Missed shots, untimely turnovers and struggles at the free throw line came back to bite the Quest University Kermodes men's team on Friday (Feb. 21).
Quest needed a win to guarantee the second seed for the playoffs and a first round bye but after losing 89-86 to the Capilano Blues, the Kermodes will get neither.
The Kermodes ran into a much improved Blues team, who never gave up even after trailing by as many as 11 points in the second quarter and eight points after the first half. The final three minutes saw the teams trade leads back and forth and the turning point came when Quest guard Cartiea French-Toney turned the ball over with five seconds remaining and his team trailing 87-86.
Quest quickly fouled and fell behind 89-86 with two seconds to go and one final shot to tie the game. Sharpshooter Jose Colorado, playing in his final regular season home game for Quest, had a bit of a look from the three point line but couldn't make the shot and Quest dropped the game.
Despite the turnover, French-Toney had an excellent game with 30 points, 10 assists and six steals. However, he struggled from the charity stripe, only hitting six of 12. Colorado scored 19 points and forward Paul Getz had a strong game with 16 points and eight rebounds.
The loss to Capilano hurt Quest even more after the news that the VIU Mariners defeated the Camosun Chargers to leapfrog over Quest in the final standings. The Mariners and Kermodes both finished with records of 16 wins and five losses but the Mariners place ahead of Quest due to having the edge in the team's head to head games.
Quest will now have to start on Thursday (Feb. 27) instead of Friday (Feb. 28) if they had placed second and received a first round bye. The Kermodes will now take on the host team and sixth place finisher Douglas College Royals on Thursday at 8 p.m. Quest defeated Douglas all three times the teams squared off in the regular season.
Despite the disappointing end to the season, the 2013-14 campaign was the most successful ever for the Kermodes, with the team setting a club record for wins.
It was a much better to conclusion to the season for the women's team, who led the entire game and defeated Capilano 87-63.
The win improved the women's record to 16 wins and five losses, also setting a new team record but like the men's team they finished in third place. The VIU Mariners lost their first game of the year to the Camosun Chargers on Thursday and Camosun's win saw them clinch second place and the first round bye.
Women's team head coach Dany Charlery said he liked his team's effort today.
We worked on a few things this week and the girls did exactly what we asked of them, he said. They really wanted to win this one for the graduating seniors and the seniors played really well for us.
The game marked the final appearance in the 'Kermode Kave' for seniors Courtney Harpur, Cynthia Lau and Cassidy Osterling, all of whom have been key members of the team for the past four years. Osterling was named the Pacwest player of the week last week and she kept her hot shooting streak going with 12 points tonight.
Quest also got a big night from Katrin Sandbichler, who had 16 points, seven rebounds, seven steals and six assists. Guard Shayna Cameron equaled Sandbichler with a 16 point night.
The women's team matches up with the Kwantlen Eagles in round one of the playoffs and hit the court on Thursday at 6 p.m. Quest defeated Kwantlen all three times they met in the regular season but Charlery said he won't be taking them lightly.
It's a bit of a weird match up because some of the teams we've played closely against have spanked Kwantlen and some of the teams we spanked have barely beaten Kwantlen, he said. They're a young team and we need to figure out how to guard them and play against them.
For more information on the Pacwest playoffs, visit www.pacwestbc.ca/2014basketball.
