The University of Victoria Vikes have been carried by their youth corps to the No. 2 ranking in the U Sports national top-10 men’s basketball poll behind the dynastic Carleton Ravens.
The Vikes moved to 8-2 in Canada West with a 114-80 Friday and 103-71 Saturday sweep of the Mount Royal Cougars of Calgary (4-4) at CARSA gym.
“We have so much depth and everyone is contributing and doing their job,” said forward Ethan Boag, who scored 22 points Saturday for the Vikes.
Sophomores Boag, out of Claremont, Sergio Pereira from Shawnigan Lake School and last season’s Canada West rookie-of-the-year Elias Ralph from Okotoks, Alta., have been joined by contributing rookies Izzy Helman from Claremont, Shadynn Smid out of Cowichan Secondary and Renoldo Robinson from Montreal to give the Vikes a base that could dominate Canada West for the next four or five years. So much so that third-year star guard Diego Maffia out of Oak Bay, who had 20 points Saturday, is considered an old man on this team.
“We are building a chemistry and trust with each other and growing together. And it’s great to see so much Island talent in that group. It shows the level of play here in the high schools,” said Boag.
“We believe we can go one through 12 in our line-up. A lot of teams rely on one or two guys to win but that’s not going to make it at nationals,” said Boag.
Boag experienced the U Sports national tournament last year as a freshman but the Canada West-champion Vikes received an unfavourably tough draw in losing to the champion Carleton Ravens in the first round. There should be a few more appearances at nationals before his career is done.
“We are taking nothing for granted,” said Boag, the last cut of Canada’s bronze-medallist 2021 FIBA U-19 World Cup team.
A prototype modern wing, the six-foot-nine Boag is as effective inside as out, and has been compared in style to Canadian national-team player and European leagues pro Conor Morgan of Victoria as a player who can stretch the floor.
“Ethan has great athleticism, and in the key he can play above the rim, and can also play at the three-point line,” said UVic head coach Craig Beaucamp.
Meanwhile, the UVic Vikes defeated Mount Royal 75-70 as Kate Johnson scored 24 points in the women’s Canada West game Saturday in CARSA Gym. The Vikes (4-6) halted a four-game conference losing streak with an 85-52 victory over the Cougars (3-5) in the first game of the set Friday night.
