For the second time this school year, the Cedars Christian Eagles are coming home with some provincial-calibre hardware.
Their first trip to the podium happened in December when they took bronze on the volleyball court, and with almost the same lineup on the basketball hardwood Saturday in Langley the Eagles doubled their pleasure.
They snatched victory out of the hands of the Fernie Falcons, rallying from a nine-point deficit in the fourth quarter to defeat the Falcons 70-69 in a thrilling bronze-medal match at the B.C. senior boys basketball single-A championship in Langley.
Trailing by one point with 13 seconds left, Cedars captain Mitch Crosina ran the ball in from the sideline and drove straight for the hoop, finishing with a reverse layup that swished through the mesh to put the Eagles ahead.
Fernie had a shot at winning when, with 10 seconds left, Parker Anselmo grabbed an offensive rebound in the paint. But Jake Doerksen was there for the block and the ball landed in the hands of Crosina, who ran out the clock, triggering the celebration at Langley Events Centre.
“We’re ecstatic,” said Eagles head coach Jeff Ludditt. “We had a terrible first half and were down 7-0 at the start and we were ice-cold. Give (the Falcons) credit, they played well, but they got in foul trouble and it cost them.
“Our defence didn’t quit, we ran a press the whole game and it’s not a press that pushes and tries to get steals, it just a press that causes them to take longer with the ball and get the ball into the hands of some guys they don’t want it and we tried to take advantage of that. It was just emotion and our guys’ never-say-die attitude.”
The Eagles’ offence was out of sync through much of the first half and trailed 36-26 after 20 minutes. Their terrific trio of Grade 12 guards – Crosina, Tony Kibonge and Seth Hulka – put on a show in the third quarter and at the end of the frame they led Fernie 50-49.
“It looked like we started slow but it was just a lot of unfortunate things, they were making some tough shots and we were missing easy ones,” said Kibonge. “We played pretty much the same, but just started to make shots and we just took off from there.
“Obviously we wanted gold, but to get bronze twice, I don’t think we’ve ever done that in the school’s history, so it’s pretty nice to get a win to end both our seasons.”
With their parents in the stands cheering them on, the Eagles got an added boost from their Prince George basketball counterparts, the Duchess Park Condors, who were vocalized their support from the baseline at Langley Events Centre while they prepared for their bronze-medal game in the triple-A tournament.
Third-ranked Cedars stuck with its pressure defence the whole game and in the second half the Falcons started coughing up the ball and got themselves into foul trouble. Starting forward Bronson Impey was out of the game in the third quarter and high-scoring guard Diego Grualva was playing with four fouls for much of the second half, with no Eagle facing a similar threat, which worked to their favour as they headed into the final quarter.
But they weren’t able to shut down Max Hatt, who hit for five points that set the Falcons on their way to a 9-0 run in the first four minutes of the fourth quarter. Fernie stretched the lead to 61-52, but Kibonge was unstoppable with his drives to the net and after a Doerksen layup, a three from Hulka and a huge stop from Grade 10 guard Ryan Crosina, the No. 4-ranked Falcons’ lead was down to three when Grualva fouled out with 3:36 left.
Kibonge drew a foul and kept up his near-perfect free throw shooting to give Cedars a 64-63 lead with two minutes left. A long-range hit from Hatt and Spoonhunter put the Falcons up by two heading into the final minute when Hulka was sent to the line. He missed one of his shots but Falcons’ Isaac Anderson was called for a lane violation, which gave Hulka two more foul shots, and he sank one for a 68-68 tie.
Anderson drove deep the other way and was fouled, but sank just one of his attempts, which set the stage for the elder Crosina brother to deliver his clutch gamewinner.
Mitch Crosina finished with 23 points and 11 rebounds; Kibonge had a 21-point, nine-rebound game; and Hulka, the player of the game, hit for 15 points, seven rebounds and three steals. His footspeed and aggressiveness and attention to details on defence made Hulka stand out. All three were deadly from the charity stripe – Crosina went 9-for-10, Kibonge was 9-for-12, and Hulka was 6-for-6.
“They carried us,” said Ludditt. “Our shooting wasn’t great but we got to the hoop and got to the line. That’s 24 points from the free-throw line. In the end, teams can’t keep up with our guards.
“If I had an MVP award to split, I’d give to Tony and Mitch. Tony’s a soft-spoken guy and he leads by example and he never quits on anything, and the two of them together, along with Seth, is pretty deadly.”
The Eagles basketball team had never finished higher than seventh in the province in school history and their volleyball medal run bound them even tighter and made Saturday’s win even sweeter.
“We have all grown up together and we’re best friends now,” said Mitch Crosina. “We’ve all traveled across the province the last seven months for volleyball and basketball and we’re just a tight team. Nobody gets frustrated or upset with each other on the court and we all just love each other.”
Crosina was selected a first-team all-star and Kibonge made the second team. Hulka was picked as the top defensive player in the tournament.
Later Saturday, the No. 1-ranked Unity Christian Flames of Chilliwack defeated the Glenlyon Norfolk Gryphons of Victoria 89-71 to claim the single-A championship.
