The big winner was the South Delta basketball community as a pair of high school rivals put on a show that more than exceeded the pre-game hype.
In the end, the Delta Pacers outlasted the South Delta Sun Devils 80-77 in overtime to capture the Stebbings/Murray Cup and improve to 7-0 in Fraser Valley Southwest League play.
The night seemed to belong to Sun Devils star guard Dustin Triano whose spectacular inside and outside game resulted in a 40-point performance and his team riding an eight point lead into the final quarter with seemingly all the momentum. Thats when the Pacers rallied behind play of promising Grade 10 Andrew Jones, who scored 12 of his 16 points, and a dagger delivered by their own standout player.
Just moments after Triano drained a three-pointer to put his team in front with less than two minutes remaining, Lucas Goosen delivered a three of his own that was at least six feet beyond the arc. It was a shot that tied the game and set the stage for the talented senior to take over the rest of the way, en route to a 26 point performance.
Honest to goodness the turning point was when Lucas hit that three, said Pacer head coach Scott Masse. It had to be a 28 footer. He pulled up out of nowhere and tied the game. Then I think the boys started to believe.
This South Delta team is tremendously physical and they work very hard. When Lucas buried that three, their heads might have been hanging a bit in the end.
Sun Devil head coach James Johnston agrees.
He challenged his players last week by suggesting they needed to step up against better teams. His squad delivered perhaps its most complete game of the season but the visitors were staggered by Goosens bomb and fatigue seemed to catch up with them the rest of the way.
I thought we were in good shape and he stepped up, hits that shot and that kind of buried us a little bit, he said. We didnt run our stuff in overtime but I think that was more about fatigue. Guys breaking down a little bit and had trouble concentrating.
The Devils attempt to shut down Goosen was to start four large bodies and rely on the athleticism of Jackson Temple who looked like he was capable of playing middle linebacker for the schools football team if he wanted to. The 6-foot-3 senior did a splendid job.
He is our best athlete and I thought he was fantastic, continued Johnston. We played well defensively and, for us, that sets the tone. We know we are going to score and we know when we get the ball to Triano we are going to have success. But we need to make it happen on the defensive end. Against a team like this that has some balance and a superstar I thought we did a really good job.
The big picture Im really happy. Do we have some things we need to work on? Absolutely. We are long way from where we are going to need to be in a couple of weeks. But tonight I think I saw the pieces.
Goosen delivered in the dying minutes for the Pacers but it was his young supporting cast that made the win possible.
Grade 10 Ryan Cowley was a workhorse in the paint and recorded a double-double, while Will Schwan hauled in 16 rebounds. When Delta desperately needed a fourth quarter spark it was Jones who delivered.
Andrew is instant offense off the bench, said Masse. He is fearless for Grade 10. I have never seen a player like him and sometimes we have to encourage him to keep trying to score. He will tend to defer to the older players but we encourage him to keep the pedal down. He is impressive.
Jones, who works on his game over the summer at the DRIVE basketball academy, made sure to give his star teammate credit for his success.
(Lucas) gets a lot of plays open to me. I can work off him, he said. I just thought I needed the ball right now and I got to be aggressive and go to the hoop.
This is win huge. I think we can make a run at the Valley (playoffs). We have to keep it going and working hard.
The Pacers have a few days to savor the win before hosting the North Delta Huskies on Monday (7:30 p.m.) in another pivotal league game. The Sun Devils (5-1) visited Seaquam last night and travel to White Rock Christian on Monday and host North Delta Tuesday (6:30 p.m.).
At the buzzer...
The DSS east gym couldnt have been fuller and the large crowd featured many who have had a significant role in the local high school basketball scene including the two longtime and now retired coaches Bob Stebbings and Neil Murray who the the annual rivalry game is now named after thanks to the efforts of the South Delta Basketball Association which runs the Steve Nash youth league. They were joined by former Pacer coach Dunc Anderson, who guided the team to a B.C. berth in 1993, and his star player from that year Navi Sekhon. Delta Sports Hall of Fame basketball coach Stan Stewardson was also on hand as was the family of former Pacer standout Anesto Charles who now has a scholarship foundation named in his memory.
