8 THE VOICE |

THURSDAY, MARCH 9, 2017 |

EDITOR TANNER BOKOR

Falcons blocked from p

Langaras
men defeated
in bronze
medal game

m™ By SASHA LAKIC

alcons men’s basketball team

fell to the Douglas College

Royals in the bronze medal

game at the PacWest Pro-
vincial Championships last Saturday,
despite being the highest scoring team
in the league.

The Royals pulled ahead in the first
quarter and out-hustled the Falcons
early on. After Langara’s defence found
its bearings and
closed the lead,
both teams fought
strongly into the
last quarter.

The turning
point came halfway
through the fourth
quarter after a cru-

RAVIBASRA cial three-pointer

FALCONS GUARD ty, Royals guard

Sheldon — Derton.
The Falcons never
recovered and went on to lose 83-71,
securing fourth place in the tournament
at Quest University in Squamish, B.C.

“We're still a really young team, so
this weekend was a learning experi-
ence,” said guard Ravi Basra, who re-
ceived the PacWest first team all-star
award for the 2016-17 season.

“Douglas just wanted it more than us.
Shout out to our guys, too. We had a
really strong season.”

"The work never
really stops.”

— PAUL EBERHARDT,
HEAD COACH, FALCONS MEN'S BASKETBALL

The end to the Falcons’ season is
bittersweet, as the men’s team was the
second-highest scoring in the league,
the team’s best performance in half a
decade, ending with a 14-4 record.

Langara Falcons coach Paul Eber-
hardt commended his players for their
winning record this season.

“It was a very disappointing tourna-

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ment for us,” Eberhardt said. “We had
bigger goals. We thought we'd make the
final and didn’t win [on Friday]. It’s re-
ally hard to get excited about it.”

For the next season, the Falcons will
focus on recruiting new high school
players and making sure current players
keep up their grades to stay eligible said
Eberhardt.

Basra plans to focus on strengthening

> FALCONS'TALLY

SEASON END RESULTS
MEN'S WOMEN'S
7-13
Ranked sixth out
of seven teams

14-7

Ranked second
out of seven
teams

his body and game in the off season.

“The work never really stops,” said
Eberhardt.

The Falcons women’s basketball team
fell in Thursday’s quarterfinals to the
Vancouver Island University Mariners
73-64, denying them a berth for a med-
al game.

‘The team ended their season sixth in
the seven-team league.

Langara
teams have
shoes to fill

Langara athletics
department becomes
more aggressive in
recuiting efforts

= ByEVAN HAGEDORN

8 Langara’s competitive teams
head into the off season, they
are faced with the difficult

challenge of finding hidden talent to
fill the ranks soon vacated by departing
student athletes.

Falcon’s coaching staff search an-
nually for players to benefit their roster,
but this year, are working more agegres-
sively to find players to fill empty spots
vacated by graduating students. Pres-
ence at tournaments, high school camps
and evaluative sessions are just a few
places where the de- _
partment is looking :
for new talent.

“The recruitment
process in the past, |
was kind of like a
fish net, whatever
swims into the net
we'll take kind of
attitude,” said Win-

Winston Brown

HEAD COACH
ston Brown, head WOMEN'S
coach of the wom- BASKETBALL

en’s basketball team.

Brown said that past recruitments of
athletes have been passive, but this year
the staff have been aggressively pursu-
ing leads.

Jake McCallum, director of athlet-
ics and intramurals, said the men’s bas-
ketball team is one example of a Falcons
team looking at a high turnover of older
players.

“Our men’s basketball has a lot of
second year and third year kids, so they
might be looking at a high turnover, so
they may be looking at a bigger intake,”
McCallum said.

No two recruitment processes are
alike, as teams and coaches approach
the task differently each year to suit
their teams’ unique and shifting needs.

For the women’s soccer team, the
recent hiring of the new head coach
Rachael Pelat may affect the roster and
attract a higher number of new players
to the team.

“[All] the players might not come
back and there's a real transitory period
with new coaches, so I think there will
be a big intake in women's soccer,” Mc-

Callum said.

Basketball coach top of the perch in PacWest

Paul Eberhardt
voted Coach of
the Year for third
time in tenure

m™ By CASS LUCKE

I angara College's Paul Eberhardt
has been named Pacific West-
ern Athletic

Association Men’s
Basketball Coach
of the Year for the
third
joining the Falcons
in 2012.

Each coach in
PacWest votes for
the three candidates
they feel deserve
recognition for
bringing the best out of their players.

time — since

Timothy Choi
THIRD-YEAR GUARD

Scott Cuachon, PacWest men’s bas-
ketball sports convenor said he feels
Eberhardt is one of B.C.’s best coaches.

“He’s got a passion for [basketball]
that everyone who plays for him feels
and his guys want to play for him be-
cause of that,” Cuachon said.

Despite there being no formal crite-
ria for league’s -—
highest coach-
ing honour,
many relied on
an overarching
sense that Eb-
erhardt embod-
ies the best of
coaching excel-
lence.

Eberhardt started coaching in 1981
and since joining Langara has led the
team to numerous titles, including the
Canadian Collegiate Athletic Associa-
tion National Champions in 2014.

“He's got that basketball mind. He
mixes that, with creating personal rela-
tionships with us and that’s what makes
us believe in him and in turn, believe in

“He’s got a passion for
[basketball] that everyone who
plays for him feels and his guys | 4.
want to play for him because of

that.”

— SCOTT CUACHON, PACWEST BASKETBALL CONVENOR

ourselves,” said third-year guard, Timo-
thy Choi.

“Him getting this award reflects the
work he put into us and the work we
put in as well,” Choi said.

Eberhardt believes that to coach in
Canada, you have to love the sport and
that success and championship wins

— aren't every-
thing.

“The _ best
memories are
memories
you have of the
players that you
coach and the
coaches that you

~~ work with,” Eb-

erhardt said.

Along with recipients of the best
coach award from other provinces, Eb-
erhardt is a strong contender to receive
the CCAA Coach of the Year award
which will be decided at this year’s
CCAA National Championships ban-
quet ceremony held in Charlottetown,

PE.I. at Holland College on March 18.

Paul Eberhardt celebrates a successful season in an undated photo. PHoTo
COURTESY OF PACWEST