The gym at Ballenas Secondary School is going to be some loud Thursday morning, as the senior boys basketball team takes to the hardwood for its final home game of the year.
Ballenas’ senior boys and senior girls teams traveled to Powell River last week to take on the Brooks Thunderbirds. Both teams won handily, with the boys rolling to an 87-49 final.
Darcy MacKenzie led the Whaler boys with a game-high, season-high 25. James Smith chipped in with 16, and almost everyone on the team fed the net.
The win ups the Whaler boys AA league record to 2-1 with three regular season games remaining.
The blue and white are home to Alberni tonight (Tuesday) at 6 p.m,. and return to the court at 11:30 a.m. Thursday for their final home game of the season against Brooks. The Whalers travel to Courtenay that night to close out the regular season against Vanier’s Towhees.
That game could determine first in the four-team North Island AAA league.
The eight-team Upper Island playdowns, comprised of four from the North and four form the Mid-Island, is slated for Wellington in Nanaimo Feb. 24-26. The top four teams from that tournament advance to the Island finals the following week. The top two teams from the Islands move on to the provincials.
“The team seems to be coming together at the right time,” Whaler coach Bob Dean said Sunday, adding, “they’re playing hard for each other, and I’m looking forward to the three games coming up this week as that will determine our standings for the playoffs.”