East Langley Totems opened up the 2018/19 varsity boys basketball preseason with a hard fought 84-56 loss to Thomas Haney Thunder.
The young East Langley team was able to stay step with step with the older Thomas Haney team in the first quarter. After going down 10-1 in the first four minutes, grade 11 guard Nick Murray (19 points, 5 steals) was able to lift his team and pull the Totems within three points at the end of the first quarter.
The second quarter the Totems came out shooting the lights out. After big threes by grade 10 guard U’Shaun Campbell (9 pts., 3 reb., 5 stls.) and grade 12 forward Liam Bishop (8 pts., 7 reb.) the Totems held the lead through most of the second quarter. A late run by the Thunder saw them lead 44-37 at half.
The second half saw the Thunder come out flying and pull ahead with and dominate the third quarter, outscoring the Totems 25-11 to give them a comfortable 69-48 lead.
The fourth quarter wasn’t much better for the Totems but grade 11 forward Bryan Tran (3 pts., 6 reb.) put in a great effort on the boards and made the Thunder work for their fourth quarter points.
The final buzzer saw the Thunder win 84-56. Quarter scores were Thomas Haney 84 (20-24-25-15) and East Langley 56 (17-20-11-8).
This game was a great test for the Totems. With only two grade 12 players and a mix of grade 11 and grade 10 players this team has taken a great step forward in building a solid Aldergrove Secondary team for the upcoming high school season, starting in December.
This week sees the Totems play two more away games, on Monday, Nov. 19, 7:30 p.m. at LA Mathison and Thursday, Nov., 23, 7 p.m. at Westview.