They didn鈥檛 have to deal with a guy in a hockey mask, but the Quest Kermodes women鈥檚 basketball team had a different type of Friday the 13th scare against the Capilano Blues.
The undefeated squad trailed for most of Friday鈥檚 game, but kept the streak alive with a comeback 72-66 win inside the Kermode Kave.
According to head coach Dany Charlery, the opposition always brings its best game to the top-ranked team in the country.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a price to pay for winning, there鈥檚 a price to pay for being ranked, and a lot of teams want to be the first one to knock you off,鈥� said Charlery.聽
The Blues came out strong, and Quest trailed by five at the half and were still down 50-47 heading into the fourth quarter. Because it was the teams鈥� third and final meeting of the season, Charlery expected a tight game.
鈥淲e knew they were going to be looking at film and planning on how to stop what we do,鈥� said Charlery. 鈥淏ut it was just a matter of us getting back to our principles.鈥�
In the fourth quarter, the Kermodes showed those fundamentals by taking advantage on offence while playing stingy defense to mount the late comeback. Quest鈥檚 Shayna Cameron led the charge by making several clutch shots in the final quarter. She finished with a game-high 24 points while also bringing down 10 rebounds in the win.
The Kermodes also had some strong supporting performances from Andrea Eidsvik (15 points, six assists), Aimee Johnston (six points, six rebounds) and Emily Frame (seven points, four rebounds).
The women鈥檚 record now stands at 17 wins and no losses with four games remaining in the season.聽
The Quest men didn鈥檛 receive as much of a scare as the women, as they jumped out to an early lead against the Blues and never trailed at any point in the game to win 82-74.
鈥淚n the locker room before the game, we really emphasized having a good start,鈥� said assistant coach Cassidy Kannemeyer.聽
While the Kermodes held an 11-point lead after the first quarter, it was their second half performance that cemented the win.
鈥淚 thought we came out in third quarter with some good adjustments,鈥� said Kannemeyer. 鈥淲e really pushed the ball in transition and that gave us the advantage going forward.鈥�
Playing without key forwards Connor Heinrichs and Justin Tryon, many of the bench players were given more quality minutes.
Michael Powell scored a team-high 15 points while Noah DeRappard-Yuswack dropped 14 鈥� and both players finished with nine rebounds. Second-year forward Paul Getz scored seven points and added a game-high 13 rebounds.
鈥淎ll three of those guys contributed to make up for what we鈥檙e missing from Justin and Connor,鈥� said Kannemeyer.
Following the victory, the men remain tied with Langara for second place in the Pacwest. The men get a chance to control their own destiny when they square off with Langara on Saturday (Feb. 21).
The teams will go up against Douglas College on Friday (Feb. 20) and Langara on Saturday (Feb. 21). Both games are at home, with the women tipping-off at 6 p.m. and the men at 8 p.m.聽
