The Oak Bay Bays鈥� opener at the Gary Taylor Classic senior boys basketball tournament was a slow, steady, comfortable cruise as the hosts rang up a 97-57 victory over the Belmont Bulldogs on Thursday afternoon.
The Bays rode Myka Tang-Blumenschein鈥檚 16 first-half points to open up a 51-24 lead at the midway break. Jaden Touchie added 14 points in Oak Bay鈥檚 victory. Ryan Backhouse had a game-high 26 points for the Bulldogs, including five three-pointers in front of a jam-packed gymnasium.
鈥淭he boys were prepared to play today. It鈥檚 tough on a visiting team 鈥� the home gym, the big crowd in the middle of the afternoon adds to the excitement for the guys. It鈥檚 difficult coming in playing against that,鈥� said Bays head coach Chris Franklin, whose team jumped in the sa国际传媒 quadruple-A rankings from eighth to third late Wednesday.
The Bulldogs lost point guard Nathan Zaragoza early this season due to a shoulder injury.
In other games, Cowichan edged injury-depleted Lambrick Park (without Calvin Somers and Ben Reddy) 71-67 in Game 2 and will face the Bays in tonight鈥檚 7:30 semifinal. Austin Somers had 33 points in the losing cause for the Lions.
Vancouver College dumped St. Michaels University School 76-54 and Nanaimo District fell 81-50 to Sir Winston Churchill of Calgary in the other quarter-final. Those two victors will tipoff in today鈥檚 5:45 p.m. semi.
A ceremony dedicating the gym to former Oak Bay coach Gary Taylor will be held between games at 7 p.m.
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