It's been a November to remember for the Quest University Kermodes men's team basketball team.
Quest continued its strong run this month on Friday (Nov. 29) with an 80-61 win over the Columbia Bible College (CBC) Bearcats. They improved to six wins and one loss on the season and set the pace with a 25-8 lead after one quarter of play.
Despite the win, Quest head coach Sean Shook said he wasn't totally satisfied.
We can't have mental mistakes and for whatever reason we seem to play to the level of our competition, he said, noting that the Kermodes allowed the Bearcats to hang around after the opening frame. It's a 19 point win but their best player [Marcio Juk] wasn't playing and they had a short bench. That first quarter we did a great job defensively and were talking out there but we proved how good we can be when we beat Langara earlier this month.
Cartiea French-Toney was flying in the first quarter and led the team with 21 points to go with four rebounds and three steals. Jose Colorado and Paul Getz contributed with 14 and 11 points respectively, while Mohammed Dadfar had a team high seven rebounds. Shook said he's been pleased with Dadfar, who has received increased playing time with the injury to big man Connor Heinrichs.
He took advantage of an opportunity and he's really worked his way onto the main roster, he said.
Shook said he hopes to have Heinrichs healthy in the new year. Quest shot an impressive 44 per cent from the field and bested CBC 54 to 40 in total rebounds. They also distributed the ball well with eight different players picking up assists.
For the women it was the most lopsided regular season win in the history of the program as Quest destroyed CBC 96-30. The game also marked the most points the team has ever scored in a regular season game.
Like Shook, head coach Dany Charlery wasn't totally satisfied with the win.
I was impressed with our defense but we need to keep it up and play the same way against some of the better teams in the league, he said.
He said it was a nice turnaround after a trip to Vancouver Island earlier this month saw the Kermodes suffer two losses. He was also pleased with the team's start, as they opened up a 21-7 lead after the first quarter.
Quest was led by Miriam Baumann, who racked up 31 points, eight rebounds and six steals. Shayna Cameron picked up 14 points and Katrin Sandbichler had a strong all around game with 11 points, nine rebounds and seven steals.
The women's team improved to five wins and two losses on the season and are ranked second in their division.
Both teams will return to the floor at Quest University on Saturday (Nov. 30) when they take on the Kwantlen Eagles. The women tip-off at 6 p.m., the men hit the court at 8 p.m.
Check the print edition of The Chief for details from Saturday's game.
