Scoreboard:
W Basketball: Spartans 71-59
M Basketball: Cascades 88-72
The University of the Fraser Valley Cascades hosted the first annual “Battle of the Valley” basketball challenge at the Abbotsford Entertainment and Sports Centre (AESC) tonight in Abbotsford, BC with the TWU Spartans women’s basketball team defeating the UFV Cascades, 71-59 and the UFV Cascades men’s team defeating the TWU Spartans, 88-72, in the first university basketball games ever played at the AESC.
The UFV Cascades women’s basketball team came out strong and quickly established a lead and led by 7 points after the first quarter. The Spartans defense would start to dominate the middle quarters as they held UFV to 24 points in the second and thid quarters while out scoring the CIS tenth ranked team, by 14 points to go into the fourth quarter up by 7 points. In the final quarter, UFV was held to 13 points as the Spartans would go on to win their 8th of the campaign. The Cascades Canada West west division record falls to 10-5, good for second place.
” I thought we gave them life in the second quarter where we had a chance to put bthem away. Thought we should have put them away at that time, but they just got energized from that run and the game was lost at that point,” said UFV head coach Al Tuchscherer. “We need to regroup and get ready for three tough games.”
The Cascades were led by Aieisha Luyken, Mission, BC and Kayli Sartori, Chilliwack, BC each with 11 points. Sarah Wierks, Chilliwack, BC added 9 points and a team leading 9 rebounds.
The Spartans top scorer was Laurelle Weigl, Stony Plain, Alberta 18 points and 10 rebounds.
TWU 15 18 20 18 = 71 (8-7)
UFV 22 13 11 13 = 59 (10-5)
Top Scorer: TWU: L Weigl 18 points/ UFV: A Luyken & K Sartori 11 points
Team Rebounds: TWU: 10+29=39/ UFV: 7+31=38
The UFV Cascades men’s basketball team defeated their arch rivals the TWU Spartans, 88-72, to improve their West Division record to 10-5, in Canada West. The Cascades ranked 10th in the CIS top ten poll, came out strong and led from the opening whistle to the final whistle. UFV quickly opened up a double digit lead and led by 12 points after the first quarter holding TWU to 7 points. The Cascades continued to play excellent defense in the first half and went into the locker room up by 11 at the break.
In the second half, Cascades continued their dominance on the boards and held TWU in check as they out scored the Spartans by 5 points in the half to earn their 10th conference win of the campaign, by 16 points.
“I was happy with the defensive effort we put forth. Holding TWU to seven points in the first quarter set the tone for the game. We know they have some offensive fire power, and we will have to prepare for them again in two weeks. We still have lots of room fopr improvement going forward into the post season, and that will be the goal in practice this week,” said UFV Head Coach Barnaby Craddock.
The Cascades top scorer was Joel Friesen, Abbotsford, BC with a game high 24 point performance and 8 total rebounds. Kyle Grewal, Surrey, BC added 17 points and 5 rebounds in the victory. Five different Cascades were in double figures and nine different players scored at least two points.
Trinity Western’s top scorer was Calvin Westbrook, Courtenay, BC with 21 points, Tristan Smith, Los Angeles, CA was thev only other Spartan in double figures with 12 points.
TWU 7 16 29 20 = 72 (8-7)
UFV 19 15 27 27 = 88 (10-5)
Top Scorers: TWU: C Westbrook 21 points/ UFV: J Friesen 24 points
Team Rebounds: TWU: 6+23=29 / UFV: 11+28=39
First annual Battle of the Valley a success
The first annual “Battle of the Valley” men’s and women’s basketball doubleheader at the AESC was considered a success. The crowd hit 800 spectators the four teams played in a state of the art arena, the home of the Abbotsford Heat, the AHL affiliate of the Calgary Flames.
The tournament organizers are already looking ahead to next year’s second annual doubleheader. “We were thrilled to be able to host university basketball for the first time ever at the AESC,” said Gobal Spectrum’s Jason Blumenfeld, General Manager of the AESC. “It was a great doubleheader put on by UFV and TWU. We are excited to further develop our partnership with the university and expand the range of entertainment that the venue has to offer the community.”
The Cascades were also very happy hosting the doubleheader at the AESC. “It was a big success,” said UFV Athletic DIrector Chris Bertram. “I want to thank Jason Blumenfeld and his staff at the AESC for supporting UFV athletics and CIS university basketball. I look forward to next year’s doubleheader.”
The date will be determined based on the 2012-13 Canada West regular season schedule which comes out in June, 2012.
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