The UFV Cascades basketball teams rebounded from Jan. 17 and 18 defeats at top-seeded UBC with decisive weekend sweeps at the UFV Athletic Centre against the largely inferior MacEwan Griffins on Jan. 24 and 25. Running away 80-41 on Friday and 66-39 on Saturday, UFV’s WBB remain the second best team in Canada West’s Pacific division at 11-5 overall after this weekend’s action. After a heartbreaking 93-88 double overtime loss to the Thunderbirds, UFV’s MBB put two in the win column against the Griffins, coming away 104-64 and 93-61. With Saturday featuring as an emotional senior night for Chris Jackson, his team remains fifth in the Pacific division at 7-9.
Maddy Gobeil was the best player on the court Friday night, scoring a game-high 26 points (PTS) to go along with five rebounds (REB) and six steals (STL). Julia Tuchscherer had the most time on the court of the Cascades, her play warranting it with 13 points, seven rebounds, three assists and three blocks (BLK) — a category she leads the program in.
“She’s a real rock defensively …” said Coach Al Tuchscherer. “She does a good job in the post and controlling the paint, and she’s turned herself into a pretty good shot blocker.”
Gobeil would lead the Cascades in scoring again on Saturday with 22 PTS, while Unity Obasuyi of the Griffins scored a game-high 23 PTS.
Friday was milestone night for Dario Lopez, who surpassed both 1,000 points and 500 rebounds. The third-year forward scored 14 PTS and grabbed four REBs.
“I’ve been here for four years, and it’s something that we all look up to — we have the records up there … I’ve always wanted to be up there, so being up there for two things is just amazing,” said Lopez.
Three years have flown by, and Lopez is already approaching his senior season.
“When he arrived I’ll always remember Troy Gottselig, our assistant coach at the time, said ‘He’s going to be your all-time leading scorer [and] leading rebounder,’” Coach Joe Enevoldson recalled. “He’s on a path to do that. This is just a milestone of many milestones he’s gonna accomplish here over the next year and a half.”
Jake Willemsen was lights-out from beyond the arc on Saturday, shooting an incredible 7-for-10 from three-point range. Willemsen and Lopez scored game highs of 23 PTS, as the Cascades’ starters issued statement performances. Ismael Hernandez was another standout scoring 15 points, shooting 5-for-7 from the field, and 3-for-5 from deep.
The Cascades have three graduating seniors: Jackson, along with Willemsen, and team captain Takeshi Croke. After a moving tribute to Jackson this weekend, the team’s next senior night is the season finale against arch-rival TWU at home on Feb. 14 and 15.
“This senior night’s a little bit different, obviously, with Chris’ injury and his family being up here from Vegas …” Coach Enevoldson said. “Senior nights are emotional, and they can be tough. Our three seniors are Chris and our two fifth years, [who] have been culture setters for our program, so it’s a little more emotional than it would normally be. They’re just great, all three of them are great … our guys love and respect them.”
