Boys Game of the Week - Lord Byng Grey Ghosts vs University Hill Hawks

Lord Byng uses a late run against University Hill for second regular season win.
January 16, 2018

Boys Game of the Week - Lord Byng Grey Ghosts vs University Hill Hawks

A rivalry game, set in the beautiful gym of University Hill, brought the Lord Byng Grey Ghosts just down the road for a Vancouver 2A/3A West Division Regular Season Game on University Hill’s Senior Night. Both teams entered the night with one win in regular season play and were looking to move up in the standings.

In front of a packed gym filled with their University Hill peers, the Hawks would jump out to a quick 7-3 lead with #7 Greg Yu and #3 Oliver Chen leading the way, each finishing the quarter with 6 points a piece. Both teams were getting quality looks, but struggled to score in the second half of the quarter. University Hill would break the ice with a bucket from #7 Gregory Yu and #3 Oliver Chen was fouled shooting a “3” as the buzzer sounded. The score after one quarter was 14-7 for the home team.

Credit: Gracia Chua @graciachuaphotography

‍Credit: Gracia Chua @graciachuaphotography

#14 Jonny Hua of Lord Byng penetrated the University Hill defence for the first two points of the quarter. The Hawks would answer, behind a banked free throw jumper from #3 Oliver Chen, who definitely didn’t call “bank”. He gave the crowd a “Jordan shrug” for good measure. Back-to-back turnovers by the Hawks gave Lord Byng a lay-up and two points from the charity stripe to close the lead to three. On the next set of plays, #7 Gregory Yu of the Hawks would proceed to use a ball fake to open himself for a deep jumper, score a floater on the next possession and block a Grey Ghost shot on defence. The result of his hard work was a 22-13 lead for the Hawks forcing Lord Byng to call a timeout. Whatever was said in the timeout for the Grey Ghosts worked as they came out of the huddle and went on a 9-0 run, including a drive in transition by #15 Dexter MacDonald past three defenders. A nice turnaround jumper by #12 Finn Kaczmarowski would give the Grey Ghosts their first lead of the game. University Hill was holding the ball for the last shot of the half, but a reversal pass caught their player off guard and sailed into the backcourt for a violation. The Grey Ghosts would turn the ball over, with #4 Dimitry Gadashev of the Hawks stealing the inbounds pass, freeing himself for a thunderous two-handed dunk to end the half. Entering the locker rooms, Lord Byng held the lead 34-31.

‍‍Credit: Gracia Chua @graciachuaphotography

‍Credit: Gracia Chua @graciachuaphotography

Both teams opened the half with a “3”. For the Hawks it was #3 Oliver Chen and #19 Seth Hastings for the Grey Ghosts. #3 Oliver Chen for the Hawks scored an acrobatic layup in transition to tie the game at 38 half way through the third. A “3” from #4 Dimitry Gadashev helped the Hawks regain the lead. A few plays later #15 Dexter Macdonald of Lord Byng would answer with an “and 1” followed by #9 Garrett Hunter of the Grey Ghosts who would hit a “3” to make the score 45-44. A driving left hand lay-up by #2 Harry Chae would put Lord Byng back in the lead. Looking to extend their lead, the Grey Ghosts pushed the ball in transition on the next possession, but #3 Oliver Chen of University Hill had a huge block. Entering the final quarter, the Hawks held the lead 47-46.

‍Credit: Gracia Chua @graciachuaphotography

‍Credit: Gracia Chua @graciachuaphotography

Another high banking runner by #2 Harry Chae of Lord Byng was the first bucket of the quarter that put them back in the lead. The Hawks got their first bucket from a nice lob from #7 Gregory Yu to #4 Dimitry Gadashev.  #4 Dimitry Gadashev continued to use his size inside to get offensive rebounds and managed to be at the right place at the right time for a number of easy buckets for University Hill on his way to a 12 points in the final quarter. The Hawks down just one in their home gym, were supported by defence chants from the bench and the crowd. University Hill would get the stops they needed and earn themselves a 59-57 lead with 3:02 seconds to go. #9 Garrett Hunter of the Grey Ghosts would knock down a pair of triples in the final minutes, one of which was the go ahead bucket to put the visitors up 63-62. University Hill would come up empty on the next possession and be forced to foul, where #2 Harry Chae would calmly step to the line and knock down both shots to go up three and 49 seconds left. #7 Gregory of the Hawks used an aggressive drive to earn himself a trip to the line where he would also knock down both freethrows to bring the deficit back down to one. That would be as close as the Hawks would get as the Grey Ghosts would knock down their free throws to seal the game, including another pair by #2 that didn’t touch the rim. Final score 68-64.

The Grey Ghosts spoiled the Hawks Senior night and picked up an important regular season win to keep their post-season goals alive. Lord Byng plays Eric Hamber tonight in the second of their three consecutive games. University Hill plays undefeated Sir Charles Tupper tomorrow night.

Vancouver Basketball sends our congratulations to University Hill Hawks Graduating Seniors David Lin, Oliver Chen, Jeremy Zheng, Greg Yu, Steven Xu, and Lionel Han. Best of luck with the rest of your season.