The Prince Charles Secondary School seniors boys basketball team captured the Kootenay championship for AA schools in the Kootenay zones over the weekend. This was PCSS’s first Kootenay win in 13 years, entitling the team to participate in the provincial championship March 9-12 in Langley.
To meet first-ranked Golden in the finals, the Bulldogs had to first get past Kimberley. The boys started out fast, outscoring their opponents 16-2, and with strong defence increased their lead to 45-19 at the half. The second half saw strong play from the bench and the bulldogs coasted to an 80-52 win. Top scorers were Jamond Dortman with 25 and Jake Dumas with 23, and Jordin Czar and Andrew Armstrong adding nine and eight points, respectively. There were strong performances off the bench from Hans Nicolajsen and Jeff Foster.
The final matchup was to be a thriller as both teams were evenly matched. Again, the boys started strong and jumped out to a 27-11 lead with scoring from all players on the court and strong defence that made Golden turn over the ball eight times. Golden clawed their way back to within seven by the end of the first quarter with clutch shooting from under the net and a couple of three-pointers from their point guard.
The teams traded baskets in the first half of the second quarter before the Bulldogs, with timely rebounding and quick defence, created scoring that stretched their lead to 18 at the half. The boys made the third quarter interesting when they came out flat and Golden scored 14 straight points that cut the lead to four. The boys capitalized on Golden’s fouls late in the third, scoring six free throws and gaining a 67-58 lead at the end of the third quarter. Golden again battled back with the long ball sinking three three-pointers in a row to tie the game up with four minutes to go.
Golden hit another three to put them ahead, but a free throw from Makaiah Gorham and a couple of baskets by Dumas put the Bulldogs ahead by two. Golden again sunk another three to go ahead by one with just over a minute to play. The boys had a couple of key steals to stop Golden’s attack and a key three-pointer by Dumas sealed the deal for PCSS. The final score 83-79.
“The boys played their hearts out and left everything on the floor,” said coach Doug Dortman. “I am very proud of the way they played as a team. They deserved that win.”
The boys had their highest shooting percentage at 66 from the field the first half and tallying 32 defensive rebounds and 19 steals by the end of the game. Dumas led the scoring with 40 points, Dortman with 20 and Gorham with 11, along with strong defence and rebounding from Armstrong and Jordin Czar. Ethan Plotnikoff and Luke Casemore had strong showings off the bench.
The team has set up an account at Columbia Bottle Recycling in support of the trip to provincials.
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