Men’s Basketball: Bains, Morris light the fuse as Cascades blow out Spartans
The University of the Fraser Valley men’s basketball team secured a home playoff date with a dominant performance on Saturday evening, downing the Trinity Western Spartans 94-73.
The Cascades (13-7) required a weekend sweep of the Spartans (0-20) to lock up a top-eight finish in Canada West’s strength-of-schedule RPI metric, a distinction which yields the right to host a first-round playoff game. They got the job done, winning 106-75 on Friday at UFV before completing the sweep Saturday at the Langley Events Centre.
The victories, combined with results elsewhere in the conference, allowed the Cascades to move up to the No. 6 seed, and they’ll host the No. 11 UNBC Timberwolves next Thursday (7 p.m., Envision Financial Athletic Centre) for the right to move on to the Canada West quarter-finals.
Leading the way were veterans Parm Bains and Andrew Morris, who racked up 28 and 22 points, respectively, to close out the Spartans.
“They were big,” UFV head coach Adam Friesen said of his high-scoring duo. “Offensively we didn’t have the outside shooting touch going as a team, but Andrew and Parm were incredibly aggressive.
“Parm is such a threat from inside and out. He’s very quick, and he’s a scorer. He runs in transition to score, he moves off the ball to score, and he’s got a quick release. He’s a tough match-up, in that he’s always being aggressive.”
The Cascades used a late surge in the first quarter to take a 20-12 lead and set the tone for the rest of the night. With Bains collecting seven points, UFV took control and never let go.
In the second quarter, the Cascades continued to roll, outscoring TWU 26-14 to take a 20-point lead, 46-26, into the break.
Earning 31 points in the third quarter to TWU’s 26, the visitors carried momentum into the fourth, holding a 77-52 lead. The Spartans outscored the Cascades 21-17 in the final frame, but UFV never relinquished control en route to the win.
The Cascades finished the night shooting 45 per cent (36-for-80) from the field while committing just three turnovers all game to the Spartans’ 12. The Spartans shot 34.2 per cent (26-for-76) from the field, but were just 2-for-25 from three-point range.
Sukhjot Bains chipped in with nine points for UFV, and Daniel Adediran and Matt Cooley scored eight apiece off the bench.
TWU’s Vartan Tanielian closed the book on his final season of eligibility with a 20-point outing. Isaiah Reimer had 15 points and seven rebounds, and Aaron Paetkau had 12 points.
“I think we did a better job in the first half today, not settling for so many threes,” Friesen said. “We began attacking earlier, which gave us some breathing room at halftime.”
Women’s Basketball (with files from TWU Athletics): Cascades fall to Spartans in regular-season finale
The University of the Fraser Valley women’s basketball team got off to a hot start, but the Trinity Western Spartans brought a strong finish on Saturday evening at the Langley Events Centre.
The Cascades dominated the first quarter, outscoring the Spartans 17-5, but TWU controlled the proceedings the rest of the way, rallying for a 75-57 victory in the Canada West regular-season finale for both teams.
The Cascades (10-10) enter the conference playoffs as the No. 10 seed, and will face the No. 7 Victoria Vikes on the road in a first-round match-up on Friday.
The Spartans had won the opener of the home-and-home set 57-51 on Friday at UFV, but the first quarter of the rematch was all Cascades. The visitors opened a 17-5 lead after 10 minutes thanks to a 13-3 edge in points off turnovers and a 12-2 margin in points in the paint. Amanda Thompson, with eight points, lit the fuse as the Cascades shot 50 per cent (7-14) from the field in the first quarter, while holding TWU to 18.2 per cent (2-11).
The Spartans (12-8) found their game in the second quarter, outscoring UFV 20-9 to pull within one point after a late basket from Ratzlaff. After committing eight turnovers in the first quarter, TWU didn’t give the ball up once in the second. Conversely, UFV gave up five turnovers in the second as they held onto a one-point lead, 26-25, at halftime.
The third quarter saw the game continue to tilt the Spartans’ way, with TWU taking a 49-42 lead by the end of the frame. TWU was up by as many as 11 points, 42-31, after a three-point play from Ratzlaff, but UFV got back to within seven points going to the fourth quarter.
TWU opened the final frame with a 6-0 run, capped by a cutting layup from Brown that gave the Spartans their biggest lead of the game to that point, at 55-42. From there, TWU rolled to a 18-point win, outscoring the Cascades 26-15 in the fourth.
Thompson scored a team-high 18 points for the Cascades, Taylor Claggett had a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds, and Kate Head scored 16.
Jessie Brown led TWU with 25 points, while Sarah Buckingham had 19 points and Ratzlaff had 17 points and 10 boards.
Men’s Volleyball: Cascades drop three-set decision to Blues
The University of the Fraser Valley men’s volleyball team came out on the wrong end of a weekend sweep, falling to the Capilano Blues on the road on Saturday.
The Cascades had battled the Blues down to the wire in Friday’s opener, dropping a five-set heartbreaker, but they were unable to take the next step in the rematch, falling by scores of 25-21, 25-23 and 25-19.
The Blues boosted their record to 15-5 at the expense of the Cascades (1-19).
“We didn’t play consistent enough,” UFV head coach Kyle Donen said. “I thought we were in every game, I thought we had our chances to win, but balls just didn’t go our way at the end, unfortunately . . . multiple points at a time at not-so-ideal times.
“At times, it felt like an uphill battle. They would win the long rallies, and it would give them momentum. It’s a tough loss, but I’m still really happy with some of the things we did. We just weren’t able to be as consistent at it as I would have liked.”
Graeme Hughes had a strong offensive performance, hammering down 11 kills and notching six digs and four blocks. Jackson Obst chipped in with four kills, and Evan Bell-Foley had a team-best 11 digs.
Markus Bratsberg paced the Blues’ attack with 14 kills.
“They played really well defensively, and that was a big difference in the game,” Donen said of Capilano.
Up next for the Cascades volleyball teams is a home-and-home with the Douglas Royals. On Thursday, they host the Royals in the Envision Financial Athletic Centre’s North Gym, and on Friday the scene shifts to Douglas’s campus in New Westminster (women 6 p.m., men 8 p.m. both nights).
Women’s Volleyball: Blues battle back, knock off Cascades to earn weekend split
The University of the Fraser Valley women’s volleyball team suffered an upset loss on Saturday evening, falling in three sets to the Capilano Blues on the road.
The CCAA No. 9-ranked Cascades had earned a four-set victory on Friday in North Vancouver, but the Blues bounced back to split the weekend set by scores of 25-18, 25-23 and 25-23.
UFV fell to 12-8, while Capilano improved to 6-14.
“We gifted them 39 of their 75 points,” Cascades head coach Mike Gilray analyzed. “You can’t make 22 hitting errors and 17 service errors and expect to win in this league.”
The Cascades, missing starters Amanda Matsui and Hanna Hieltjes due to injury, battled the Blues down to the wire in the second and third sets, only to come up short by the minimum two-point margin both times. Gilray made liberal use of his bench, as 11 of 12 Cascades dressed on Saturday saw the floor.
Fifth-year captain Kim Bauder had a strong performance, notching nine kills, and Keira Fisher had an efficient night on the right side with seven kills while hitting 43 per cent. Among the players who came in off the bench, libero Cassidy King gave the Cascades a spark in the third set.
Meghan Koven, with seven kills, and Zoe Mydansky, with six, paced a balanced Capilano attack.
“We were well-prepared – we knew what they were going to do, but we didn’t execute on our side of the court,” Gilray said. “That’s on me. I’ve got to help them be successful during the game.”
Up next for the Cascades volleyball teams is a home-and-home with the Douglas Royals. On Thursday, they host the Royals in the Envision Financial Athletic Centre’s North Gym, and on Friday the scene shifts to Douglas’s campus in New Westminster (women 6 p.m., men 8 p.m. both nights).
