Skip to content

Cowichan T-Birds get within a game of AAAA provincial tournament

A third-place finish at the Island AAAA championships late last month got the Cowichan Secondary Thunderbirds within a game of the provincial senior boys basketball championships.
10780595_web1_180307-CCI-AAAA-islands_1
Island tournament all-star Jaden Bhopal drives to the net during the Cowichan Thunderbirds’ opening-round game against Claremont. (Kevin Rothbauer/Citizen)

A third-place finish at the Island AAAA championships late last month got the Cowichan Secondary Thunderbirds within a game of the provincial senior boys basketball championships.

The host T-Birds beat two of their North Island rivals on their way to placing third at the Island tournament, which wrapped up on Feb. 24. That got Cowichan into a challenge game with second-place Belmont, in which the T-Birds fell short.

This was the second straight year that the T-Birds have placed third at Islands, then lost to Belmont in the challenge match.

“At the beginning of the season, it was our goal to get ourselves in place to go to provincials,” first-year T-Birds head coach Casey Parsons said. “Getting to the challenge game, the same as last year, accomplished that.”

The T-Birds opened the Island tournament with a 75-44 loss to Claremont on Thursday, Feb. 22, despite the strong play of Player of the Game Jaden Bhopal.

“We got our butts kicked,” Parsons admitted. “Especially in the 2 p.m. game in front of our own school, you never like that to happen. But we knew it wasn’t the be-all, end-all.”

Thanks to the double-elimination format, the T-Birds got back into the draw against Spectrum the next day, winning 59-40 behind Jeremy Perkins’s Player of the Game performance.

“That was a nice rebound game after the poor performance the day before,” Parsons said.

That set up a showdown on Saturday morning with Nanaimo District, who had beaten Cowichan a week earlier at the North Island tournament. This time, it was Cowichan’s turn to win, although it came right down the wire. The game was tied 59-59 with 20 seconds to go, when Bhopal took the ball under the basket and nailed a left-handed scoop shot. NDSS called a timeout with six seconds to go, but the T-Birds forced a five-second violation and prevented the inbound. Cowichan got the ball back, and the Islanders barely had time to foul the ball-carrier before the final buzzer sounded. Reymerink was named Player of the Game.

“It felt awesome,” Parsons said of defeating NDSS. “They’re a good team. We knew we had our work cut out for us. I didn’t see us doing that. I don’t think anyone did.”

Another North Island team, albeit one that Cowichan had defeated at the North Island tournament, was the only thing separating the T-Birds from a third-place finish at that point. After falling behind Dover Bay early, the T-Birds went on a couple of offensive runs and got some big defensive stops to take the lead for good in the third quarter, eventually prevailing 65-53. Herman Parmar was named Player of the Game.

Cowichan surpassed expectations by placing third, Parsons pointed out.

“All year, we were ranked fourth, fifth, sixth on the Island,” he said. “To finish third is an accomplishment.”

Bhopal and Reymerink were both named tournament all-stars, making the first and second team, respectively, as the host team put forth a solid performance.

“It was definitely a success,” Parsons said. “Hosting the tournament was cool, for the Grade 12s especially, getting to do it in our barn.”

Oak Bay defeated Belmont in the Island title game. A unique set of circumstances allowed the T-Birds to challenge the Belmont Bulldogs for the second Island berth, something the third-place team is allowed to do if they haven’t already lost to the second-place team.

“We were pretty much the only team [at Islands] that hadn’t played Belmont,” Parsons noted. “It was neat how it all worked out.”

For the second year in a row, the T-Birds lost to Belmont in the challenge game, this time by an 86-54 margin.

“In their own gym, they are 20 points better than anyone else,” Parsons said of the Bulldogs. “They shoot the ball so well in that gym. I think they had 14 threes against us. Belmont, in their own gym, they’re pretty special.”

The game was all but decided by the end of the third quarter, and Parsons put five Grade 12s on the court for the last couple of possessions. Reymerink, Bhopal, Parmar, Perkins, Dawson Tomich and Geoffrey McKinnon are all graduating this year, but Parsons is confident the team will be competitive again next season.

“Cowichan Secondary has established a good basketball culture. For one reason or another, the kids want to play basketball. From that, there’s always been enough interest that you’re going to get some kids who are already basketball players or athletic kids who are interested.”



Kevin Rothbauer

About the Author: Kevin Rothbauer

Kevin Rothbauer is the sports reporter for the Cowichan Valley Citizen
Read more