In the eras of legendary former Oak Bay coaches Gary Taylor and Don Horwood, high school basketball courts across sa国际传媒 were awash under a green and white championship tsunami.
Now, in his fifth season, bench boss Chris Franklin has the Bays ranked No. 2 in the sa国际传媒 boys鈥� quadruple-A top-10 rankings behind the Kelowna Owls.
Up the road in Gordon Head, coach Ed Somers has created a hoops championship wave of his own in winning six sa国际传媒 high school double-A championships in his more than quarter-century of guiding the Lambrick Park Lions. This season is a continuation of that tradition with the Lions ranked No. 2 in the sa国际传媒 double-A top-10 poll behind the Collingwood Cavaliers of West Vancouver.
The Bays and Lions met in a league game Tuesday night at Lambrick Park with Oak Bay prevailing 83-54 in a showdown between two sides that are serious threats to capture their respective provincial championships when the madness of March arrives. Myka Tang-Blumenschein led Oak Bay with 19 points.
鈥淭he Bays have a lot of depth and are the class of the Island,鈥� said Somers, of his Oak Bay rivals.
Somers鈥� Lions, meanwhile, will have to do it the hard way with Grade 12 player Ben Reddy out for the season with injury and Grade 11 star guard Calvin Somers, the son of the coach, being assessed with a knee injury. But Lambrick Park has long espoused a 鈥渘ext up鈥� ethos with a program that has produced the likes of Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Michael Saunders and six-foot-11 Matt Neufeld, son of Olympic gold-medallist rower Kevin Neufeld, and now with the St. Louis Billikens of the NCAA Atlantic 10 Conference.
鈥淲e are all about our depth,鈥� said Somers, whose last sa国际传媒 double-A title was in 2014, before St. Michaels University School kept it on the Island by sweeping to victory in 2015.
鈥淎ll 11 players matter on this team.鈥�
The Lions players to watch include Somers鈥� other Grade 11 son, Austin, in the backcourt and six-foot-six Grade 12 player Trey Crust and fellow-forward Ty Schindel up front.
鈥淸Somers] has done a great job with his crew despite some misfortune in terms of injuries,鈥� said Franklin, of Tuesday night鈥檚 league opponent.
鈥淭hey have great camaraderie, work hard, are fast and tough, and rebound as well as any team on the Island.鈥�
The Bays answer with Madhu McConnell, who has made this awards season his own by already being selected MVP of the Oak Bay Gary Taylor and Vancouver College tournaments while also named the Terry Fox Award winner for spirit and desire at the Legal Beagle Tournament.
Oak Bay is a well-rounded side with great athleticism, as evidenced by McConnell and forward Matthew Griffin both also being starters on the sa国际传媒-champion Oak Bay high school volleyball team.
Balancing the backcourt, with McConnell, is sa国际传媒 team player Tang-Blumenschein on an undersized but quick and effusive Bays squad.
鈥淲e have a lot of guys who move around and hit shots,鈥� said Franklin,鈥� whose team is 15-3 overall. 鈥淲e work hard and have played most of the top-10 teams in sa国际传媒鈥�
Franklin said the biggest challenge on the Island in quadruple-A will come from just over the Malahat.
鈥淵ou have to watch the Cowichan Thunderbirds. They have great size and are really coming on,鈥� he noted.
Meanwhile, the Rick Hansen Hurricanes of Abbotsford lead the provincial triple-A rankings with the Mark Isfeld Ice of Courtenay No. 6 and Nanaimo District Secondary an honourable mention. Following Collingwood and Lambrick Park in double-A are Brentwood College at No. 5, the Shawnigan Lake Stags at No. 6 and St. Michaels University School Blue Jags at No. 10.
