MBB Quarterfinal Preview: Blues vs. Royals
This will be the 10th time in post season history that the Blues and Royals meet.
#4 Capilano Blues (11-10) vs. #5 Douglas Royals (10-11)
Thursday March 3 - 8:00pm
This will be the 10th time in post season history that the Blues and Royals meet. Over the course of the nine previous meetings the Blues have won five, however the Royals have won the last two Provincial meetings including last year’s bronze medal game.
The Blues are the higher seed after beating the Royals in the regular season finale back on Friday; 90-73.
In the regular season the Blues won two of three, but the Royals outscored them 242-237. In all the Blues shot 48% from the field, while the Royals shot 40%.
The PACWEST’s leading scorer and First Team All-Star Martin Bogajev scored 19.6 points a game against the Royals. The Blues will need to find secondary scoring and will look to Brendan Bailey to provide it in the quarterfinal. He scored 10.6 points a game against the Royals this season including 20 in the regular season finale. Both EJ Mabone and Cordell Parker, who will make their Provincial championship debuts will also be asked to provide points offensively after being named to the All-Rookie Team.
If the Blues can hang onto the ball, they should be able to find success. During the seasonal series with the Royals the Blues turned the ball over 67 times.
The Royals on the other hand will need consistent play from their 1-2 punch in Second Team All-Star Grant Campbell and Ethan McKean. They led their club in scoring this season with 15 points and 11 points respectively. Against the Blues, Campbell held the hot hand scoring 19.6 in the three games, while McKean averaged 13, both players above their season average.
For the Royals, they will need to weather the storm out of the gate with the Blues playing at home with emotions running high. If the Royals can get out of the first quarter with a lead, it will calm the crowd and give them a great chance to win.
The Blues-Royals quarterfinal will be the final game on Thursday with the winner to face the top seeded and undefeated VIU Mariners at 8:00pm on Friday.