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UFV Sports Saturday – Cascades Sweep Spartans Hoops

MBB: Hot-shooting Cascades roll past Spartans – Abbotsford – The University of the Fraser Valley men’s basketball team turned in a scorching shooting performance at the expense of the Trinity Western Spartans, racking up a season-high for points in a 107-92 victory at the Envision Financial Athletic Centre.

Parm Bains (27 points, 5-of-13 from three) and Jaskarn Bajwa (24 points, 6-of-11 from three) led the way for the hosts, who shot an even 50 per cent from the field and 42.5 per cent (17-of-40) from beyond the arc.

The Cascades (8-6) ran their win streak to five games, while the Spartans (2-12) have lost six in a row in Canada West play.

“We played a tremendous first half, and really showed what kind of offensive and defensive team we can be,” said UFV head coach Adam Friesen, whose team led 52-32 at the break. “By and large, we made them play in the halfcourt, we made Q (Spartans star Ja’Qualyn Gilbreath) have to work for his, and we played to the scouting report quite well for the rest of their players. It’s that sort of thing every week that heavily dictates outcomes of games.

“I’m just challenging the boys to put something closer to 40 minutes of that level of play.”

The Cascades caught fire midway through the first quarter, reeling off a 19-3 run to seize control. Bajwa and Jordyn Sekhon ignited the surge with back-to-back triples, and Bains capped it with five straight UFV points.

The Spartans outscored the Cascades 17-7 over the first six minutes of the second quarter to cut the deficit to 38-32, but UFV responded with a 14-0 outburst to close the half, highlighted by four triples including two from Bajwa.

TWU, after shooting just 26.7 per cent from the field in the first half, found more success offensively after halftime. They shot 54.8 per cent the rest of the way, but were unable to come up with enough stops to seriously dent the deficit. The Cascades maintained a 20-plus-point cushion for most of the third and fourth quarters, before the Spartans ended on an 11-0 run over the last three minutes of regulation with the outcome already decided.

Afterward, TWU head coach Trevor Pridie noted that his team’s slow start, combined with an inability to limit the Cascades’ offence, were the Spartans’ undoing.

“Defensively we have a lot to work on,” Pridie said. “Obviously we play at the fastest pace . . . so sometimes the points aren’t always the best indicator of our defence. But the field goal percentage and points per possession (for UFV) were just way too high this weekend.”

UFV centre Matt Cooley, one week after notching the first triple-double in program history vs. UNBC, made a run at another one, posting 17 points, 15 boards and seven assists. Sukhjot Bains had 13 point and six rebounds, Sukhraj Bains chipped in with 12 points off the bench, and Vick Toor registered a game-high 10 assists.

Gilbreath, the nation’s scoring leader, poured in 32 points, and Jack Nadelhoffer (22 points), Riley Braich (21 points) and Isaiah Reimer (10 points) also chipped in offensively for the Spartans.

BOUNCE PASSES: The fourth annual Cascades Hall of Fame class was officially inducted on Saturday at halftime. Honourees included builder Liz Chisholm, athlete Matt Douma, and the 1993-1997 women’s basketball era. . . . . The Cascades basketball teams hit the road this coming week to face the Mount Royal Cougars in Calgary, while the Spartans host the Alberta Golden Bears and Pandas.

Women’s Basletball: Claggett lights fuse as Cascades complete sweep of Spartans

ABBOTSFORD, B.C. – Two nights after being held largely in check by the Trinity Western Spartans, Taylor Claggett bounced back in a big way to lift her UFV Cascades to a 77-60 triumph in the rematch.

Playing at the Envision Financial Athletic Centre on Saturday evening, senior forward Claggett exploded for 26 points, 16 rebounds and four assists as the Cascades wrapped up a sweep of their local rival.

UFV was coming off a 72-61 victory on Thursday in Langley to open the home-and-home set, but Claggett had been limited to a season-low 10 points in that contest. She was comprehensively dominant on Saturday, going 7-for-10 from the field and 12-of-13 from the free throw line as UFV improved to 10-4 in Canada West play. TWU fell to 3-11.

“Taylor’s been doing that her entire career,” marveled Cascades head coach Al Tuchscherer, whose charges raced out to 19-point lead in the first half. “I thought we were really ready to go tonight. We just built from the defensive end of the floor, and we ended up having a few nice offensive spurts that led to a pretty nice first half for us.”

Claggett was on fire from the opening tip. UFV’s all-time leading scorer racked up 18 points in the first half as the hosts built leads of 23-10 and 43-24 at the first and second quarter breaks.

The Spartans hung tough, though. After outscoring UFV 20-15 in the third quarter, they surged early in the fourth, getting the deficit back to single digits (64-56) after a triple from Kianna Wiens and a jumper from Nicole Fransson in quick succession.

The Cascades righted themselves, though, and Victoria Jacobse and Nikki Cabuco combined to insert the dagger. After Jacobse slashed to the rim for a layup, Cabuco snuck in and stole the ensuing inbounds pass, laying it back in to make it 76-60 with less than two minutes left in regulation.

“Credit to them for just really battling to the end,” Tuchscherer said of the Spartans. “In the fourth quarter, the outcome was still in question. They have a really solid young core group of kids there who really pushed us tonight.”

Cabuco finished with 10 points for the Cascades, and Deanna Tuchscherer and Amanda Thompson scored seven apiece.

Fransson paced the Spartans with 20 points and 17 boards, Jolene Vlieg had 14 points, and Wiens scored 11.

“As a young team, when what has worked for us in past games isn’t working, we don’t stick with it until it starts working,” TWU head coach Cheryl Jean-Paul analyzed. “I think we tried to change our looks and how we tried to score, and I think that just led to a lot of missed shots and frustrated offence, which then flowed into not-great defence.

“We kind of lost our way a little bit in that first half, but I was really proud of the second half. We pushed back, and our shots started dropping. But by that time, we were already down by too much.”

The Cascades basketball teams hit the road this coming week to face the Mount Royal Cougars in Calgary, while the Spartans host the Alberta Golden Bears and Pandas.

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