Blues Meet Royals in Semis

#4 Doulgas Royals @ #1 Capilano Blues – Friday March 3, 5:30pm | WATCH HERE

The top ranked Capilano Blues will play their first game at the PACWEST championship on Friday after receiving a bye into the semi-final.  They will face the battle tested Douglas Royals with the winner moving on to play for gold.

The Blues were outstanding during the regular season losing just one game and are on a four-game winning streak coming into the playoffs.  They beat the Royals all three times the faced them this season but haven’t seen them since January 14^th.  They averaged over 71 points a game, which was the most across the Conference and held teams to under 54, not allowing much on the defensive side. Against the Royals in the seasonal series, they averaged over 65 points.  The Blues are laced with veteran leadership including All-Stars Kirsten Abo, Ida Jonsson Ojala and Meagan Briggs along with the Coach of the Year, Chris Weimer.   

On Thursday the fourth seeded Royals took down the defending PACWEST champion Okanagan Coyotes 70-65 in a game that saw several lead changes.  The Royals came on in the second half shooting the ball well at 36% and the combination of Carman Hiebert and Laini Glover proved deadly as they scored 30 of the team’s 70 points.  Hiebert was named the Player of the Game.   The key for the Royals will be to stay with the Blues early and not let them set the pace of play much like they did last year in the bronze medal game.   Last season the Royals won the bronze with a 67-64 upset win, something they can draw upon in today’s semi.

The winner today will play for gold on Saturday, while the loser will play for bronze.