With playoffs now a month away, Nanaimo’s high school basketball teams are trying to track down the highest seeding they can get. The schedule continues with more games Tuesday (Jan. 18).
The Nanaimo District Secondary School gym hosts a doubleheader, with the Islanders senior AAA girls taking on the Dover Bay Dolphins at 5:30 p.m. followed by the Isles senior AAA boys against the Wellington Wildcats at 7 p.m.
In Harewood, the Barsby Blazers senior AA boys take on the Woodlands Eagles at 6:30 p.m.
Other Nanaimo teams are playing out of town, including the Dover Bay Dolphins senior AAA boys who will head to Duncan to face the Cowichan Thunderbirds.
This past weekend saw the Dover boys win a pair of exhibitions, beating Carson Graham 68-61 on Friday in North Vancouver, then handling Terry Fox 63-50 the next day in north Nanaimo.
Jason McKee led Dover with 25 points Friday and 18 on Saturday, while Seme Rabeh had 14 points on Saturday.
“It’s good to play tough games…” said Mark Simpson, Dover coach. “I thought we improved a little bit over the weekend and I’m hoping that it’s going to carry on to the next few games.”
Last Thursday saw all four of Nanaimo’s senior AA girls’ teams play league games, with the Wellington Wildcats beating the Cedar Spartans 51-40 at Wellington and the Woodlands Eagles dominating the Barsby Blazers 73-32 at Woodlands.
For the ’Cats, Mariah Van Sickle and Garaline Tom each scored 18 points. Tom was 11-for-12 from the free throw line in the contest.
In the Eagles' victory, basketball rookie Elisabeth Scheffer had a game-high 20 points while T.J. Andjelkovic scored 17 and Ksenia Malenica had 15. For the Blazers, Jenna Keen and junior call-up Jaleena Greene scored nine points each.
This past weekend a few Nanaimo teams were involved in tournaments. Girls' teams from Dover and NDSS competed at the Victoria City Police tournament down the Malahat while the Wellington and Woodlands girls were both on the mainland for a Burnaby Mountain tournament.
The previous weekend, the Nanaimo Christian School Eagles senior A boys participated in the B.C. Christian Schools tournament in Surrey where they lost two games, then won two.
After falling to Unity Christian and Credo, the NCS squad posted a 49-36 win over Carver. The Eagles then ended the tourney with a solid 46-28 win against Campbell River.
sports@nanaimobulletin.com