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.