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Diego Maffia, Oak Bay eye ticket to high school basketball championship

Diego Maffia of Oak Bay enters the 69th annual Island high school boys’ Quad-A basketball championship tournament having done something not even two-time NBA MVP Steve Nash or UVic legend and two-time Olympian Gerald Kazanowski came close to doing du
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Oak Bay High School's Diego Maffia, left, practises with teammate Jaime Palamos. January 2019

Diego Maffia of Oak Bay enters the 69th annual Island high school boys’ Quad-A basketball championship tournament having done something not even two-time NBA MVP Steve Nash or UVic legend and two-time Olympian Gerald Kazanowski came close to doing during their respective high school basketball days at SMUS and Nanaimo District.

Maffia’s feat of scoring a B.C. high school record 96 points this season is already the stuff of legend.

“I don’t even know what to think,” he said, about destroying the former B.C. high school single-game record of 82 points held by Greg DeVries of the L.V. Rogers Secondary Bombers of Nelson. DeVries went on to win two U Sports national championships with the University of Alberta Golden Bears, coached by the legendary Don Horwood, formerly of Oak Bay.

Maffia’s next goal can be to target the B.C. high school championship tournament record 75 points scored by Nathan Vogstad of the Queen Charlotte Secondary Saints in a game in 2014.

But first, the Bays must get there, which they will try to do through the Island Quad-A championship that opens tonight in their own gym.

Maffia’s previous career best was the 67 points he scored earlier in the season against Walnut Grove of Langley.

“Our mentality is to get the No. 1 spot on the Island and a good seeding for the B.C. championship tournament [March 6-9 at the Langley Events Centre],” said the six-foot-one point guard.

Also looming is the decision on a university career.

“My dream is to play in the NCAA Div. 1,” said Maffia.

“But most of the offers right now are from U Sports, including UVic, UBC and Calgary.”

But first things first and that’s an opening game in the Islands today against Spectrum.

“We’re motivated and excited to get going, especially on home court,” said Maffia.

“This could be the toughest year to get out of the Island,” he added, pointing to the likes of the Belmont Bulldogs, Claremont Spartans and Nanaimo District Islanders.

“It’s going to be exciting to see who comes out.”

And Maffia isn’t the only Godfather of this Bay’s team.

“Every one of our players has the attitude and confidence to shoot the ball and make plays,” said Maffia.

Also, the tempo tends to slow down in the post-season and championships rarely come down to the flashier aspects of the game.

“Defensive rebounding is going to be the key,” said Maffia.

Maffia and the South No. 1 Bays open today at 2 p.m. against South No. 5 Spectrum, while the North No. 2 Dover Bay Dolphins play South No. 3 Claremont at 4 p.m. The evening bracket has North No. 1 Nanaimo District meeting the South No. 4 Mount Douglas Rams at 6 p.m. and the North No. 3 Cowichan Thunderbirds playing South No. 2 Belmont at 8 p.m.

The consolation side begins Friday at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. with the semifinals at 6 and 8 p.m. There are four games Saturday beginning at 10 a.m. and culminating with the championship game at 8 p.m.

The top two Island teams advance to the B.C. championship tournament at the LEC.

The third-place team can challenge the Island runner-up for the second B.C. berth if those teams have not already played in the Island tournament. The challenge game would be played Tuesday at 7 p.m. in the gym of the second-place team.

Meanwhile, the Island boys’ Triple-A championship begins tonight and runs through Saturday at John Barsby in Nanaimo, the Double-A Islands at Ladysmith and the Single-A tournament at Glenlyon-Norfolk.

cdheensaw@timescolonist.com

Twitter.com/tc_vicsports