There wasn’t a lot of similarity between the men’s and women’s Camosun Chargers basketball seasons, except that both teams lost in the provincial quarterfinals on Thursday (March 3).
The men fell 79-52 to the Capilano Blues in the afternoon. Blake Mansbridge led the Camosun men with 17 points and Ryan Erikson (Esquimalt) scored 14.
Later that night the women came close to defeating the UNBC Timberwolves, eventually succumbing 65-62.
Chelsea McMullen led the Chargers with 25 points and 14 rebounds, while BCCAA rookie of the year Aija Salvador contributed 14 points.
There’s something about the girls at Camosun College these days.
Last week volleyball player Liz Davis was the B.C. College’s Athletic Association rookie of the year.
This week at provincials Chargers’ girls Aija Salvador and Chelsea McMullen earned a handful more of awards.
Salvador was honoured as the top basketball rookie in the BCCAA for the 2010-2011 season. An Oak Bay grad, Salvador’s been mighty impressive in her debut year scoring 342 points. It’s an average of over 19 points per game, the fourth highest in the league.
In all, Salvador wins a spot as a BCCAA 2nd Team All-Star, an All-Rookie Team award and the rookie of the year honour.
“Salvador has done well this season in a league dominated by third, fourth and fifth-year players,” said Chargers’ coach Bart Westcott in a press release.
Westcott said every team targets Salvador with special defensive attention, so the fact she’s averaged nearly 20 points per game despite the extra attention shows what she is capable of.
“She improved a lot this season but has a long way to go in playing at both ends of the court and being a team leader,” Westcott said.
Whether or not Salvador’s returns for one more season, Chargers’ star forward Chelsea McMullen will not return. Nominated as the 2010 Sport BC College Athlete of the Year, McMullen won her second career 1st Team All-Star award, averaging 20.5 points and 7.44 rebounds per game this season.
McMullen is set to join the UVic Vikes for 2011-12.
On the men’s side, third-year guard Blake Mansbridge (Nanaimo) finished sixth overall in league scoring with 285 points (16.8 ppg), winning a 2nd Team All-Star for his performance.
