Hartley Miller's Slap Shots, Friday March 7th, 2008

By Hartley Miller

A new state of the art building, a perfect 10-0 home record, a Provincial championship, and a capacity crowd of more than 2,000 for your final game. This is utopia in BCCAA College basketball.

The UNBC Lady Timberwolves are preparing for the CCAA National Championship March 14^th to 16th in Truro, Nova Scotia. Regardless of how they perform at this event, nothing surpasses the joy and excitement of that lopsided 71-54 triumph over the Camosun Chargers in the B.C. Women’s final.

How convincing was it?  The Timberwolves were down 51-47 early in the 3^rd, when the T-wolves went on an incredible 22-0 run. While the Victoria based Chargers couldn’t earn a point during this stretch, UNBC (urged on by a raucous crowd) had everything fall in, including a three point bank shot, courtesy of tourney MVP Laurel Wallace, and a hook shot for two from all-star Jaclyn Nazareno.

Home court in basketball is more meaningful than home ice in hockey or home field in football
or baseball, especially when the overflowing crowd is in a frenzy cheering on the locals.

The Lady T-wolves compiled a 3-5 record on the road this season, but thanks to the energy produced by the unofficial “sixth player”, they were unbeatable at home.

“It feels pretty good. I can’t thank our crowd enough. Its insane playing in this gym, it’s so fun. It is crazy. You can’t explain it; I can’t stop smiling all game. It’s so loud, you just feel so much support”, said a beaming Wallace.

“It (the crowd) was an unbelievable atmosphere to play in. I have never encountered that before when I’ve played and when I’ve coached. It was very very awesome”, added a noticeably proud coach Loralyn Murdoch.

“It was amazing. You never get a crowd like that anywhere we go. It was pretty sweet” stated Chelsea McMullen, who just last year was playing for Kelly Road. “I have never won any big championship, this is like so huge to win”, added McMullen.

Camosun coach, Brett Westcott, who liked to “bark” at the referees, lost touch with reality when he scoffed at suggestions that the hometown support made a difference. “Our preparations were fine. We aren’t playing against the crowd. I played in six provincial championship games, junior high school and high school, right. I mean we played at Cap College with lots of people. It is not an issue. That’s not why we lost. We lost because we turned it over and gave too many offensive rebounds.”

Fans may not be able to score baskets, but neither can coaches; however that doesn’t diminish the role of either.

Quick Hitters:

In retrospect, with the Lady Timberwolves popularity, the women’s championship game should have been played after the men’s final (won by Douglas 89-76 over UBC-Okanagan).

The local referees might have felt snubbed as PG officials were overlooked to work the tournament. It should be noted however, that the officiating was top notch.

UNBC’s Lindsay Anderson put in one gutsy performance and certainly won’t forget to wear her ankle brace again. The 5^th year guard ignored the pain and played with a small fracture in her ankle. The injury occurred in practice just before the tournament.

Prince George will always be a hockey town, but thanks to the inept play of the Cougars and Spruce Kings, Timberwolves basketball is taking over. The team of the year in PG is already a slam dunk.

Next year, the UNBC men will get their moment in the spotlight when they host the CCAA Men’s basketball Nationals. Yes, the momentum continues to build, and thanks to the Lady T-wolves local sports fans now have something worth celebrating.

From the quote rack:

“There is a report that Debbie Clemens and Jessica Canseco compared breast implants at the 1998 Canseco party. Looks like prosecutors looking to convict Clemens for perjury might have a strong closing augment.” Contributor Bill Littlejohn of South Lake Tahoe, California

“The Florida Marlins have announced they will form an all-male, plus-size cheerleading squad. They will be called the Marlin Brandos.”NBC’s Conan O’Brien

“The Oscars were filled with pregnant actresses, Jessica Alba, Kate Blanchett, Nicole Kidman and Angelina Jolie. I’m telling you that Tom Brady has to be contained.”Comedy writer Alex Kaseberg

“NHL goaltenders are asking to be allowed to advertise on their jerseys. Word is Martin Brodeur has lined up a deal with Sub Zero, Roberto Luongo is in discussions with Shutout Security and Vesa Toskala has had talks with Target.” Contributor Derek Wilken of Calgary (http://smacksport.blogspot.com/)

“The new Will Ferrell movie “Semi-pro” was the most popular of the weekend, but did not do nearly as well as most of his other films in their first weekends: Of course, many New Yorkers stayed away because they thought it was a documentary about the Knicks."Contributor Janice Hough of Palo Alto, California (www.leftcoastsportsbabe.com)

“For Shaquille, it was just like old times. Kobe [Bryant] didn’t pass him the ball once.”NBC’s Jay Leno, on Shaq’s first game with the Phoenix Suns which was against the LA Lakers.

And in case you missed it:

Soccer is the number one sport in Canada in terms of participants as 867,869 players were registered with the Canadian Soccer Association in 2007.

And how was your week?

Hartley Miller is the sports director for radio stations 94X and the Wolf@97fm. He also writes for the PG Free Press. Send along a quote, note or anecdote to hmiller@94xfm.com

Email | Print | Facebook | Twitter | Digg | Del.icio.us