Ottawa-Victoria, Calgary-UPEI narratives | Unibball Dispatch, Year 2
Calgary and national player of the year Nate Petrone played free and easy in a statement win, which isn't a shock since they're the only team you can't load with emotional baggage.
Observations and laurels for the survivors, and kind words about those vanquished in Vancouver at the men’s basketball U Sports Final 8. The semifinals are Friday at 9 p.m. and 11 p.m. ET, on CBC platforms. (A women’s recap is already posted.)
The mild take
Calgary and U Sports most outstanding player Nate Petrone looked the part of an unburdened team — not that they got through the day unscathed.
While the Dinos are the No. 2 seed, their scoring potence, interior size, and familiarity with the confines of UBC make them the arguably favourite. They had an absolute collective heater against Queen’s, going over 100 points for the fifth time since the new year by hitting (you read this correctly) 19 three-pointers.
That was only dampened slightly by having Petrone’s backcourt mate, second-leading Dinos scorer Noah Wharton, limp off in the third quarter with a left foot/ankle injury. The rest day is after the semifinals, so his status will be a pregame storyline.
Calgary, of course, is also the only team at the men’s Final 8 with a national title in this century, since some other C-team had a habit of monopolizin’ the W.P. McGee Trophy. All the teams that have only known silver linings — Ottawa, Victoria, Queen’s, and UBC — faced gumption traps or were bounced on Thursday.
The other Ottawa-Victoria semifinal poses a philosophical coaching dilemma: would you rather lose a top player two months before nationals, when there is time to adjust, or have it happen there?
Taking the latter first, the health and status of the No. 1 seed’s seasoned playmaker, Drajan Stajic, hovers over the Ottawa-Victoria semifinal matchup. Stajic, the fifth-year guard and second-team all-Canadian, was under the basket when Concordia’s leaping Jaheem Joseph smacked into him while trying a layup on Thursday. Stajic, after getting on-court medical attention, left with 4:15 to go.
Victoria lost a singular scoring talent, Diego Maffia, to a knee injury in January. As if any of these teams needed a reminder of how hard it is to win a championship.
At least none of them are UBC, which lost as the host team on Day 1 for the second time in the last decade.
The scores!
(6) UPEI Panthers 90, (3) UBC Thunderbirds 72
Call them Midnight Panthers. For the first time since 1985,1 UPEI won a first-round tournament game, led by the guard trio of Kamari Scott, Hugo Bermeio, Kyree Thompson and defence that discombobulated the home-floor Thunderbirds into 22 turnovers. Their on-ball defence prevented UBC from using their size or building any momentum until it was far, far too late.
Hopefully some UPEI partisans saw it. The game tipped off at 12:12 a.m. Atlantic time.
(2) Calgary Dinos 109, (7) Queen’s Gaels 98
Practically everyone wearing Dinos white was dynamite, in a game with a combined 167 shots, including 61 three-point tries. Petrone, the ringmaster with the ball on a string, got his 26 and came within two assists and one rebound of a triple-double. Queen’s guard A.J. Cumming made his first six three-point shots and had a career high-tying 24 points.
(1) Ottawa Gee-Gees 79, (8) Concordia Stingers 69
Ottawa’s bigs came to the rescue in the late going. Brock Newton (17 points) and Justin Ndjock-Tadjore finished inside plays, and forced misses as the Gee-Gees galvanized after Stajic left. Concordia and Alec Phaneuf (game-high 19, almost all in the third quarter) had ridiculous margins in rebounding and three-point shooting.
(4) Victoria Vikes 85, (5) Bishop’s Gaiters 73
All-Canadian guard Renoldo Robinson and national defensive player of the year Sam Maillet had a team joint-high 18 points apiece for Victoria, who steadily got easy buckets after falling into a 14-point hole in the late-morning tip-off. Bishop’s big man Charles Robert hooped game-highs of 21 points and seven assists.
Narratives for Final Four Friday
First off, I do not have the heart to troll UBC, but come on, they were the host team and were only nominally present against UPEI. What is up with that? The Panthers were out to an 11-2 lead before anyone in the stands could comment how nice it is nice to attend a sporting event where they don’t have to hear the U.S. anthem.
One of Ottawa or Victoria will advance to the final. Okay, the litany.
Ottawa was stopped in the semifinals and scooped the bronze medal two seasons in a row. This is their 15th time in the tournament and eighth in 14 seasons under head coach James Derouin.
Victoria is 28-1 on the season… but recent Vikes iterations lost to the 8-seed in both ’22 and ’24, and their last national title was in a year beginning in 1-9. Again, at least neither one is UBC this morning.Calgary and UPEI both hit 100 points the last time they played, in 2014-15. They could do it again. Both are transition teams, but off of one viewing, UPEI is bolder at trying to strip ball handlers and challenge passes.
The Dinos and Petrone were so dialled in against Queen’s that it blew past any in-the-weeds concern trolling about depth, decision making, and defence, which could come to the fore with the wear-and-tear of back-to-back games. Queen’s bench outscored the Dinos bench 26-12, Calgary was also minus-8 on turnovers. They had 13 turnovers, which is respectable for a team that plays so fast, but forced only five.
What path to victory does UPEI have against Calgary? The new math might not be on the side of the Panthers, who are a 30 percent three-point shooting team. They will probably need to harry Calgary into turnovers, bank on their brother act under their boards, Daniel Gonzalez Longarela and Nicola Gonzalez Longarela, going wild under both baskets.2 Both brothers, along with Scott, fouled out on Thursday.
The prime matchup within Ottawa-Victoria might be Ottawa’s Jacques-Mélaine Guemeta (defensive player of the year nominee) against Victoria’s all-Canadian guard Renoldo Robinson. Ottawa’s stock-in-trade is defence fuelling offence, and Victoria, who averages 90 points, seems more premised on picking teams apart for good looks.
The other matchup is a Battle of the Beards — the Gee-Gees’ Brock Newton and Victoria’s fifth-year Sam Maillet. Both are counted on to rip away the contested rebound or finish through contact. Maillet looks like he decided that since he is a Vike, he should look like one.
Ottawa’s Brock Newton (left), Victoria’s Sam Maillet (right). Both Derouin and Victoria skipper Murphy Burnatowski had spot decisions about timeouts in the second half. Concordia came out hot with a 16-4 run that wiped out momentum and almost all of the 16-point halftime margin, and Ottawa opted to wait for the mid-quarter media timeout, which came with 4:48 left. Concordia kept pouring it on after the resumption of play and had the lead for a bit.
Keeping his powder dry worked out for Burnatowski, the national coach of the year, when Bishop’s made their last big push against Victoria. Bishop’s was within three points early in the fourth quarter. But the Vikes played on, and Maillet drove for a basket that got it back to a two-possession spread.
Unsung Seven
Standouts of the day, apart from those selected as player of the game on-site. At least one starter from each winning team, one rep from a team that lost, and two sparkplug subs.
Hugo Bermeio, guard, UPEI
One of the three Panthers from Madrid, Bermeio tallied 19 points, nine rebounds, seven steals and five assists in his Final 8 début. His handle helped UPEI secure the win after fifth-year leader Kamari Scott fouled out in the final minutes.
Jacques-Mélaine Guemeta, wing, Ottawa
Guemeta, channeling Ottawa’s tradition of indomitable two-way wings, scored an efficient 13 points with zero turnovers. The 6-foot-5 Cameroonian was central to Ottawa minting three excellent defensive quarters.
Aiden Smith, guard, Calgary
Smith, a 38 percent three-point shooter, made 6-of-11 to contribute 20 points to the Dinos’ win against Queen’s. He didn’t even try a shot from inside the arc, which should not come as any shock since almost 70 percent of his attempts are from triple-range.
Dylan Lutes, forward, Calgary
Petrone picked up player of the game honours for Calgary, as he should, since he is the consensus best player in the country. Lutes actually had a game-high 27 on just 19 shots, and also had two blocked shots.
Shadynn Smid, forward, Victoria
Smid, a 6-foot-6 forward, affected and altered shots for Victoria with keen anticipation, even while spotting an inch or two to Bishop’s bigs. He had game highs with four steals and three blocks. And remember, teammate Maillet is the top defensive player in the country.
I will add that switching between games caused me to miss whether Robinson or Maillet was named Victoria’s player of the game.
Junior Mercy, reserve guard, Concordia
The Stingers’ sixth man contributed 12 points and seven rebounds in his sixth-man role, enabling them to cut into a 16-point deficit and lead No. 1 Ottawa during the fourth quarter. One of his threes was a contested fallaway that put Concordia ahead for the first time.
Geoffrey James, reserve guard, Victoria
James provided a bench boost for the Vikes, scoring 10 of his 15 points in the first half. Like Robinson, he’s a lefthander who is tough to check.
Conso-bound, but not down!
Concordia: The Stingers produced a 29-12 third quarter against Ottawa that was a joy for anyone who does not like the one-and-done format. Alec Phaneuf and guard Junior Mercy triggered the surge with a run of triples of the audacious variety, and put the tournament on upset alert for about 25 minutes. It was a game effort from the 8-seeded wild card.
One would like to see what a team such as Concordia would do with more margin for error and more time to settle into a groove. Instead, they face Bishop’s for the sixth time this season.Bishop’s: The Québec conference winner has bowed in the quarterfinal six times in a row, although host Laval won it all last season.
The Gaiters led for the first 15 minutes against Victoria, which was ranked No. 1 nationally for much of the season. It was a one-possession game with seven minutes left. Rookie guard Yanis Malanda is a two-way presence with quickness and length, maybe reminiscent of recent Ottawa star Caleb Agada.UBC: The Thunderbirds did not want it to go this way, but it fair to wonder if they brought little hammers and a can of gasoline because they thought it might go this way. Victoria will play in a national semifinal at UBC before the Thunderbirds do; I can’t be the only one who noticed.
Queen’s: Very seldom does anyone get to win their last game, and so was the case for Gaels guard Luka Syllas, the younger half of the brother act who led the Tall Yellow Guys out of the hooping hinterlands. Beyond Oliver Engen, there were glimpses of a still-bright post-Syllases future on Thursday. I am repeating myself that I never imagined Queen’s going to nationals four seasons in a row, and the silver in 2024 was as good as gold.
Note
All records and statistics are sourced from usporthoops.ca by Martin Timmerman.
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