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Oak Bay boys keeps it in high gear

The Oak Bay Bays’ opener at the Gary Taylor Classic senior boys basketball tournament was a slow, steady, comfortable cruise as the hosts rang up a 97-57 victory over the Belmont Bulldogs on Thursday afternoon.
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Oak Bay guard Jaden Young heads up court with Belmont guard Nathan Johal in hot pursuit during quarter-final action at the Gary Taylor Classic on Thursday at Oak Bay High.

The Oak Bay Bays’ opener at the Gary Taylor Classic senior boys basketball tournament was a slow, steady, comfortable cruise as the hosts rang up a 97-57 victory over the Belmont Bulldogs on Thursday afternoon.

The Bays rode Myka Tang-Blumenschein’s 16 first-half points to open up a 51-24 lead at the midway break. Jaden Touchie added 14 points in Oak Bay’s victory. Ryan Backhouse had a game-high 26 points for the Bulldogs, including five three-pointers in front of a jam-packed gymnasium.

“The boys were prepared to play today. It’s tough on a visiting team — the home gym, the big crowd in the middle of the afternoon adds to the excitement for the guys. It’s difficult coming in playing against that,” said Bays head coach Chris Franklin, whose team jumped in the B.C. quadruple-A rankings from eighth to third late Wednesday.

The Bulldogs lost point guard Nathan Zaragoza early this season due to a shoulder injury.

In other games, Cowichan edged injury-depleted Lambrick Park (without Calvin Somers and Ben Reddy) 71-67 in Game 2 and will face the Bays in tonight’s 7:30 semifinal. Austin Somers had 33 points in the losing cause for the Lions.

Vancouver College dumped St. Michaels University School 76-54 and Nanaimo District fell 81-50 to Sir Winston Churchill of Calgary in the other quarter-final. Those two victors will tipoff in today’s 5:45 p.m. semi.

A ceremony dedicating the gym to former Oak Bay coach Gary Taylor will be held between games at 7 p.m.

mannicchiarico@timescolonist.com

Twitter.com/tc_vicsports