The Delta Pacers and South Delta Sun Devils senior boys basketball teams opened a busy stretch of their respective schedules by participating in last weekend's Claremont Invitational in Victoria.
The tournament was the first of three in as many weeks for Delta, capped by its own Pacer Classic Jan. 19-21. This week, the Ladner squad is at the Air Force Air Show Tournament in Pitt Meadows.
Meanwhile, the Sun Devils are also getting a steady diet of tournament play. They too will be in Pitt Meadows this week.
The Pacers managed to finish third at the eight team Claremont event thanks to a 64-62 win over Brentwood College. Grade 10 guard Andrew Jones led the Pacers with 19 points. while senior standout Lucas Goosen poured in 18. Both were named to the tournament all-star team. Brentwood College is ranked third in the province among "AA" schools.
Earlier, Delta had opened the tournament with a 68-52 victory over GP Vanier.
Grade 10 post Ryan Cowley was a major force in the paint with 17 points and 13 rebounds. Goosen, one of the top players in the province, had one of his typical outings, with 19 points, nine rebounds and eight assists.
The steady diet of Vancouver Island schools continued in the semi-finals against the "AAA" ninth ranked Mt Douglas Rams. The Pacers got off to solid start and hung tough before some ice cold shooting in the second half allowed the Rams to pull away for a 75-51 win. Jones poured in 20 in a losing cause, while Evan Messenger was a force on the boards with 12 rebounds.
Mt Doug went on to blast Claremont 70-44 in the championship game.
The Sun Devils hopes for a title ended with an opening round 7464 loss to Brentwood. South Delta rebounded with a 73-55 victory over Spectrum, before being edged 57-56 by Vanier in the battle for fifth place.
Nolan Sullivan was named to the tournament all-star team.
