The women capped off a perfect regular season record of 18-0 with gutsy performances on both Friday and Saturday. The team's leading scorer and rebounder, Jamie Born, went down with a sprained ankle and did not return and fourth-year guard Natilee Brown wasn't available either, continuing a string of incredibly bad luck for the Cascades.

Despite the adversity, they managed to work out a 53-35 victory. Coach Al Tuscherer cited Lauren Alonzo's dominance in the paint, saying, "she was dominant at both ends of the floor. She puts so much pressure on the offence. Anything that enters the paint is influenced by her. When she is on top of her game it is really difficult for anyone to get any interior scoring against us."

Tuscherer also praised the defensive efforts of Kalisha Reid as instrumental in the win.

The following night, the Cascades were again without the services of cousins Cassi and Jamie Born, and Brown only played a total of 8 minutes. Tuscherer said that they came out a little tentative offensively in the first half but in the second half "rediscovered some of their offensive creativity."

Led by Erin Lee's season-high 17 points and Tanya Campbell's first double of the season - 10 points and 10 boards - the women capped off an unbelievable season, finishing 18-0 for the first time.

"I can't say enough about the leadership on this team," said Tuscherer. "Captains Erin, Lauren, and Tanya have really kept the team focused through this small stretch of adversity by keeping positive, and elevating their play over the past two weeks."

The win guaranteed the women a bye in the first round of the playoffs, with their first game being this Friday at 2 pm at Douglas College against either Langara or Okanagan.

"We finished 18-0 but really it is like we are starting over again this week," said Tuscherer, "We are looking forward to the challenges of playing two win-or-go-home games - I know our team will be fired up for this weekend."

The men found themselves in tough on the weekend, needing to win both games to gain the first seed and bye in the playoffs. Their game on Friday was against Kwantlen University College, who were tied with the Cascades for the best record in the league going into the contest. As tough as it sounded, it ended up being a lot tougher than expected. With forward Peter Wauthy leading the way with 18 points and 16 rebounds, the Cascades managed to gut themselves to a 75-72 overtime win in Kwantlen's gym. The Turner brothers, Dan and Mark, also contributed big with 17 and 16 points respectively. "This is playoff basketball at its best with two2 evenly matched teams that wanted to win the worst way," said Coach Pat Lee.

"This gives us a bye in the BC's and it is a huge advantage. The BC's are going to be the best ones that we have seen in years."

UCFV's Shane Heuring almost won the game in regulation but the referees ruled he didn't get the shot off before the buzzer sounded. In the end, Kwantlen had a shot for the tie but missed and the Cascades swallowed the rebound to secure the win.

Things did not get any easier the next night as the Cascades found themselves in tough against the Douglas College Royals, who led until the last minutes of the first half, when UCFV was finally able to overtake them.

Lee praised the efforts of Paul Morris, Jeff O'Brien, Brad Petersen, and the two "big dawgs" Heuring and Kyle Graves "and basically the whole team. We played 11 guys in the game and everyone played to their best performance tonight. Our defense over the night was good and I thought the difference in the outcome. We simply were able to stop them when we had to".

Wauthy led the way again, with 17 points and 12 boards, with Mark Turner adding 16 second-half points and Heuring 10 more. Every Cascade who saw the floor made it into the scoring column, illustrating what Lee called a "great team win with everyone making the effort to secure the victory."

The men will also receive a bye in the first round of the playoffs and play their first game at 4 pm on Friday at Douglas College against either Kwantlen or Capilano, both of whom have beaten the Cascades once this season. It should be a fun weekend for Fraser Valley hoopheads.

By: UCFV student Ted Leavitt, for UCFV Community Relations and UCFV Athletics

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