Image: Unity Christian Facebook / Unity Christian came up just short in the Single A B.C. senior boys basketball championship Saturday night in Langley, falling 72-68 to King David of Vancouver. Jay Smiens led the Flames with 21 points, and Seth Schuurman had 18 points. Unity had been looking to win its third consecutive Single A title.

By Mike Vanden Bosch

Unity Christian boys basketball

Unity Christian falls to King David in Single A provincial championship

Mar 15, 2023 | 1:23 PM

LANGLEY — After three decisive wins and a margin of victory averaging over 50 points in the provincial tournament, the Unity Christian senior boys basketball team had every reason to believe momentum was on its side heading into Saturday night’s Single A B.C. senior boys championship game.

Unity had been looking to achieve a third straight Single A title, a feat not achieved for nearly 30 years in B.C. St. Thomas Aquinas was the last Single A team to engineer that level of success.

Little did the Flames know that they’d run into the hot hand of 6-foot-4 centre Joseph Gabay, who led all scorers with 22 points, and go cold from three-point land with just 1-of-19 shooting beyond the arc, as King David upset Unity 72-68 in the championship game Saturday (Mar. 11) at Langley Events Centre.

“The only stat that I can remember (and can’t forget) is that we shot 1-19 from 3-point range vs. King David,” said Unity coach David Bron. “I believe that was a season-low for us, but I’m proud of how we still gave ourselves a chance to win. It felt like we had a few breaks not go our way, but that’s life and it doesn’t do any good to make excuses.”

After leading 58-56 with 4:30 left in the fourth quarter, it was neck-in-neck as King David pulled ahead on a three-pointer to make it 67-62 with a minute to go. Still, the Flames kept fighting.

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The Lions were 6-of-16 from three-point land in pulling off the come-from-behind victory. Unity led 52-47 nearly midway through the fourth quarter, but King David outscored Unity 25-16 the rest of the game.

“They just fought until the end,” Bron said. “I am beyond proud of them for that. King David played a fantastic game, and they deserve full credit for the win. The boys I coached this year are a fantastic group. They did everything I asked and more.”

Jay Smiens, a junior, led Unity Christian with 21 points. Seth Schuurman poured in 18 points in his final game in a Flames jersey, Ethan Vrolyk, also a senior playing in his last game, was the third Unity player in double figures with 10 points. Ryan Post had eight points and Daxton Vander Kooi added seven points.

Unity graduates six seniors including Lucas DeVisser, Daxton Vander Kooi, Eli Kingma, Ethan Vrolyk, Seth Schuurman, and Mason Bowman.

Assuming all juniors are back next year to play, Unity returns Ryan Fukomoto, Luke Graham, Jay Smiens, Chris Janssen, Luke McGee, Josiah Welch, and Ryan Post, the big man down low.

by Mike Vanden Bosch

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Unity Christian falls to King David in Single A provincial championship

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