The Quest men's and women's basketball teams are clawing their way back into contention after a successful weekend on the road against the Kwantlen Eagles.
The teams won all four games they played on Friday (Feb. 4) and Saturday (Feb. 5) to make the playoffs a distinct possibility for both squads.
According to women's team head coach Mike Woollard, a strong start combined with a solid defence helped the Kermodes win 80-57 on Friday.
"Our first quarter may have been as well as we have played all year as we jumped on Kwantlen, finishing the quarter up 31-11," he said. "I really thought we had contributions up and down our lineup as everyone played more than 13 minutes and contributed on both ends of the court, making the right rotations and the extra pass."
The numbers told most of the story as the Kermodes held Kwantlen to just seven offensive rebounds in the game and beat them up on the boards 44-26. Ruth Thanert dominated, scoring 32 points on 14-of-17 shooting and Delainee Behrns added 14 points.
On Saturday, the team led the entire game and withstood a second-quarter push from Kwantlen, cruising to a 73-51 win.
"We stopped doing some of those things in the second quarter and they closed the gap to just six at the half," he said."But the girls responded with another solid effort in the second half as we stretched the lead throughout."
Behrns led the way with 20 points for Quest while Thanert picked up 12 points and 10 rebounds.
The men ensured an undefeated weekend for Quest, winning 67-61 on Friday and 86-75 on Saturday.
Despite falling behind 16-4 on Friday, the Kermodes stormed back in the second to take a 28-27 lead into the second half. The third quarter saw the team again fall behind by nine but they came through in the fourth to pick up the win.
"Great job by the guys to grind it out on defence and we hit some big shots to take the lead and then made our free throws when needed," said head coach Sean Shook.
Jose Colorado led the Kermodes in scoring with 20 points, while Bryce Froberg picked up 15 points and five boards.
Saturday's game was a strong defensive effort by the Kermodes, as the team picked up an impressive 18 steals, 13 of which were pilfered by John Pankratz, who also added 18 points. The Kermodes were in the driver's seat for the entire game as they grabbed the lead early and never let it go. Froberg had another strong game, scoring 22 points to go along with six rebounds and nine assists.
The wins move the men's record to five wins and nine losses, just two points out of the sixth and final playoff spot. The women now have a record of seven wins and seven losses, four points out of the playoffs.
Next up for both teams will be back-to-back games on Friday (Feb. 11) and Saturday (Feb. 12) against their rivals Capilano University. Start times will be 6 p.m. for the women and 8 p.m. for the men and all games take place at Quest University gym.
For more information on the teams, visit www.questkermodes.ca.
