KSS Owls beat Maples Collegiate 100-90 to open the Western Canada Basketball Tournament

Owls win opening thriller

Photo: Wayne Moore

Finn Stewart plays tight defence during the Owls 100-90 win Thursday.

The KSS Owls are usually a very good three-point shooting team.

Thursday in the opener of the 51st Western Canada Basketball Tournament presented by Armada Steel, they were colder than January in the Arctic going 0-7 beyond the arc.

That it didn’t matter was a testament to their tenacity and determination to get to the hoop.

And, they got to the hoop a lot in their opening night 100-90 win over Maples Collegiate Marauders from Winnipeg, the number two ranked team in Manitoba.

“It says something about these guys because they love to shoot threes, but it wasn’t going tonight so they started attacking the rim,” said Owls coach Harry Parmar.

“That says a lot about them. Some guys would just keep shooting threes.

“That part of the game is off, OK, I’ll attack more. That says a lot about the boys.”

The game was tight for the most part all the way through.

KSS led by three after one quarter, but a 24-12 run by the Marauders to start the second quarter opened a nine point lead with under four minutes to go in the half.

The Owls defence tightened and they outscored the visitors 12-4 to close out the half down 54-53.

It was the Owls who got on a run early in the third quarter but the Marauders fought back to even things 81-81 heading to the fourth quarter.

The Owls put it away with a 9-2 run to open the fourth. They built the lead to eight with two to go, and got a crucial turnover with a minute left to seal it.

“We found a way to win,” said Parmar.

“Our defence has to get way better moving forward, but at crucial times they played good defence like in the fourth quarter when we needed to, we got the stops.

“We’ll clean some things up, get at it tomorrow and see what happens.”

Finn Stewart was the heart and soul for the Owls on both sides of the ball, scoring key buckets whenever the team needed them.

Stewart finished with 32 points to pace the Owls who had four players finish in double digits.

Logan Parker had 21, Thomas Andersen finished with 16 before fouling out in the dying seconds of the game, and Wells Grundy chipped in with 13.

Veer Brar led all scorers with 37 including numerous threes while Andrey Yamborko poured in 29.

The Owls will now face the Medicine Hat Hawks in one of two semi-finals set for Friday night.

The Hawks got past St. Paul’s Crusaders 90-80 in another game that was back and forth until the final quarter.

The Owls are the only B.C. team left on the winners side of the bracket.

St. George’s fell 112-108 to Holy Cross Crusaders from Saskatoon in double overtime. The game was tied 85-85 after regulation time and 99-99 after the first overtime period.

Holy Cross will face St. Francis Xavier Rams from Edmonton in the other semi after St. FX defeated Semiahmoo 64-60.

The first semi is set to begin at 5:15 with the Owls and Hawks taking to the court following the three-point shooting contest at about 7:30.

The final is slated for 7 Saturday.