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Belmont boys get it done on home court

Basketball Bulldogs nail down second Island berth into 4A provincial championships
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Bulldogs Isaac Ickovich (left

It wasn’t without a stiff challenge, but the Belmont Bulldogs are heading to the B.C. High School Boys 4A basketball championships.

Facing a hungry Cowichan squad on home court in Langford, the Bulldogs put the brakes on several Thunderbirds comebacks during Tuesday night’s play-in game for the second Island berth into the provincials, and won 81-66.

Led with a sparkling 27-point effort from point guard Nishad Tarak and a dominating 25-point, double-digit rebounding night from ailing post Daunte Bull, Belmont finished a job they started last weekend when they placed second to Oak Bay at the Island championships tournament hosted at their school.

“I’m excited in my first year of seniors to be going to provincials, Tarak said. “And it’s a great time for the seniors too, it’s their last year and we’re just trying to have fun … We’re playing great as a team, and at the right time too.”

The Grade 11 backcourt specialist said he felt “really focused” to start the game after getting his scoring touch going at the Island tournament, when he was named to the all-star team. He rang up 20 points in the first half alone, draining four three-pointers and driving to the hoop, not to mention feeding Bull inside several times.

More than once it looked like the Bulldogs would pull away with the game and they built a 41-28 lead by halftime. But the T-Birds, led by Eston Unrau, who finished with 26 points in his final high school game, showed they weren’t about to give up.

A large group of supporters made their way down from the Duncan area to support the Thunderbirds, which made for a rather noisy gym most of the time, in combination with the vocal Belmont fans.

The visiting fans cheered loudly as the T-Birds cut the Bulldogs’ lead from 15 points down to nine, 49-40, with some sustained pressure in the third quarter.

Cowichan coach Lucky Walia noted that a three-point attempt that would have made it a six-point game rimmed out.

“They’re a good team, that’s what it came down to,” he said of the Bulldogs. “Daunte’s tough, he’s a big strong kid, has good hands, and if you help and their shooters make shots it becomes pretty tough to guard. Our guys played hard, too. We could have made a couple more shots, maybe could have put a little more pressure on them.”

Bull was also feeling under the weather, but played through his discomfort.

Bulldogs coach Kevin Brown said he cautioned his players not to underestimate the Thunderbirds, despite the fact Belmont beat them by nearly 30 points earlier this season.

“It’s really tough to close the door on a team,” he said, pointing to their gritty opponent. “If you’re in this game, you’re going till it’s done, and that’s what Cowichan did. I give them respect, they’re so strong and physical they always play hard. You could see, we were up by 20 and they’re ripping the ball out of our hands. They’re tough kids.”

Nathan Johal added eight points for the winners, while Zach Waddington had 18 and Branden Reymerink 11 for the Thunderbirds.

Looking ahead to the 16-team provincial tournament, which runs March 8 to 11 in Langley, Brown said the majority of teams ranked in the B.C. top 10 this season will be there, which means there will be no easy games.

Tuesday’s game, with its ups and downs, offered a good test of where the Bulldogs are in their season development, he added.

“It represents how our season’s gone, just like a roller coaster ride, you know. Overall, though, I feel we’ve reached some of the goals we set as a group. Our game needed some changes and some improvement and I think we’re starting to get there. We’re peaking at the right time.”

editor@goldstreamgazette.com