OC Basketball teams hosted two premier teams this past weekend, Camosun from Victoria and VIU from Naniamo.

First up Friday saw the women’s team tip-off. The Coyotes played a strong first half and were tied at half  43-43. The Camosun team continued to shoot the ball from beyond the arc and OC Coyotes continue to battle foul trouble which lead to a tough second half, final score 100-70 top scorers for OC Elizabeth Henne 14 points and Jordan Andres with 11 points.

Photo credit: Greystoke Photography

In men’s action in an entertaining game Coyotes played tough defense and held Camosun to 30pts and held an 8 point lead at the break. The second half continued to see OC maintain the lead with several big shots from Eric Marbury that kept them ahead and kept them on the winning side defeating Camosun 83-78.

Top scorers Eric Marbury with 28 points and 14 rebounds, Hunter Hughes, Seth Blundell and Jeff Tubbs with 14 points.

"This was a great game and it was a big win for us, these wins are so important even though their early in the season," said coach Dino Gini. "This league is tough and Camosun is a solid well-coached team, [the] win feels good and we feel good, we will keep grinding and working.”

Photo credit: Greystoke Photography 

Saturday evening OC hosted two of the best teams in the province and top teams in the country. The Vancouver Island University women’s team is currently ranked #2 in the Country and the men’s team who are currently ranked #6 in the country.

In women’s action Coyotes battled hard and went into the locker room at half time down by 11 points but the second half VIU pulled ahead and once again OC was in foul trouble and lost to a very tough VIU team. Top scorers for OC Sapna Deo and Kennedy Andres with 11 points.

In men’s action, the men’s team took on last year's National Champions and looked solid for two quarters taking a well-deserved leayotes with several key players in foul trouble VIU went on a few large runs that OC could not come back from.

Photo credit: Greystoke Photography

Final score 102-74. Top scorers for OC Coyotes Hunter Hughes 21 points and Mathew Lafontaine with 16 points. "We need to be tougher, mentally and physically, we had a decent first half but we can be much better and need to be much better," said Gini.

This weekend both the women’s and men’s team's host Douglas College on Friday at 6 pm and 8 pm and Saturday at 1 pm and 3 pm in Quigley School located at 705 Kitch Road.