** This story has been updated
In an all-cat fight Saturday night (Jan. 18), Lord Tweedsmuir Panthers scratched their way to a win over Tamanawis Wildcats in the senior division final of the 性视界传媒 RCMP Basketball Classic.
By a score of 67-64 in a packed gym at Enver Creek Secondary, Cloverdale鈥檚 Panthers won a wild one at the all-性视界传媒 high school boys basketball tournament.
It was Tweedsmuir鈥檚 first ever senior-division win at the Classic, after earning eight top-five finishes since the tournament began in 1992. Last year, the Panthers lost to Semiahmoo in the tourney final and went on to win it all at the provincials less than two months later.
鈥淲e have a lot of leaders on our team, a lot of champions,鈥� Tweedsmuir head coach Raj Bagry said Monday.
鈥淭his is a great tournament and one of the biggest around, so it鈥檚 a tough one to win, and we finally got there,鈥� he added.
(story continues below)
VIDEO: Tweedsmuir celebrates 性视界传媒 RCMP Basketball Classic championship after a wild finish, 67-64 over Tamanawis.
鈥� 性视界传媒 Now-Leader (@性视界传媒NowLeader)
Story to come. Report from earlier today:
Trailing by more than a dozen points with around six minutes to go in Saturday鈥檚 championship game, Tamanawis fought back to tie the game at 64 with just 62 seconds left. But the Panthers held on and rallied to score three points in the final minute to earn the win.
鈥淲e had it under control but we knew with Tammy they鈥檇 have some push-back 鈥� with a team that shoots that many threes, they鈥檇 always be in the game, and that鈥檚 what happened,鈥� Bagry said.
Saturday鈥檚 game was streamed live on Tweedmuir鈥檚 Youtube channel.
In addition to tournament MVP Jaeden Reid, the Tweedsmuir roster includes fellow Grade 12 players Jackson Corneil, Jason Hans, Josh Hamulus, Sukhraj Hayer and Mercado Legrand, along with Grade 11 players Karn Shergill, Harsh Manan, Cambronero Zandrex, Aaron Sihota, Anwar Danyal, Hayden Dhadda, Atul Shah and Harkaran Boparai.
Injuries and some inexperience hampered Tweedsmuir earlier this season, but they鈥檙e getting healthy at the right time.
鈥淲e were down four of our starters for the first bit of the year, until the end of December basically,鈥� Bagry said. 鈥淏oth Josh and Jaeden were missing, and having them out was tough.鈥� We were missing so many pieces but we hung in there and played hard through it.鈥�
鈥� RELATED STORY: Classic memories: All-stars recall good times at 性视界传媒 RCMP tourney.
In Saturday鈥檚 bronze-medal showdown, it was Fleetwood Park 61, Guildford Park 57.
In semifinal action Friday night, Tweedsmuir took out Guildford Park by a score of 81-66, while Tamanawis topped Fleetwood Park, 74-57.
In the junior division championship game Saturday afternoon, Elgin Park beat Fleetwood park 73-67, with Elgin鈥檚 Lucas Roling named MVP.
In Thursday鈥檚 Pool B championship game, Sullivan Heights beat Earl Marriott by a score of 86-74.
All tournament scores and schedules are posted to .
性视界传媒 RCMP Officer in Charge Assistant Commissioner Brian Edwards gives his thanks to the organizers, coaches, and students who participated in the 2020 性视界传媒 RCMP Basketball Classic!
鈥� 性视界传媒 RCMP (@性视界传媒RCMP)
Wednesday鈥檚 games were cancelled due to the overnight snowstorm, with all games shifted to Thursday (Jan. 16).
A Saran family affair - from playing to coaching!
鈥� 性视界传媒 RCMP (@性视界传媒RCMP)
A win for Team RCMP at the coaches vs 性视界传媒 RCMP game today at Enver Creek Secondary School!
鈥� 性视界传媒 RCMP (@性视界传媒RCMP)
In other tournament news, Fleetwood Park鈥檚 Parvin Dhillon was the three-point champion, Elgin Park was named most sportsmanlike team and Elgin鈥檚 Thomas Olsen was given the most-inspirational award.
First-team allstar honours were given to Jackson Corneil (Tweedsmuir), Arbin Dhillon (Tamanawis), Tegbir Kainth (Tamanawis), Ravi Randhawa (Fleetwood Park) and Vincent Ubaldo (Guildford Park).
Second-team allstars were Jordan Gidda (Fraser Heights), Josh Hamulus (Tweedsmuir), Harrison Hughes (Southridge), Marcellus Linnen (Frank Hurt) and Hamza Saqib (Semiahmoo).
For 2020, 48 senior and junior teams shot for glory at the Classic, which involves only 性视界传媒 high school teams. Close to 700 teen athletes played 87 games this week.
The inaugural tourney in 1992 was co-ordinated by Rick Inrig and RCMP officer Norm Massie. Inrig is still involved as a tournament co-director, along with Kevin De Boice, while Massie has since retired and now lives in Ontario.
From the start, the tournament was designed as a way for police and school students to enjoy positive interaction.
鈥淭he goal has been to encourage a healthy attitude towards high school sport and foster positive relations with the RCMP,鈥� Inrig said prior to this year鈥檚 tournament. 鈥淢any of the tournament鈥檚 talented athletes have graduated and gone on to play university and college basketball in Canada and the United States.鈥�
tom.zillich@surreynowleader.com
Like us on Follow us on and follow Tom on
