Mountaineers top Huskies in CCAA quarter-final
On a night where the Keyano Huskies shot 62.0 percent from the field, it wasn’t enough to overcome the Mohawk College Mountaineers in an 88-84 final score.
“I think we brought really good energy,” Head Coach Jeremy Wielenga said. “A few things didn’t go our way.
“The turnovers and offensive rebounds hurt us. In a game like this, the margins are so thin and we weren’t on the right side of them today.”
For reference, the 62.0 field goal percentage was their fourth time shooting above 60% from the field in their 24 regular season or championship games to date this season. With that, Keenan Miller led a quartet of Huskies finishing in double digits with 19 points. On most nights, that’s a textbook Huskies win. DJ Haynes and Deandre Rowe each had 16 points while Evan Meyer chipped in 14 points.
Tafari Carefoote-Jones had a pair of three-point shots off the bench, but the Huskies finished the game shooting six-for-16 (37.5%) from beyond the arc, two below the 8.35 three-point makes they averaged per game over the regular season.
On the national stage that is the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) National Championship however, the draw of the tournament is the unfamiliarity in the matchups and how two teams from different parts of the country stack up against each other.
The two teams remained within one-two possessions of each other for most of the game. The Mountaineers led by one after the first quarter, but the Huskies responded to tie things up at the half. Down by two after three quarters, the Huskies didn’t back down until the final seconds of the game.
Even in the final minute when things seemed insurmountable, back-to-back three-point shots from Miller brought the game back within reach until free throws put things officially out of reach.
“If you play sports you’re always going to be in a situation at some point in your career where you’re going to take a tough loss and it’s about responding,” Wielenga said. “I think we need to dig deep as a team and know there’s still a chance for us to win our last game of the year.
“We need to put all our focus on Camosun for tomorrow.”
Huskies square off with Chargers in Bronze Quarter-finals
The Huskies’ podium hopes aren’t done yet with the chance to compete for Bronze still alive. They’ll take on a fellow quarter-final loser in the Camosun Chargers from Victoria, B.C.
If the Chargers’ name sounds familiar, it should. The Huskies topped the Chargers by a 25-point margin in their 2024 Quarter-final en route to their national championship. There’s plenty on the line for both squads
“They shoot the ball very well,” Wielenga said of Thursday’s opposition. “They’ve got the [PACWEST] Player of the Year in David Finch over there and it’s going to be a hard-fought game.
“We’re looking forward to competing.”
Tip-off is scheduled for 1:00pm PT/2:00pm MT. The game will be broadcast on CCAAlive.ca.