showcase for top high school talent.
Irish coach Siamak Salehi said winning was never the goal.
“We just aimed to be our best by February,” Salehi explained. “One of my favorite fruits is a cherry … and this was the cherry on top.”
It was a match of the two top seeds of the 32-team field – Vancouver College at No. 1, Burnaby South at No. 2.
Early on, the Irish raced to a 21-6 lead, but Burnaby South fought back, cutting the deficit to five by halftime.
Salehi’s halftime message was simple: “We had to control the pace. We were letting them rush us, dictate the game. In the second half, we focused on our tempo and getting the ball inside—and it worked.”
Koen Li, named tournament MVP, led Vancouver College with 17 points. Lucas Villanueva added 16, including eight in the final eight minutes, while Balshaan Dhaliwal (13), Ben Hetherington (11) and Bruce Williscroft (10) also reached double figures. “Koen has been our engine all year, our steady ship,” Salehi said. “He settled us down.”
For Burnaby South, Nolan Ellis led with 22 points and Caelan Relova added 14.
In the third-place game, Holy Cross defeated Langley’s Brookswood Bobcats 61-53.
Udhav Juneja led Holy Cross with 16 points while Marcus Tyler was tops for Brookswood with 15.
Brookswood’s Mason Nohr was named to the First Team All-Stars.