On February 9th, game 2 of the St. George’s/Vancouver College series took place at Vancouver College. The 3 junior grade teams were looking to sweep their series while the Varsity team was seeking revenge from a tough lost to Vancouver College in game 1.

The first game of the series, the grade 8 game, was a close back and fourth game. The grade 8 saints eventually pulled out a 49-41 win and taking command in the independent league standings. The grade 9 game was the opposite of close, the Saints blew the Irish right of their own gym. The final score was 71-42 and keep their undefeated season alive. The grade 9 Saints are shaping out to be a top contender for the Juvenile Provincial Championship title.

The Junior Varsity game between Saints and Vancouver College was a good one with both sides trading baskets one after another. Saints had won the first game by a slim margin with a clutch three-pointer to seal the win. Saints was looking to build on their success as they travelled into enemy territory. The game started fast with each team trying to gain the upper hand. Key standouts from Saints included power forward Sam Sirlin (10) who looked like a men amongst boys on the court, muscling his way through multiple outstretched the Irish hands to grab multiple rebounds in a row at times. Point Guard Yoshi Matsubura was leading the way for the offense, controlling the top and making plays with both his dribbling and scoring abilities. Into the fourth quarter Saints had a commanding 15 point lead. Or so they thought. The Irish stormed back with back-to-back three’s from starting point guard Cameron Wright (10). This would be too little too late however and with just seconds left Coach Guy DaSilva pulled his starters off the court for a well-deserved break. The final buzzer sounded with Saints beating the Irish by a comfortable 8 points. Now that the JV game at finished it was off to the seniors.

The main event of the night, the Varsity game, the fans finally got to see what the stats on paper would show, a convincing win by the Saints. With a fully healthy Saints roster, it did not matter that the Irish were at home. However with this said, the Irish gave the Saints a tough battle in the first half. At the end of the first quarter the Irish were up by 2. In the second quarter Adrian Bacic (11) went 4-5 from beyond the arch to get Saints in front and never look back. Adrian sparked the Saints to stretch the game out of sight for the Irish. Adrian ended the game 6-7 from beyond the arch.

Jacob Van Santen (11) had a great performance on both sides of the ball, as well as getting the Irish’s two star big men Reysen John and Sam Bailey into foul trouble. Jonathan Mikhlin (11) had a great 1st game back from injury as well a crucial key to the Saints success was Wesley Graham’s (12) solid offensive performance.

The final score in the varsity game was 81-60. The Saints dominated the last 3 quarters of the game by a 25 point margin. This is the exact result the Saints needed as  they are now moving on into the qualifying stage playing for a berth to the 2016 Provincial Championships. The Saints hope they can keep their momentum moving into the final stretch of the season.