Gold Rush Royals looking to strike gold, not oil Brian McLennon, OP Sports Editor In their pursuit for an unprecedented 20th National Badminton Championship, the Royals are heading toward Mount Royal College in Calgary, Alberta looking for Gold, not oil. In Kamloops this past weekend, the Royals were offi- cially crowned the 2006 Provincial Champions. The Royals swept all three league tournaments and recorded the high- est point totals in the past two years. Led by singles sensa- tion Lyndsay Thomson, the Women’s Singles champion solidified her place as she advanced to the Canadian College’s Athletics’ Association (CCAA) National Championships tournament by defeating Shao-lin Guo of Capilano. In addition to Thomson, the Royals will be sending Women’s Doubles winners Aki Ito and Alice Lee. The dynamic duo defeated Kylee Arbrahamson and Megan Yim of Malaspina to earn a berth at the national tourna- ment. Also traveling to Calgary will be Alvin Lau and Charmagne Yeung, who took home the gold at the Provincials as they defeated Adrian Liu and Lisa Orlandi of Langara. After their spectacular performance at the Provincial Championships, both Lau and Yeung were named the BCCAA Athletes of the Week. A graduate from Gladstone Secondary in Vancouver, the freshman Lau is also a mem- ber of the BC Provincial team and has been identified by the National Team U-23 talent pool. Yeung is a graduate of Kwantlen Park Secondary in Surrey and is having an outstanding rookie campaign as an instrumental part of the team’s provincial champi- onship. Playoff Bound Douglas sends three teams to Provincials The Douglas Royals’ basketball teams and women’s volleyball team are bound for the BCCAA Provincial Championships. In an exciting push for playoff posi- tioning and qualification, the last couple of weeks were white knuckles for some while others were just looking for a better playoff position. Volleyball leading the way Leading the way in his first year as Head Coach, Ryan Vijandre will be heading to Abbotsford, BC this weekend to compete in the BCCAA Provincial Championships at Columbia Bible College. With six graduating seniors, the Royals are considered potentially “dangerous” as they have proven in the past that they can play with the big girls. They packed the number two nationally ranked Okanagan three straight sets a few weeks back and pushed Capilano to five and four sets two weeks ago. With a well-balanced team, Vijandre has several options that could push them over the hump in the playoffs. Krista Schmidt, Lauren Stockstad, Lauren Johnston, Michelle Wong, and Ashley and Jayme Greig all represent Douglas in the final league leaders’ categories. The Royals will face the team that they defeated at home this past weekend, the CBC Bearcats. Should the nationally ranked (15) Royals play as well as they did against the Bearcats, they would face the number three ranked team in the nation, Malaspina. However, with CBC oPORTS having the home crowd advantage, the Royals will need to approach this match one set at a time. The playoff action begins this Thursday, March 23, 2006. Royals vs. CBC at 6:30pm. Basketball Both the men’s and women’s basketball teams have a big challenge ahead of them for the BCCAA Provincial Championships, March 2-4, 2006, at Malaspina University in Nanaimo, BC. Both teams finished the regular league with identical .500 records (9-9), however, the men managed to secure the fifth seed in the playoffs rankings, while the women grabbed the final position and will enter the tournament as the sixth seed. Women’ s Basketball: Six of one, half dozen of another Trust me when I say, the Women’s basketball team is no ordinary six seeded team. With a handful of experienced players, coach Ed Lunn should feel confident heading into next week’s Provincials. “T feel good about our chances,” said Lunn. “We have had good games against Langara this season and we were able to get a split in the series.” The women’s team has shown flashes of brilliance at times, with a complete shop- ping list of players at all positions. Lunn may have the right recipe by the final taste tasting. The Royals are solid, and it all starts with 3rd-year guard Tara McNeill running the show. McNeill has a great perimeter shooter in Megan Lowrie to “kick it out to” when she drives the lane, or she can take it solo or drop a BADMINTON 2005 - 2006 dime to ‘G-Dub’ (Gillian Weinrath), who has shown that she can take over a game as she did against UNBC. If all else fails...Bridget “get out the way” O’Brien can inflict some serious damage. If you haven’t seen the movie Cinderella Man, then you can watch this “take a lickin’ and keep on tickin”’ gal play...she’s tough. The Royals will need that toughness against a strong and talented Langara Falcons team that is seeded number three in the tourney and tenth in the nation. Beside the O’Brien, Lowrie, and McNeill, the Royals’ cupboards are not bare. Patti Olsen has done an outstand- ing job in her freshman year, along with sophomore, Megan ‘Mini’ McKenna. Heidi Padjen and Sarah Josefson also have provided some solid play to allow others to get a breather. “Our bench could play a major role,” said Lunn. “We need everyone to bring their best game next weekend.” af Men’s Basketball: Return of the Jedi: Obi-Wan-Keno “Oei” Head coach Jamie Oei is heading back to the BCCAA Provincials Championships...again. In his first year at the wheel, the talented coach will return to the madness of March as a head coach. The young coach is a bit of a Jedi in the coaching circles, as many know that he has a knack for getting the most out of what he’s got in order to make something happen. With a Jabba the Hut Jambalaya-like roster resulting from a late hire last year, Oei had the force with him in the first half, as the team was sitting in first place after five weeks with a 5—0 record. In second half of the season, the Royals faltered as they lost their first three weekends after the break. However, key wins over UNBC a few of weeks ago and CBC this past weekend helped to keep the Royals’ heads above water. In their first round playoff game against their cross-bridge rivals, the Capilano College Blues, the Royals will look to avenge the two earlier losses in which the Blues slipped through with narrow victories. The Royals will rely heavily on centre-forward Cody Berg for points in the paint due to the sudden lost of potential all-star forward, Jon Thomson. Thomson, our thoughts are with you. Help for the Royals will come with the savvy play of Clayton Heuring. The hulking swing forward, is not your typical swing forward. The Maple Ridge Secondary graduate has opened the eyes of spectators and critics alike with his “men’s league-like” quick thinking and his ability to stroke it from behind the three-point line. Just getting into form, the sophomore has provided the Royals with another punch from the outside, while also providing some size on the inside for defending. In addition to the vets Cody Berg, Craige Green, James Anderson, and Geoff “Rudy” Lenahan, who had a career evening at CBC scoring 13 points and grabbing three rebounds, the rookies better take note...this is the BCCAA playoffs. The Royals will need strong minutes from players like Kelly Kilpatrick and Jevon Boyde-Joseph, who have come ; on strong in the second half of the season. Capilano has historically played a fast tempo game. Their track meet style of play forces teams into making mistakes, which they can capitalize on with | their transition offense. I doubt next weekend will be different. Royals’ guards Green and Rogers better be prepared to take care of the ball. “We'll need to get back on transition defense and take care of the ball,” said junior guard, Craige Green. “We [also] need to control Ufford’s [Chris] perimeter shooting,” The Blues boast the best “dime dropping” back court in the league, with McLaren [Brent] and Fadl-Alla [Saad]. With each averaging five assist a game, which only means one thing...someone is scoring a bunch points for the Blues. Enter Aleksic Nebojsa. The daunting forward is the Blues leading scorer and is third in the league scoring averaging 17 points per game and 7.5 rebounds per game. The Royals will need to contain this versatile player who can hit from the behind the three point arch and post you down low; add Justin Van Loo to the mix, and the Royals could have their hands full. So, with his first appearance in years, Jedi Jamie Oei will be looking to create something special again as he prepares his troops for battle. May the force be with you.