Men’s Basketball: Cascades fend off WolfPack rally, win eighth straight
A scorching start powered the University of the Fraser Valley men’s basketball team to its eighth straight win, 100-91 on the road Friday over the Thompson Rivers WolfPack.
Parm Bains, Canada West’s third-leading scorer coming in, lit up the WolfPack for 16 points – including four three-pointers – in the first quarter, and the Cascades stretched the lead as high as 22 points in the second.
The WolfPack stuck with it behind some hot shooting of their own – they hit 18 triples as a team – and battled back in the second half to cut the deficit to a single point. The Cascades, though, got a series of clutch plays over the final three minutes of regulation, hitting the 100-point mark for the third time this season.
The two teams emerge from Friday’s action with matching 11-6 records, and they wrap up the weekend series Saturday evening in Kamloops (7 p.m., CanadaWest.tv presented by Co-op).
“We knew they weren’t going to roll over,” Cascades head coach Adam Friesen said afterward. “We knew they were going to battle to the end, and that they did. In that third quarter, they seemed to hit every shot they took. They made the game really interesting, and I was proud of our guys for their response.”
Bains was unstoppable in the first quarter – Canada West’s most prolific three-point shooter connected four times from beyond the arc, and the visitors led 33-23 after 10 minutes.
It was more of the same in the second – with TRU’s defensive attention fixated on Bains, Jaskarn Bajwa scored eight straight UFV points in one stretch, and the lead ballooned to 55-33. The WolfPack responded with a 9-2 surge, but with TRU holding for last shot, Vick Toor snuck into the passing lane for a steal and subsequent breakaway layup to make it 59-42 at halftime.
The third quarter, though, belonged to the hosts – they outscored the Cascades 34-18 in the frame, drawing to within 77-76 heading to the fourth.
The WolfPack would grab their first lead of the night on Anton Bilous’s trey with four and a half minutes left in regulation, but the Cascades ended the game on an 11-1 run. Bains and Toor scored four points apiece during that decisive stretch, and Sukhjot Bains’s tough layup through contact with 40 seconds left was the dagger.
“We did a lot of things pretty well today, but when we made a mistake, they seemed to make us pay every time,” Friesen marveled. “But as a group, we really wanted it. We stayed aggressive, and when it comes down to it, you have to make some plays and we did that.”
Parm Bains added eight assists to his game-high point total, Toor racked up 21 points, and Sukhjot Bains had a double-double (19 points, 10 rebounds) to spark a dominant effort on the boards which saw UFV out-rebound the WolfPack 46-30. Sukhraj Bains (13) and Bajwa (10) also scored in double figures.
Bilous (25 points, 7-for-13 from three) led TRU’s perimeter assault, Joe Davis scored 21, and Tyus De Vries poured in 20 off the bench.
Women’s Basketball ( with files from Larry Read, TRU Athletics ): Cascades catch fire in second half, blast WolfPack 75-50
The University of the Fraser Valley women’s basketball team started slowly on the road but found their rhythm as the game wore on, ultimately earning a 75-50 blowout win over the Thompson Rivers WolfPack.
Rookie point guard Nikki Cabuco sparked the Cascades off the bench, racking up a career-high 16 points to go with four steals, and Taylor Claggett posted a double-double (12 points, 10 rebounds) as UFV extended its win streak to eight games.
The Cascades (13-4) and WolfPack (7-10) renew hostilities on Saturday (5 p.m., CanadaWest.tv presented by Co-op).
“I just think the pace of the game in the first half was maybe a little too frantic,” Cascades head coach Al Tuchscherer said afterward. “They got us into shooting some early shots we probably shouldn’t have taken. At halftime, we tried to calm down and be a little more patient offensively, and that really paid off in the second half.”
The Cascades struggled in the first quarter, shooting 26.7 per cent (4-of-15) from the field, and found themselves level with the WolfPack at 14-14 heading into the second.
UFV found some traction late in the second quarter, reeling off an 11-1 run capped by Maddy Gobeil’s steal-and-score breakaway layup, and they took a 30-22 lead into the break.
In the third quarter, an 11-2 run to close the frame – capped by Cabuco’s triple – pushed the UFV lead to 17, and they rolled from there.
Cabuco finished 4-for-5 from the field (with a pair of three-pointers) and 6-for-7 from the free throw line on her way to a game-high point total. Fellow rookie Deanna Tuchscherer also hit double digits with 10 points. UFV dominated the boards, out-rebounding TRU 54-36.
Jordan Robb (11) and Emma Piggin (10) scored in double figures for the WolfPack.
“Nikki was fantastic tonight,” Tuchscherer enthused. “She came off the bench and played some great D. She’s a player that can really play with some defensive intelligence that can lead to some easy hoops at the other end. I was really happy for Nik.”
BOUNCE PASSES: The game marked the return of Cascades rookie guard Gobeil to her hometown. The South Kamloops Secondary grad was playing her first Canada West contest at home since leading the South Kam Titans to back to back provincial AA championships and had a large cheering section. She finished with four points, three rebounds and two blocks.
Men’s Volleyball ( Jordie Arthur, Cascades communications assistant ): No. 5-ranked Blues top Cascades
The University of the Fraser Valley men’s volleyball team fell in straight sets to the Capilano Blues on Friday at the Envision Financial Athletic Centre.
The CCAA No. 5-ranked Blues closed out a sweep of the season series via set scores of 25-11, 25-19 and 26-24. With the victory Capilano sees its record improve to 16-4, while the Cascades fall to 5-15 in conference play.
“Right now it’s a little bit of a broken record – we start slow and then we get in the match, but time runs out,” Cascades head coach Nathan Bennett said. “We’ve got to definitely do a better job right at the beginning of the match.
“Over this month we took some breaks, took some rest . . . I’m hoping we’d be a little more fresh to start these sets, so it’s a little bit disappointing. But at the end of the day, it’s a good finish (in the third set), and it’s something for us to build on as we go into February.”
The visitors came out flying in the first, building an 11-4 lead early on and extending it to 17-5 after a five-serve run by Leonard Tesarik. The Blues kept rolling from there, finishing it off 25-11.
Capilano continued its momentum into the second, going up 10-4, but the Cascades fought to cut the deficit to 11-10. However, the Blues regained control after a pair of kills by Jacob Hopkins to lead 18-13. Despite a push-back from UFV, Capilano secured four of the last six points, closing it out 25-19 on another Hopkins kill.
Once again, the Blues took a commanding lead in the third, going up 8-3. The Cascades battled back, getting a pair of kills from Landon Uy and three from Caleb Kastelein to take a 12-11 lead. However, with the score 15-13 for the Cascades, Capilano would score four straight points to regain the advantage. The teams would find themselves even at 23 after the Cascades secured a resounding kill from Jackson Obst and a block from Justin Peleshytyk. A Kastelein kill gave the Cascades a chance at set point, but the Blues knocked down the final three points to close out the match 26-24.
Kastelein paced the Cascades with 10 kills on the night, while Landon Uy notched five. Setter Graham Walkey posted 19 assists and a team-high six digs.
Ben Friesen led the way for the Blues with 12 kills, while Hopkins and Rafael Hilario each picked up nine.
The Cascades volleyball teams are on the road next week, facing the College of the Rockies Avalanche in Cranbrook.
Women’s Volleyball (Jordie Arthur, Cascades communications assistant): Cascades fall to Blues in epic five-setter
The University of the Fraser Valley women’s volleyball team dropped a heartbreaker on Friday evening, falling in five sets to the Capilano Blues at the Envision Financial Athletic Centre.
The Cascades turned in a solid all-around performance, but the match broke the Blues’ way by scores of 25-18, 17-25, 26-24, 19-25 and 15-11. The result leaves UFV and Capilano with matching 8-12 records.
“Although it’s still a loss on our record, it’s still a big step forward in the direction we want to go,” Cascades head coach Janelle Rozema analyzed afterward. “We actually beat them in every stat category, except for digs, but we just gave away points at the wrong time of the match.
“I told them to go celebrate, because I feel like it’s been a heavy weight on their shoulders, just trying to get the win. You’re not trusting the process when you’re not celebrating. We improved in every stat category from last weekend.”
The Cascades started well, racing out to a 7-2 lead in the first set, but the Blues battled back to level the score 9-9 after back-to-back Daphiny King kills, and they pulled away late to take the early advantage.
UFV once again came out flying in the second, building a 5-0 lead with Chelsea Kidd at the service line. They extended the lead to 15-8 after a pair of quick kills from Kristen McBride, and though the Blues made a push, the hosts finished off the set on kills from Lauren Poirier and Kidd.
In the third, the Cascades held a 20-17 lead in the late going, but the visitors stormed back to draw even at 21-21 and would eventually earn a 26-24 decision on a Samantha Wright ace.
The teams exchanged points throughout the middle of the fourth set, but back-to-back kills by Sedona Arabsky gave UFV a 21-18 advantage. Amanda Matsui chipped in with three consecutive kills of her own before Poirier sealed it with a block, 25-19.
In the fifth, Arabsky notched back-to-back kills on two occasions as the hosts went ahead 11-9. But the Blues took over from there, scoring the next six points to close out the match.
“We want to experience going point-for-point, going to fifth sets,” Rozema noted. “But what we learned tonight is, when you’re point-for-point and you’re in the fifth set, you have to settle down your serve receive. Just get set up faster, talk about what’s coming, and just control our contact a little more. Because I felt like the rest of our game was ready to be just unleashed. Kara (Williams, Cascades setter) was ready to go, our hitters were ready to go. It’s just that first contact.”
The Cascades volleyball teams are on the road next week, facing the College of the Rockies Avalanche in Cranbrook.
