When Murphy Burnatowski became new head coach of the University of Victoria Vikes men’s team in June, following Craig Beaucamp’s abrupt departure to the NCAA after 21 seasons, some gaps in the unfinished schedule remained. Some slots couldn’t be filled, like arranging a traditional Christmas exhibition schedule, with most opponents already committed by the time he took over.
But that’s not necessarily a bad thing, said Burnatowski as the U Sports national top-ranked Vikes return to Ken and Kathy Shields Court in CARSA gym tonight and Saturday in Canada West play against the Trinity Western University Spartans following a break of six weeks with no games. The Vikes last played on Nov. 23 against the Fraser Valley Cascades, which was followed by their bye week before the Christmas break.
“It was perhaps a blessing in disguise and gave our players a chance to get reset mentally because we played a lot of basketball up to the break,” said Burnatowski, a former Canada Under-18 FIBA World Cup medallist and European pro.
“This is a veteran group that doesn’t need a lot of games during the break to jell, as a younger team might need.”
That said, practices can grow old.
“It will be good to beat up again on somebody who isn’t one of your buddies,” said the Vikes’ bench boss about the resumption of Canada West play this weekend.
The powerhouse Vikes are 8-0 in Canada West and 15-1 overall while TWU is 4-5 in conference. UVic beat the Spartans 99-69 at the Langley Events Centre in the first game of the Canada West season.
The UVic women’s team, meanwhile, played in a Christmas tournament in Montreal and the Vikes went 3-0 with wins over eastern U Sports opponents.
“It was good to get some up-tempo and physical games over Christmas,” said UVic head coach Carrie Watts.
“Two of the games were close, which got us some good work in with clock management matters late in games.”
The strength of the Vikes remains its inside game with Abigal Becker, who leads the team with a 13.1 points-per-game average and 8.5 rebounds per game, abetted by fellow post-player Mimi Sigue’s 10.8 points per game and 8.0 rebounds. Veteran Tana Pankratz is crucial on the perimetre and has contributed an average of 10.6 points per game.
“We are highly efficient inside and Tana [Pankratz] sees the floor so well and scores and takes care of the ball from the perimetre,” said Watts.
UVic is 4-4 in conference play and TWU 5-4, including a tight 69-65 win over UVic in their first meeting of the season.
“These teams are very close and these will be very important games in terms of playoff positioning,” said Watts.
The Vikes-Spartans women’s games are 6 p.m. tonight and 5 p.m. Saturday and the men’s games at 8 p.m. tonight and 7 p.m. Saturday.
