Huskies Outscore Bulldogs in a K9 First-Round Matchup

Belmont Bulldogs Sr. Boys VS Okanagan Mission Huskies

(photo credit: Carol Horn)

The opening game for the Belmont Bulldogs and the Okanagan Mission Huskies is here! This game is taking place at West Vancouver Secondary although both teams have traveled quite some distance to be here: Belmont from Victoria and OKM from Kelowna. Early on its the Bulldogs coming out hot scorching themselves to a 14-3 lead. This is enough for the OKM head coach to call a timeout to try and wake her team up a bit. After the timeout, Belmont continues its suffocating full court press and builds on its lead. End of Q1: Belmont 28 – OKM 14.

 Not going down without a fight, OKM’s #8 Isaac Hamilton starts off the second quarter in a huge way: an “And One” beauty off a drive followed by a steal on the ensuing inbound and another basket for 5 very quick points. It’s clear he’s fired up and ready to go. Nearly instantly the gap is narrowed to 7 and momentum is fully in the hands of the team from the interior. Bulldogs #13 Ryan Rankin has seen enough and gets up for a massive block that gets his boys going. Huskies #4 Nicholas Plummer then has a block of his own a couple minutes later for some team revenge. Both teams play a very high energy aggressive zone defense that creates many turnovers and headaches for the opposing team. This has opened the door to many steals and fast break opportunities including a beauty by OKM’s #9 Cody Hoffman. This effort, along with a buzzer beater, has somehow given the Huskies a one point lead at half time. Quite the comeback considering they were down 22 - 5 at one point in the first quarter.

The 3rd quarter opens up with three pointers by both teams, the second by Huskies # 4 Plummer (sporting a very Quinn Keast-esque tight t-shirt and broad shoulders under his jersey). He follows this play up with another bucket and a smooth pass resulting in a very quick 7 points. It’s clear momentum is firmly in the hands of OKM at this point. Belmont’s quick moving smooth dribbling #0 Mattius Tenove hits a beautiful 3 pointer with 1 minute left in the quarter and as the buzzer sounds its 55-54 for the Okanagan-ers. We are in for a great fourth quarter!

To start the 4th quarter the Bulldog’s #13 Rankin fouls out. He’s been a force all game, so we’ll see if OKM is able to use this to their advantage. Halfway through and it seems that they have, especially on the defensive side of the ball - holding Belmont to only 2 points midway through the final frame, it’s 63-56 for OKM. Belmont answers with 4 points, however, and we have a 3 point game with 4 minutes left… get your popcorn ready! A couple quick three-pointers by the Huskies extend their lead 69-60 with two minutes left and the comeback story looks like it might actually happen. Belmont did everything they could but in the end it was not enough. The Huskies take this one 71 - 64. Thank you to both teams for travelling to this years “No Regrets” tournament and good luck the rest of the way. 

OKM 71 - 64 Belmont

OKM # 4 Plummer 22 points

Belmont #0 Tenove 21 points

Player of the Game: Plummer