Expect the unexpected is a good motto when watching the St. Michaels University School-Lambrick Park rivalry hit the hardwood.
Fans received a good dose of that in Thursday night鈥檚 South Island double-A senior boys鈥� championship final as the Lions stunned the host SMUS Blue Jags 53-47 to claim the South No. 1 seed for Islands next week at Brentwood College.
Seeded No. 3 in the province, ahead of the No. 5 Lions, the Blue Jags opened a quick 8-2 lead only to watch that vanish over the next dozen minutes 鈥� an ugly stretch in which they were out-scored 28-12.
The Lions secured their first lead at 21-18 just before the half and never looked back, led by Calvin Somers鈥� 18 points, which included four three-pointers. Three of those came in a clutch third quarter.
鈥淲e鈥檝e had good fortunes in this gym,鈥� said an exhausted Lions coach Ed Somers. 鈥淚t is one of the best rivalries in basketball. I get so excited to play against a team like St. Mikes and the level that they play 鈥� the intensity.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 what we set as our target at and I was so proud of our kids defensively. Offensively it wasn鈥檛 our best night, but it was a big win. We wanted to be South No. 1 and they had beaten us twice this year,鈥� coach Somers added of 10 and 20-point losses. 鈥淲e needed to finish and close someone out. We needed to take that team, that鈥檚 a little bit better than us, and get that win.鈥�
The Blue Jags fell into a huge funk over a 12-minute session that spilled into the second quarter (with a 15-12 lead after the first quarter) and never truly recovered.
鈥淲e got off to a great start and just seemed to stop playing,鈥� said Blue Jags coach Ian Hyde-Lay. 鈥淚ndividually and collectively, we were poor, starting with the coaching. We were not prepared and we shot 7 of 41 from the three-point line. Full credit to Lambrick. They were better prepared, executed better and no excuses from us.鈥�
Evin Gill added 12 points for the Lions, while Ryan Hindson and Ben Keep had 16 and 12, respectively, for SMUS.
In the bronze-medal game, Parkland opened up a 45-33 lead at the half, watched that close to a three-point advantage in the third quarter before settling on a 70-59 victory over Glenlyon Norfolk School. Godwin Polaris led the Panthers with 32 points in the win while Dylan Reid added 19. Chris Graham replied with 17 for the Gryphons.
Earlier, Edward Milne defeated Pacific Christian 53-45 in the fifth-place game and the victors can now challenge GNS for the fourth spot at Islands.
Meanwhile, at the triple-A South Island championship, Reynolds downed Mount Douglas 68-62 in the first semifinal, while host Vic High dumped Royal Bay 56-44 in the second. The two winners meet tonight at 7:30 for the championship.
At the quadruple-A senior girls鈥� Islands in Nanaimo, it was host Dover Bay over Spectrum 69-55; Claremont 74 G.P. Vanier 40; Stellys 53 Port Alberni 25; and Oak Bay 89 Cowichan 21 in quarter-final games.
