Wave After Wave: Dolphins Roll Past Highlanders at No Regrets

Dover Bay Sr. Boys vs West Van

December 12, 2025

The Dolphins are coming into the 2025 No Regrets Tournament as the favourite from a rankings perspective, sitting at #2 in 4A early in the season. The Highlanders will be looking for the comfort of their home territory in the British Properties to give them an edge against the visiting Dolphins from Nanaimo.

Dover Bay is looking long and athletic as they wrap up warmup. The Highlanders are going to have to figure out a way to get comfortable on the offensive end, moving the ball around the length of the Dolphin defenders. Speaking of that length—big man #13 for Dover Bay, Schmidt, just got back in transition and sent a layup attempt into the third row. Immediately after, he accepted the alley-oop toss in transition and threw down a big dunk, giving his team an early 9–4 lead.

The Highlanders are using their defensive pressure to create fast-break opportunities and are looking to push the ball every chance they get. West Van is dropping back into an aggressive zone D, not afraid to extend to the perimeter and force the Dolphins to make the extra pass. The Dolphins, meanwhile, have found their comfort offensively through a combination of transition opportunities and running their sets with precision. They’ve earned themselves a 21–7 lead with under two minutes to go in the first.

End of the first quarter: Dolphins 28 – Highlanders 10.

The two-man combo of #11 Linder and #13 Schmidt has been explosive, with the latest connection ending in another dunk for Schmidt off a lay-up attempt from Linder. Linder continues to look comfortable with the ball in his hands—making plays for his teammates and taking advantage of scoring chances as they arise.

West Van is grinding hard, relying on their aggressive half-court zone D in an effort to keep this game within reach. #3 Jessop just made a deep three, and gave himself a quick heat-check from even further out. #12 Eltahhan for the Dolphins has strung together his own solo eight-point run with two threes and a nice finish inside, extending the lead to 24. The Highlanders are going to need a high percentage of their threes to fall, and all signs point toward #3 Jessop being the one they’ll rely on to get that done.

Halftime score: Dolphins 44 – Highlanders 25.

Halftime Fact: This still needs official verification, but statistically it has to be true—the Linder family has set the Guinness World Record for most siblings to play in the No Regrets Basketball Tournament. With Beth suiting up in this year’s Girls bracket as a Grade 9, that brings the Linder tally to four siblings who’ve played in the tourney. And just an FYI… I’m pretty sure I spotted a fifth Linder—a Grade 7—looking very comfortable handling a basketball while watching big brother Joe warm up. Just saying…

With road closures forcing three teams in the Boys bracket to miss the tournament, this is the Dolphins’ first official game of this year’s No Regrets event. They did secure an exhibition matchup last night against Charles Hays to stay sharp, but we can expect their legs to be fresh on a day where they’ll play twice. As we enter the second half, it’s likely they’ll push to extend their lead to a comfortable margin so they can use their depth and keep those legs ready for their second later today.

The Dolphins are operating defensively in a half-court zone and extending it to the half-court line, comfortable forcing pressure and making the Highlanders string together multiple passes before they can get into their sets. It’s eating clock and pushing West Van into more urgency than they’d like. #12 Eltahhan continues to do damage—hitting yet another three and pushing the lead north of 30.

End of the third quarter: Dolphins 66 – Highlanders 38.

As the Dolphins hit 67 after a free throw, the crowd gives a little roar thanks to the infamous “6–7” saying the kids love (I still have no idea what it means). Being only a few weeks into the season, every game is an opportunity for these teams to iron out the kinks in their sets and find the cohesion needed for a playoff run later on. Both squads have had that chance today, with key minutes going to everyone on the roster.

The Highlanders have a hardworking group who put in a solid effort against one of the top teams in the province. But in the end, the Dolphins’ length and athleticism were too much to overcome, and Dover Bay earned themselves a spot in the semifinal back here at Collingwood’s gym later this evening.

Final Score: Dolphins 89 – Highlanders 56.

No Regrets.