Men's Division 1

Underwater Squad 50 – The Academy 71

The Academy – Geoff Pippus: 19 pts, Graeme McCallum: 18 pts, Graham Bath: 17 pts

Underwater Squad – Warren Liang: 18 pts, Tommy Nixon: 11 pts

Due to unforeseen “traffic” and defective alarm clocks, both teams started out playing 4 on 4! The advantage seemed to favor the Acadamy, but Underwater made a game of it even without one of their marquee players in Tommy Nixon! Warren Liang kept his team within striking distance, until the “Cavalry” showed up.  

Both teams were at full string just past the half way point of the first half, and The Academy reaped the benefits! The Academy was able to build a 20 point lead, and never relinquished it. The heady and old school play of Graeme McCallum helped The Academy keep Underwater Squad from getting any momentum from the runs put on them.  

The Academy would pull this game out, even though they were still short-handed on personnel.  

SB Battle 69 – Sonic Boom 65

SB Battle – Kadeem Willis: 17 pts, Clay Crellin: 15 pts

Sonic Boom – Gabe Gibbs: 20 pts, Derrek Mooney: 16 pts, Stu Wallensteen: 14 pts

In the game of the week nominees, SB Battle would engage in a knock down drag out confrontation. Seems like SB Battle brings the best out of most teams, and Sonic Boom would not be any different. This game would be close throughout with about 15-16 lead changes. The new Sonic Boom has size and scoring, which was needed in this battle vs the Reigning Vancouver Metro League Champions!

Just when Sonic Boom thought they had the upper hand, SB came back with timely baskets and a few well timed defensive stops! Without their point guard Joey Haywood, SB was able to share the ball just enough to get the victory in the end!

Coquitlam Boys 69 – All Native 96

All Native – Gene Wolf 22, Sean Holland 21

Coquitlam – Accom Azimi 23, Adryan Poblete 14

The All Native team came geared up and ready to go for their tilt vs the Coquitlam Boys! The size difference was noticeable, and played a big part in this game from the start. The Boys are very good outside shooters, and it was on display in the first part of the first half.

Even though the All Native team is younger than usual, that didn’t stop them from unleashing a man size whoopin’ on the youngsters. Sean Holland looked way better than his opening day 5-35 shooting line, and Gene Wolf continues to battle “FATHER TIME” by knocking down four first half 3 pointers.

The All Native team is on a roll with a 2-1 record!  Primed for a good finish at the end of the regular season.

UBC 87 – Hilltoppers 69

UBC – Phil Jalapoor: 23 pts, Patrick Simon: 22 pts

HillToppers – O'shea Gairey: 15 pts

The HillToppers are made up of strong, intelligent, and fearless competitors. They would need every athletic bone in their body to compete with the instant Van Metro League favorites to win the title in UBC!

The UBC attack is quick, methodical, and so far this season….deadly!  The passing, cutting, athletism, and chemistry makes UBC almost unstoppable. This same attack dismantled the Hilltoppers near the end of the first half, and continued into the 2nd half.

It’s obvious that these guys have played before, and it looks like they have some lineup versatility that will create problems for the league too.

Stallions 97 – Blues 66

Stallions – Liam: 22 pts, Max Neuman: 15 pts

Blues – Chris Loreth: 16 pts, Cordell Parker and Niko Mottus: 11 pts each

The young upstart Blues team was joined by Brenden “B-Money” Bailey! A gifted lefty ball handler, he would be much needed against a team led by a Left handed MVP! Confidence is not lacking for the former Van Metro league champion Brody Greig. He is a player with few words, but speaks powerfully with action! Brody is the head of the snake of the long time standing Stallions.

The Stallions were finally joined by veterans Liam Farrell and Mike Berg! Both paid immediate dividends as the Stallions methodically walked down the younger Blues players. The balanced scoring and team defense were too much for their opponents, and the added size doesn’t hurt an “aging” Stallions team either.

Men's Division 2

B2B 69 – Cloverdale Brodies 49

B2B – Glen Shung: 23 pts, Jorge: 11 pts

Cloverdale Brodies – Scott Norman: 16 pts, Adam Rossingol: 12 pts

B2B continues their return “romp” through the division 2 ranks! While Glen Shung is one of the top scorers on the team, Houston is the glue to the teams success! Flying all around the court on offense and defense, seems to inspire his team to match his energy.

It would be no different in this game as B2B used its speed and overwhelming height to get more rebounds, put back layups, and blocked/contested shots. Cloverdale Brodies battled hard, but could not match the overall strengths of the B2B team.

Ball So Hard 59 – Flight 52

BSH – Eric: 15 pts

Flight – Matt Anza: 25 pts

A few seasons ago, this matchup was like a school yard fight with 20 people involved. A few seasons later…. They are back at it again! Unlike a few seasons ago, Flight has been played with a ton of injuries. Including the “bent back nail” episode from last week with RJ Base!  Base sucked it up, pulled the nail that was sticking straight up in the air on his thumb down, wrapped it up, and went back in the game where he promptly hit a long three pointer!

Ball So Hard is a team that never backs down from a fight. This game would be a good fight “hardwood style”, where both teams were trying to get the most out of each possession.  BSH would make the plays down the stretch to hold off the hard charging Flight squad.

The Party 72 – SoulGood 67

The Party – Chris 24 points

SoulGood – Adi 26 points

The maturation of The Party of evident in an upset of the then #1 ranked Core team a few seasons ago.  Always set for hard work, they would come face to face with a team that had the same traits.  Soulgood came into Van Metro with a lot of swag, and talent to back it up.  This season’s team is short a few of their key regulars, but still has that unshakable swagger.

Soulgood’s Adi Baybay led them with 26 points for the game, but the confident Party had a good game from Chris who had 24 points in the game.  The action was nonstop, but the Party flexed their muscles and were able hold off Soulgood at the end of the game.  Soulgood had their chances late, but were not able to pull off the victory.

WH 71 – Stepbrothers 37

WH – Leslie: 15 pts

Stepbrothers – Williams: 14 pts

WH is silently making the Division 2 landscape look almost….too easy to deal with! WH has had 2 blow out wins in their first three games! The Stepbrothers didn’t know what hit them! The balanced attack of WH reminds me of past Division 2 champions! This is not premature, but we will wait to see how they fair against the top tier Div 2 teams!

B.O.B. 74 – Core 61

B.O.B  - Andrew Morris: 15 pts

Core – Tyus: 17 pts

The continuing saga of Core’s once “Inevitable” climb to a championship, to a “if it will ever happen” question.  I still believe Core has championship calibur talent, it is all about can they put it together for a full season???  B.O.B. did nothing to stop the continuing questions on a few things.  Why?  Why are they not winning “winnable” games?  When?  When are they going to turn it around?

B.O.B. didn’t care about any of that talk.  They just came out and took it to Core from start to finish.  It almost makes you think that I should be writing more about B.O.B. than Core?  Naw!  What is the fun in that!

Sofa King Good 61 – Western Union 52

SKG – Eddie Fan: 20 pts, Kevin Rasmussen: 14 pts

WU – Gino Coronado: 14 pts, Chadley Abalos: 11 pts

The “Palmer” zone was in full effect again on this night, as it is every contest involving Sofa King Good. This night would see it tested once again, in the form of Western Union! WU is in every contest, fighting and scraping for every loose ball. This tenacity is why they are in every game, and this would be a closer game than most would think!

SKG’s “Mad Man” Eddie Fan did a great job of probing, and attacking weaknesses in the WU defense. Yet WU played a gritty and griming style to keep the game close, with a chance to close for the win! SKG would use ball movement and timely defensive stops to preserve a very close game, and stay undefeated through week 3!

Emperors 100 vs YMCMB 0