Royals teams find first wins on the road
By Davie Wong, Sports Editor
It was a disappointing start for both of the Royals basketball teams. Tough losses against the Capilano Blues in playoff rematches had coaches and players frustrated. But week two of PACWEST action gave the teams a chance to bounce back. Unfortunately, it entailed a visit to the defending provincial champions, the VIU Mariners.
The women got the round started for the Royals. The ladies came out of the gates looking confident in spite of last week’s performance. They got off to a strong start, racking up 18 points in a first quarter effort. Their performance carried on into the second quarter where they piggybacked on their lead, adding 16 points to the scoreboard. Their defensive efforts were not in vain either as the Royals kept the high scoring Mariners t0 30 points in two quarters of action.
Holding a fragile four point lead into the third, the Royals piled on the defence and picked apart VIU’s attack. Limiting the Mariners to only 7 points was crucial for the Royals going into the fourth, as the Mariners made a deep dive to come back. Another 15-point effort saw the Mariners eclipse the Royals in points scored in the fourth quarter, but they could not sink the Royals, who had a significant enough point lead to balance out the small quarter loss.
The Royals’ performance was marked by the success of starters Ellen Fallis and Rachel Beauchamp. Fallis notched 20 points and was a dominant offensive force for the Royals, and a constant threat during her 34 minutes of game time. Rachel Beauchamp was an absolute menace against the Mariners. She had an insane night at the side of the hoop, picking up 17 rebounds, with 12 of those being defensive. She also was a constant driving threat, with 8 of her 12 points coming from the free throw line as the Mariners could not keep their hands off of her.
The 59–52 score line marked the women’s first win of the season, and proved that the team could bounce back.
Then came the men’s game. Right from the start, it looked quite promising for the Royals, who were looking to bounce back as well. 15 points for the Royals signaled that their offensive pieces were finally starting to come together, while 18 points allowed looked good as well. But the stalemate didn’t last very long, as both teams broke out offensively. The Royals just happened to forget to play defence as well and were punished heavily for it. They scored an impressive 20 points, but allowed the Mariners to run up the scoreboard with 32 points.
The second half of the game was mayhem for the Royals’ defence who surrendered another 41 points in two quarters. The team was, simply put, outclassed by the Mariners, who looked to be worlds above them. The final score was 91–74.
Their next games saw the two teams move over to Nanaimo to take on the Camosun Chargers. The Chargers have had a rough start to their season, with both their teams going 0–2 to start the year. The Royals came over hoping to really pour it on.
The women had a chance to add on to their hot weekend first. A slow start saw both teams really explore the other’s defensive formation before the Royals really blew up in the second quarter. The team went off for 23 points in the quarter alone, blowing apart the Chargers’ defence right before the halftime signal.
After the break, the team picked up where they left off with a massive 30 point quarter, but gave up some ground defensively, allowing the Chargers to put away 23 points. They fixed that in the final quarter and boxed the home team out of scoring, allowing a stingy 8 points in the fourth. The team was led by a surging Sarah Jorgenson, and the ever-present Rachel Beauchamp. Jorgenson put away a team-high 22 points, with 14 of those being from the field and 8 from the line. Rachel Beauchamp had another huge night with 10 rebounds and 19 points for a double double-double on the weekend.
The men came into the side hoping to break their bad form against a team with equally bad form. The team came out in the first really hungry for the win. They smoked the Chargers defense for 23 points in the first quarter, but gave it right back in the second, allowing the Chargers to score 22.
After what must have been a tough team talk from the coach, the Royals came back out in the third looking hungry again. They rolled along to 28 points, and looked poised to take their first win, but a shaky fourth quarter nearly denied them it. However, the Chargers came just short of the comeback, and the Royals took their first game of the season, 72–68.
Grant Campbell was really the man of the match for the Royals. A team leading 25 points and 8 rebounds were just some the stats Grant recorded on the way to his team’s first win. Malcolm Mensah and rookie Lambert Pajayon were also notable for the team, each scoring 14 points.
