The undefeated streak lives on for the Quest Kermodes women鈥檚 basketball team.
Quest continued its hot start to the 2014-15 Pacwest season with a 70-64 win over the Douglas College Royals on Friday, Nov. 21 and an 87-39 dismantling of the Langara Falcons on Saturday, Nov. 22 to improve to a perfect seven wins and no losses.
The Kermodes were led by Pacwest player of the week Shayna Cameron, who had a team-high 20 points and nine rebounds. The Royals were also undefeated heading into Friday鈥檚 game and Cameron said it鈥檚 a big win for her team.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a big statement for us,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e trying to set a standard here at Quest and it鈥檚 huge for us to beat them. We really want to try and stay undefeated heading into Christmas, but the ultimate goal is just one game at a time for us.鈥�
Quest also had big games from Miriam Baumann (13 points, 16 rebounds and six assists) and Andrea Eidsvik (14 points, six rebounds and three assists) in the win, but Cameron said it鈥檚 a team effort.
鈥淚鈥檓 really ecstatic about this team and we have a great dynamic this year,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e have a lot of experience on our team and I鈥檇 say more potential than last year. The rookies are improving tremendously and gaining confidence and we have a really strong bench.鈥�
The Kermodes took over the game in the third quarter to cruise to the win, but Cameron said she thinks teams bring their best against the defending Pacwest champs.
鈥淓veryone wants to chop our heads off,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hey bring their 鈥楢鈥� game against us and every game has been a battle.鈥�
Saturday against Langara was more of the same, as Quest had a 28-point lead at halftime en route to a lopsided 87-39 win.
Cameron had another strong game (20 points, five rebounds, five steals and two assists) but Quest had big games from Tessa Needham (16 points, seven rebounds and four steals) and Miriam Baumann (12 points, 12 rebounds, five assists and four blocks). Rookie Kimmy Shahed also had her best statistical Pacwest game with 12 points and six rebounds.
Meanwhile, the men鈥檚 team continued its equally strong start to the season with a 93-85 win over Douglas on Friday and a comeback 73-69 win over Langara.
The Kermodes had big games on Friday from Theo VandenEkart (27 points, six rebounds and four steals), Mike Zayas-Duran (19 points, seven rebounds and six assists) and Connor Heinrichs (15 points and nine rebounds).
Head coach Sean Shook is pleased with his team鈥檚 early play, especially on the defensive side of the ball.
鈥淚鈥檓 really happy and I鈥檓 excited that we鈥檙e only going to get better as we progress into December,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e taking a lot more pride in our defensive end of the floor and we鈥檝e been fairly solid defensively so far this season.鈥�
Shook explained that he aims to keep teams under 60 points and his team has done its best to stay close to that goal.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a very lofty goal but it鈥檚 really 15 point per quarter,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hings can break down like it did in the first half today, but we allowed 34 points in the second half, which was good.鈥�
He pointed out that guard Denzel Laguerta returns to the team after the break and he should be another piece to the puzzle.
鈥淭hree of our four guards this year are basically new,鈥� he said, pointing out Zayas-Duran is the only guard that played significantly last year. 鈥淲hen we get Denzel back we can move Theo to the two guard and just build layer upon layer offensively.鈥�
Shook also praised the play of guard Dallas Searles, who made some big shots down the stretch and the team鈥檚 improved ball possession.
Saturday saw Quest down 14 at the half against Langara, but fight back to win by four. The Kermodes never gave up against the defending National champs and VandenEkart led the way again with 28 points and six rebounds. Zayas-Duran added 14 points and five steals, while Heinrichs grabbed a team-high nine rebounds.
The win improved the men鈥檚 team to a record of six wins and one loss and they sit in second place in the Pacwest.
Both teams are now on break from Pacwest regular season action till 2015. The men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 teams have a few exhibition games scheduled in Washington State in December before returning to regular season play on Jan. 8 when they visit Capilano University.
Quest鈥檚 next home game isn鈥檛 till Feb. 5, but the teams finish off the season with seven straight games on home court.
For more information on the teams, visit www.questkermodes.ca.聽
