November 26, 2003 Sports ¢ the other press ©

 

   

 

 

In honest truth, Nick Hope wrote this article for me.
This game...this event had Nick Hope written all over
it—not to mention Omar Ganief, Mike Kim, and Cody
Berg but you have to start somewhere. I heard a lot of
hype*about this game beforehand because of the reputa-
tion the UCC Sun Demons had develloped. The boys
from Kamloops lost a heartbreaker to the Capilano
Blues at the Provincial Finals last season when Douglas
hosted the tournament. Almost the entire team from last
year returned on a quest for another shot at the champi-
onship. Going into the game against Douglas, UCC was
undefeated and had been labeled this year’s heir to the
throne. That’s a lot of pressure to place on a young team.
Much-a-do about the game was who earned the respon-
sibility of guarding Skye Buck, a long-range, sharp-
shooter with a girl’s name. It would be Nick Hope.

If you missed this game because it was at Pine Tree,
there won't be a better game for a long time so too bad
for you. It all began with a three-point bucket from the
fingertips of Nick Hope. In the first few minutes Hope
had five of the eight points before UCC got on the
board. Douglas super-fan, Gerard Then noted that
everything Hope touched seemed to go in. Team cap-
tain, Cole Birnie got in on the action by pinning a shot
against the backboard with authority. The crowd got
behind the Royals and never shut-up. So many signs, so
early suggested it would be a huge game. Donald Burton
missed out on a big part of the first half by getting two
early fouls but Mike Kim picked up the slack two-fold.
Kim’s hot hand earned him 14 points in the first half
alone. Beyond the arc, he was four for five. Douglas
made eight three pointers in the first period of play. The
hottest hands were on Omar Ganief, Mike Kim, and
Nick Hope.

Defensively the Royals were sensational. Coach
McGilligan used that adjective to qualify the whole
game but I wanted to use it for defense. Cody Berg was
like a big tree and owned the paint. Tim Powers joined
the fray coming off the bench. Power, Berg, and Ganief
all had big games cleaning the boards for the Royals.
There's that name Ganief again. He truly was every-
where. The Royals extended their lead to 31-14 and
even the fans were calling a timeout for the Sun Demons
who looked lost and ugly. Honestly, some of the worst
haircuts in the league!

The Demons had one spade to play before the half

closed mercifully on them. Post player Jeff Friesen drove

on Cody Berg and dunked on the big man. It was a real
shocker and potential game-breaker for the Demons
BUT Mike Kim responded with one of his threes so it
wasnt much of a play after all.

This game never slowed in momentum. There was
even more excitement in the second half. Omar Ganief
continued to punish UCC anytime they left him open.
He truly had a stellar night. Early in the action, the refs
were poised to let UCC back into the game with some
interesting calls. Skye Buck was mysteriously fouled on
a shot, but when the officials said it was not a shooting
foul, the Sun Demon coach became enraged. Coach
Nevin Gleddie went as far as requesting that the whole
game should come to a halt so he could voice his opin-
ion. The referees appropriately disagreed with the crazy
man and gave him a technical foul for being annoying.
Even Gleddie tempted their ire by snatching the game
ball away until he had finished talking. Cole Birnie con-
verted both free throws for the technical.

Foul trouble began to add up in the second half. UCC
reached bonus situation early so Douglas made many
trips to the free-throw line. Fortunately they shot as well
from the line as they did from the three-point line. The
Royals had trouble of their own when Cody Berg,
Donald Burton, and Mike Kim all played with four
fouls. Each player fouled out by the end but not with-
out having made a huge contribution to the game. Berg
had 15 points, a whole bunch of rebounds and a block
or two; Burton had 13 points; and Kim finished with
18. :

With eight minutes left in the game, I actually put
down my notes because I couldn't keep up with the
action. Douglas had a fire under them the entire game.
Nick Hope was outstanding at both ends of the court.
He shutdown the so-called threat-with-a-girl’s-name,
Skye Buck. Any hoops Buck did make, he had to work
twice as hard for. It would be hard to choose between
Hope and Ganief for a player of the game honour since
both players lit the place up with 23 and 25 respective-
ly. Head Coach McGilligan was tickled pink with joy
after the win. He had the look of a man who had won
the lottery. It’s too early in the season to say, “Hey, we
beat the best team in the league so give us the champi-
onship.”

Douglas had a tough match-up the following night
against the UNBC Timber-WUSS. Check the BCCAA

or Douglas Athletics website for updated scores.

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