By Kyle Balzer (Contributor) – Email
Print Edition: November 14, 2012
It was a good day to be inside on a cold Saturday evening. What better way to spend it than watching our UFV Cascades take on the University of Victoria Vikes in Canada-West basketball action? Both the UFV women and men were ranked in the CIS top 10 poll and were looking to make a statement that they’re ready to play with the best in the nation for the 2012-2013 season.
The women came into Saturday night with a 3–0 start and were hoping for another win against an aggressive Victoria team. The first quarter got off to a great start as the Cascades scored nine straight points courtesy of rookie forward Shayna Litman and her quick moves in the key. The team got to an 11-point lead that would continue to climb in the second quarter as Sarah Wierks dominated on the offence, scoring seven straight points. Second-year general studies student Kayli Sartori showed outstanding defence, leading to eight Victoria turnovers in the first half. The score was 35–23 in favour of UFV.
The third quarter got the best of the Cascades when the Vikes outscored them 13–20, bringing the game to a five-point differential. But thanks to four-year veterans Nicole Wierks and Courtney Bartel and their teamwork on the offensive end, the Cascades earned their fourth straight win of the season by a final score of 62–52. Top scorers were Sarah and Nicole Wierks, scoring 14 points each. Coach Al Tuchscherer, in his 11th year as a UFV coach, was very pleased with his team’s performance. “It was great to win this game,” he said, “especially against a quality team like Victoria. A lot of valuable lessons to take away from the challenges they presented.”
The men’s varsity team was heading into Saturday night with a record of 2–1 to begin their season, facing, literally, a tall team from the island. The green men kept the game tight with the incredible defensive play of kinesiology student Kevon Parchment. He would contribute eight defensive rebounds all together. However, the Vikes would quickly bounce back, scoring 10 straight points to take the lead. Parchment would score all of UFV’s six points in the second quarter, which wouldn’t be enough as they trailed Victoria 23–42 at the half.
A spark was ignited for the Cascades in the third quarter; they scored five three-pointers in less than four minutes, a contribution from Klaus Figueredo, Nathan Kendall and five-year veteran forward Kyle Grewal, who went 67 per cent from the three-point line. UFV would outscore Victoria 27–16 in the third quarter, cutting the lead to just eight points. Despite the spirited comeback by UFV, in which three players sacrificed all five of their fouls, the Vikes would hold on to win the game by a score of 72–78. The top scorer for UFV was Kevon Parchment with 23 points; Kyle Grewal would follow-up with 21 points. Although it was a tough loss for the Cascades, coach Adam Friesen was delighted with team’s confidence late in the game. “We played great in the second half,” he said. “Our offence came alive and we hit key baskets to get back into the game.” UFV’s record now falls to 2–2.
The Cascades will head into Vancouver this weekend to play the UBC Thunderbirds, but you can catch them on November 23–24 when they take on both the University of Manitoba Bisons and the University of Winnipeg Wesmen.
