Going into last week's 1A provincial boys basketball championships in Langley, the Duncan Christian School Chargers had hoped to improve on their fifth-place seeding. They ended up slipping one place and finishing a respectable sixth.
"The tournament pressure I think got to a couple of our guys and conversely elevated the play of others," coach Jim Brandsma said.
The Chargers opened the tournament on Wednesday with a 58-46 win over Similkameen that guaranteed them a top-eight finish. Nick Kapteyn put up 17 points and 11 rebounds, Jesse Van Wingerden had 16 points, seven rebounds and four steals, and Doug Groenendijk had 14 points, a monstrous 21 boards, and two blocks.
On Thursday evening, with a berth in the semifinals on the line, the Chargers lost 68-52 to St. Patrick's.
"They are a tough team," Brandsma admitted. "All of them are very quick and can shoot from three-point range with success, which proved to be too much for us. It was tough to match their speed and shooting for the entire game."
Groenendijk had another big game with 16 points, 11 rebounds, seven assists and two blocks. Kapteyn added 12 points and 10 boards, Van Wingerden had 10 points, seven boards and four steals, and Alan Park had eight points and 10 rebounds.
Friday's game saw DCS face Kelowna Christian, the 2013 2A provincial champions, on the centre court in the Langley Events Centre arena. The Chargers came on strong late in the game and won 68-64.
"It was close up to half and then we had a third quarter meltdown and were outscored 28-15," Brandsma said. "We came out strong in the fourth and managed to outscore them and regain the lead with 30 seconds left in the game."
Groenendijk had his best offensive game of the tournament with 35 points, 15 rebounds and six blocks. Michael Brandsma added 17 points.
The Chargers' tournament ended with a 53-46 loss to Immaculata, the defending 1A champions, in the fifth/sixth game.
"I don't know what happened, but we played our worst first quarter of the year and were down by 16 going into the second," Jim Brandsma said.
The players responded to a brief talkingto, and outscored Immaculata 16-5 in the second quarter.
"If we had not blown the first quarter, we could have won and maintained our fifthplace finish from last year."
Michael Brandsma set the pace with 12 points and nine rebounds. Groenendijk added 11 points and 10 rebounds.
After averaging 19 points and 14.25 rebounds over the four games, Groenendijk was named to the tournament's first allstar team.
"This season has been a really great season for all the guys," Brandsma said. "They have grown a lot as players and young men. Some guys have really stepped it up this year and I really look forward to what next season has to bring."