Oak Bay scored a three-point buzzer beater to defeat the Terry Fox Ravens in their semi-final game Friday night at the Jonathan Taylor Legal Beagle Invitational senior boys basketball tournament.
The Ravens were in a position to reach the final of their own tournament with a 71-70 lead with nine seconds left to play. But when guard Jacob Mand was able to sink only one of his two free throws after Oak Bay intentionally fouled, the Bays headed up court with 6.1 seconds on the clock to set up the winning tre by point guard Diego Maffia.
Oak Bay, who were ranked eighth in the province going into the tournament, will play the fourth-ranked Holy Cross in Saturday’s final, 7:30 p.m., at Terry Fox secondary. The Crusaders defeated Kelowna 81-72 in the other semi-final.
The Bays led the Ravens 19-11 after the first quarter, but Fox was able to cut the deficit to just two points, 34-32, at halftime. Going into the fourth quarter, Oak Bay was ahead 56-55.
The Ravens, ranked second just prior to the start of the tournament, will play the ninth-ranked Owls for third place at 5:45 p.m.
Earlier in the evening, the Ravens honoured one of the Legal Beagle's founders, Coquitlam lawyer Jonathan Taylor who passed away last November, by officially naming the tournament after him.
