Pacers capture District Title

The Delta Pacers Grade 8 boys basketball team has quietly gone about putting together a very solid season. After finishing 2nd in league play at 9 - 3 and compiling a 13 - 8 record overall, the Pacers have put together some strong performances of late. After a convincing victory over Delview in the league semi-finals, the Pacers faced North Delta in the district final. The Pacers turned a 20 - 19 halftime edge into an 18 point lead at the end of three quarters largely due to an intense defensive performance. A balanced scoring attack featuring Gurpaul Teja with 16, Gurpreet Teja 14, Logan Newman 10 and Josh Murphy 8 points keyed the Pacers to a 58 - 35 victory. The win proved satisfying for the young Pacers and validated their commitment to team defense after two losses to The Huskies during league play. 

The 11th seeded Pacers began the Fraser Valley Championships on the road Tuesday night against the 22nd seeded Princess Margaret Lions. Once again, the Pacers defensive pressure proved to be too much for the Lions to handle. After starting the game on a 17 - 0 run, the Pacers continued to use their size and strength to their advantage. Jackson Goodman, one of the team's top rebounders gives the team a starting lineup that includes three players 6'1 or better. Key post players off the bench for the Pacers include Kyle Booth, Curtis Tyson and Kaylin Kaila.

While the offensive strength of the Pacers teams is their post play, guards Jeremy Gill, Jared Beaton, Riley Duimel, Christian Narciso, Evan Chong and Matteo Correa play important roles on the defensive side, following a season-ending injury to point guard Devin Basi.

The Pacers take the confidence of their four game winning streak into the 2nd Round of the Fraser Valley Championships where they face the 6th seed from Lord Tweedsmuir. The game will feature contrasting styles of play as Tweedsmuir will look to run at every opportunity while the Pacers plan to execute their halfcourt offense in order to get high percentage shots inside.

The Fraser Valley Championships continue on through Friday, Saturday and Monday at Westview Secondary with teams vying for berths to the Provincial tournament hosted by Pitt Meadows in early March.

Sr Pacers receive provincial recognition!

In the recent AAA Boys Provincial Rankings the Sr Pacers have caught the attention of the basketball world. Following big victories over White Rock Christian Academy, South Delta and a very close loss to Churchill the boys have vaulted to Honorable Mention standing. Check out the complete rankings here.

Pacers hitting their stride!

After returning to the hard court in January with a loss to North Delta, the Grade 8 Boys basketball team has definitely gained some momentum. The Pacers went 1-2 at the Steveston-London Tournament Jan 6-7. While the record may not sound impressive, the boys defeated Carson Graham from the north shore quite handily. Next up was a rematch against Kitsilano, whom the boys played in their season opener. The boys were defeated by Kits but this time showed tremendous improvement since their matchup in early December. The boys displayed great effort in a close loss to Steveston-London. The Pacers did not come out on the winning side of the scoreboard but the team learned that they can compete well, even in the absence of point guards Devin Basi and Jeremy Gill.

The progress has continued in the past two weeks as the boys have focussed on details and execution during recent practices. The Pacers dominated Seaquam, winning 52-20 and followed this up with an end of week rematch against Steveston-London. Proving that they had improved during a week of practice, the Pacers used their size advantage and went on to beat the Sharks 43-31. The size and shot-blocking ability of Gurpreet and Gurpaul Teja was too much for Steveston-London too handle.

This past week, saw the Pacers travel to Sands for an important league contest. The team got off to a slow start as it tried figure out Sands' zone defense. The game remained close until midway in the 2nd quarter when Kaylin Kayla and Curtis Tyson came off the bench and asserted themselves offensively and on the glass. The effectiveness of Tyson and Kaila continued in the 3rd quarter and gradually the Pacers full court pressure began to tire the Sands guards. The boys stretched the lead to 44-27 half way through the 4th quarter and cruised to a 44-34 victory. The Pacers dominance continued on Thursday as the boys travelled to South Delta and came away with a dominant 59-14 victory over the rival Sun-Devils. This time it was the tenacious performance of guard Josh Murphy that led the way for the Pacers. Murphy poured in 19 points, many of them coming on strong drives to the basket and from the free-throw line.

With 4 straight victories, the Pacers play host to Burnsview on Tuesday and travel to Delview Thursday as league play continues.

Pacers head into New Year with new look Gym

As the Pacers head into game action in 2012, it will be in a newly designed gymnasium! You can see a few of the images below. For more images and a brief description of the inspiration for the design, please read Terry Ainge's post  A New Design for the East Gym.