Fraser Valley (Jordie Arthur) – Men’s Basketball: Cascades fall to sharp shooting Spartans
Mason Bourcier went made eight of 14 from three-point range to help the Trinity Western Spartans pick up the victory 102-88 over the UFV Cascades on Saturday night. The win boosts TWU to 6-4 on the season, while UFV drops to 3-5.
The Cascades started well, taking a 32-22 lead into the second quarter, but the Spartans charged back to hold a 52-45 advantage at the half. TWU took an eight-point lead into the final frame, before extending the lead to as many as 17 on their way to closing it out.
Trinity Western shot 53.1% from beyond the arc on 32 attempts in the game, picking up 51 points in total from the three ball. Bourcier led the way for them with 32 points, and 10 assists in the game, while teammate Connor Platz ended the game with 12 points and 11 rebounds.
“They had a great weekend shooting the basketball,” UFV head coach Joe Enevoldson said of their opponent. “I thought we did a decent job of guarding the three-point line tonight, but they hit some wild shots so kudos to them.”
UFV’s Courtenay Anderson scored a team-high 23 points and added five steals, while Matthias Klim was one rebound short of a double-double with 13 points and nine boards. Dario Lopez also added 13 points for his team.
“I thought Matthias [Klim] had a great night tonight and Nolan Anderson put in a great effort after not playing last night. There are some pretty positive things to take away from it, but we have to go back to the drawing board to find ways to get good shots, get some stops, and generate some wins”
The Cascades now have a break between semesters before they resume their Canada West play in January.
“The break is an opportunity for us to dive in and see some of the things that we have to do to start generating some more favourable results. We have a lot of young guys in this league, so there have been some growing pains, but we have to forge ahead and keep getting a little bit better.”
Women’s Basletball: Cabuco clutch under pressure to help Cascades to important win over Trinity Western
Langley, BC – Nikki Cabuco hit a pair of free throws with just four seconds remaining to give the UFV Cascades a 67-65 victory of the Trinity Western Spartans on Saturday night.
The win moves the Cascades to 8-2 on the year, while TWU now falls to 7-3.
After a loss the previous night, the Cascades started strong building a 16-11 lead in the first quarter, but Trinity Western answered back to have the teams even at 35 heading into the half.
UFV eked out a two-point advantage going into the fourth, but with two minutes remaining the Spartans had taken a two-point lead of their own at 62-60. Natalie Rathler got the layup to fall to level the score with 1:39 remaining, before taking a feed from Maddy Gobeil on their next possession and drilling a three-pointer as the shot clock expired. The Spartans found yet another answer with 24 seconds remaining on the clock as Shemaiah Abatayo hit a three to tie it up once again. A Cascades turnover seemed to give TWU a chance to win it, but Cabuco managed to strip the ball with five seconds left and as she turned up court, she was fouled to send her to the line. Calm as can be Cabuco hit both shots and a last-ditch attempt to tie it from the Spartans rimmed out to give UFV the victory.
“Nikki had recently turned the ball over, but her mistake response was awesome,” UFV head coach Al Tuchscherer noted about Cabuco’s play at the end of the game. “She didn’t hold her head down, it was just about getting a stop now. She ended up getting the steal, got fouled, and went to the line. Kudos to her, that was a really mentally tough play.”
Rathler, Gobeil, and Julia Tuchscherer all had a share of the Cascades’ lead in points for the game with 15, while Deanna Tuchscherer had 10.
Hailey Roekel led the Spartans with 23 points in the game, while Jayden Gill had 16, and Abatayo had 10.
The Cascades now get a chance to reset before their next games in January, when they play host to the Calgary Dinos on January 13 and 14.
Women’s Volleyball: Likness, Cascades close out fall semester with sweep of Pandas
Edmonton, AB – Mo Likness had another dominant night at the net, as the Canada West blocks leader helped the UFV Cascades close out the weekend sweep over the Alberta Pandas on Saturday. UFV posted set scores of 14-25, 25-22, 25-20, and 25-23 to close out the match and improve to 7-5 on the season. Meanwhile, the Pandas fall to 5-7 after the defeat.
With the score even at eight in the first, the Pandas scored 13 of the next 15 points to send them on their way to a 25-14 set win.
The teams traded blows in the second, but it was UFV that got the upper hand at the end. Scoring four of the last five points in the set to win it 25-22.
The Cascades jumped out to a 12-7 lead in the third, and despite a late push from Alberta they closed out the set 25-20.
UFV continued their strong play in the fourth, taking a 7-1 advantage, but the Pandas fought back to level the score at nine. After Alberta took a 15-12 lead, the Cascades levelled the score at 21. The Pandas seemed to gain the upper hand going up 23-22, but three straight points for UFV sealed the match 25-23.
“We knew it was going to be a hard team to play against,” noted Likness after the game. “They are a very very good team, but we worked hard this week, and we came in just wanting to play volleyball.”
“Every game, every set, every point is just so important to us, and we just want to do our best”
Likness added seven kills to go with her game-high five blocks for the Cascades, while Lauren Attieh had 14 kills, and Emily Matsui had 20 Digs. Rookie Natalie Lemoine-Sells also had an impressive match with 11 kills, 12 digs, and two aces.
Lauryn Tremblay had a big night for Alberta with 20 kills, while Justine Kolody had 40 assists, and Kalysta Knappet had 19 digs.
The Cascades next action comes on January 6 and 7, as they play host to the Calgary Dinos to start off the second semester.
Men’s Volleyball: Cascades fall in three to No. 1 ranked Golden Bears
Edmonton, AB – The UFV Cascades fell in three sets to the U SPORTS top-ranked Alberta Golden Bears for the second straight night on Saturday. Alberta prevailed with set scores of 25-17, 25-18, and 25-20 to take the match.
The Cascades now head into the holiday break with a 2-10 record, while Alberta improves to 11-1 on the year.
“I think this break is an opportunity for us to get healthy not only physically, but mentally as well,” explained UFV head coach Nathan Bennett. “We can come back with a fresh mindset and be ready to get to work, and also heal some wounds and injuries.”
The Cascades fell behind 15-12 in the first set, and the Golden Bears took the opportunity to extend that with six of the next seven points to take a 21-13 lead before finishing it off 25-17.
UFV Came out strong in the second, to take a 15-12 lead of their own, but once again Alberta took control in the later portion of the set. With the score at 17-14 for the Cascades, Alberta scored 10 consecutive points to make it 24-17 to eventually taking the set 25-18.
With a 10-9 lead in the third Alberta pulled away once again with six of the next seven points, on their way to finish the match 25-20.
Max Paddock led the Cascades with two aces and 19 set assists, while Nimo Benne had seven kills and five digs. Tyson Ardell added four kills and three blocks in the effort.
Jordan Canham paced the Golden Bears with 14 kills on the night, while Cam Kern had 38 assists, and Landon Currie had 10 digs.
The Cascades next action comes in the new year, when they host the Calgary Dinos on January 6 and 7 at the UFV Athletic Centre.
