BC Men's Team Four-Peats at the Nationals
The B.C. Men's Basketball team headed off to the Canadian National Wheelchair Basketball Championships in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan in search of their fourth successive title. The team played their first game of the tournament against Team Alberta. B.C. were able to take control of the game early. They lead 15 - 9 at the end of the first quarter and then proceeded to increase their lead to have a comfortable 39 - 16 advantaged at half time. During the second half all team members and a variety of line ups were utilized in preparation for future games in the tournament. The final score saw B.C. win 63 - 47. Erik Hagreen was top scorer with 18 points, closely followed by Kevin Bowie who scored 12 points at 100% shooting accuracy and Bo Hedges with 10 points.
Next up B.C. played Team Manitoba. The first quarter of the game was a defensive struggle with B.C. holding a slim 2 point lead 12 - 10. The next two quarter saw B.C.'s offence catch on fire scoring 22 in the second quarter and 18 in the third quarter. At the end of the third B.C. held a 52 - 26 lead. B.C. maintained their lead during the fourth quarter and won 62 - 42. Ross MacDonald led all scorers with 14 points, he was closely followed by Erik Hagreen and Canadian Senior Men's team player Bo Hedges who finished the game with 13 points each.
After finishing first in Pool A, B.C. played the second place team in Pool B, Quebec in the Semi Final. B.C. had played Quebec in the last two National Championships games and they knew this Semi Final would continue to keep this strong rivalry alive. At the end of the first quarter B.C. held a slim 14 to 13 lead. The second quarter saw B.C player, Richard Peter take control of the game. Peter's full court defence enabled him to steal the ball from the Quebec players. This led to easy transition baskets for B.C. . B.C. scored 30 points in the quarter and held a 22 point lead with the scores being 54 - 22 at half time. Richard Peter finished with 19 points in the first half. B.C. was able to maintain their lead during the second half and eventually won the game with a 77 - 60 scoreline. Richard Peter led all scorers with 31 points including making 13 of 15 shots from the free throw line. Erik Hagreen had a double double with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Ross MacDonald rounded out the scoring with 14 points.
The final game saw B.C. face tournament number 3 seed, Ontario in the final. B.C. established an early lead and were up by 6 points at the end of the first quarter 15 - 9. B.C. were able to maintain their six point lead at half time and led 27 - 21. The third quarter saw Ontario's offence catch on fire. They were able to score 22 points in the quarter. At the end of the third quarter scores were tied 43 a piece. The fourth quarter saw B.C.'s veteran players take control of the game. Erik Hagreen and Richard Peter were able to play strong offence and defence. B.C. was able to score 25 points for the quarter while holding their opponents to only 13. B.C. was able to secure their fourth National Title in a row by defeating Ontario 68 - 56. Erik Hagreen was the games top scorer with 21 points and he recorded another double - double with 13 rebounds. Richard Peter was not far behind Erik on the scoresheet and finished with 20 points. Ross MacDonald rounded out the scoring with 15 points in only 23 minutes of playing time. Once again the key to Team B.C.'s fourth national title was a well rounded team effort. Richard Peter also received a tournament All Star for his great play during the tournament.
The 2010 B.C. Men's Team consisted of Richard Peter (a member of the 2010 German and European League Champions - Lahn Dill), Bo Hedges, Ross MacDonald, Jaimie Borisoff, Roberto Molina, Kevin Bowie, Bryan Shore, Avril Harris, Anthony Purcell and Erik Hagreen. The team was coached by Peter Taylor and Joe Higgins.
Congratulations to all!
