It鈥檚 not even March yet, but the madness has begun.
The Belmont Bulldogs assured they will get to play next month by not being denied a second time.
The Bulldogs had 53 points rained down on them by MVP and Grade 12 sensation Diego Maffia of the Oak Bay Bays in the Island Quad-A boys鈥� high school basketball championship game 91-72 loss over the weekend, at a jammed Oak Bay school gym.
The Bulldogs had their own gym packed on Tuesday night for a thrill-a-second 62-61 victory over the Island tournament third-place Claremont Spartans in the play-in game to earn the second-and-final Island berth behind Oak Bay into the sa国际传媒 championship March 6-9 at the Langley Events Centre.
Grade 11 Belmont player Markus Modrovic hit the winning basket with just 0.9 of a second remaining. The Spartans, amid the din, still had a chance to in-bound and shoot but the attempt missed and the Bulldogs mobbed each other on the floor.
鈥淚t was amazing . . . I had an adrenaline surge go through my body,鈥� said Modrovic, about scoring the victorious basket near the death.
鈥淚 have no words to describe it. This meant everything to us. We planned to do it the other way, by beating Oak Bay, but we鈥檝e made it now to the sa国际传媒鈥檚, regardless.鈥�
Belmont, however, should be used to this by now. It is the fourth time in five years the Bulldogs have won the play-in game.
The Bulldogs trailed by 10 at the half in a game of pulsating ebbs and flows.
Asked about Belmont鈥檚 chances at provincials, Modrovic replied: 鈥淲e feel we鈥檙e as good as any team that will be there.鈥�
