The UNBC Timberwolves are looking to cash in on some home cooking to begin the Canada West Men’s and Women’s basketball season.
Standing in there way will be the Victoria Vikes who begin the doubleheader on Friday at the Northern Sport Centre (6 and 8 pm) followed by the rematches on Saturday (5 and 7 pm).
The UNBC women finished last season with a record of 11-9 and claimed their first playoff win in the conference against the Trinity Western Spartans before bowing out against the Calgary Dinos.
Fifth-year player and Duchess Park graduate Emily Holmes admits while losing Vasiliki Louka and Abby Gibb will be tough, she believes the team has the right mix of talent to reach the playoffs once again.
“We lost V last year, which has made our game a bit different but I think we have a strong group returning with some solid recruits, we’ll be a bit smaller this year but we’ll be faster in other areas.”
The Timberwolves should still be able to score their fair share of points with Holmes, Madison Landry, Maria Mongomo and Alina Shakirova making up the core of the team.
Holmes admits this season comes with mixed emotions.
“Not only have I been a Timberwolf for five years but I was a kid playing at halftime as well as going to those basketball camps. It’s going to be special starting off our season at home and it should be a lot of fun.”
Holmes is expecting a stiff test right out of the gate from Victoria.
“UVic is a strong team and they are going to be a challenge for us but I think it should be a competitive weekend and we have a shot at winning those.”
On the men’s side, it looks to be a transition year for UNBC after going 9-11 last season.
The Timberwolves lost a big chunk of their veteran core as James Agyeman, Jovan Lemay, Vaggelis Loukas, and Austin Chandler graduated last season.
Head Coach Todd Jordan admits the pressure will be on Tyrell Laing and Vova Pluzhnikov to perform at an even higher level.
“He’s (Tyrell) is going to have a lot more expectations on them as far as having a major role as a scorer and a playmaker. Along with him and Vova running the offense, they will have to step up.”
“Vova has been a major piece for us the last couple of years but I think between those two guys, they’re taking a lot of weight when it comes to the number of shot attempts and scoring opportunities they are going to have to take on compared to last year.”
UNBC will have its biggest roster in terms of size but will lack playing experience as Fareed Shittu, Daniel Kopf, Seymon Loki, and Spencer Ledoux are still relatively new when it comes to the Canada West.
Jordan is focused on the process and sees the potential with his young core.
“It’s been an exciting process for everyone to go through that in the pre-season but we have been improving at a rapid rate and are excited to get the year kicked off.”
“We are playing a lot of first and second-year guys at the four and five positions and I think all of them will be really good players, we are excited we have added quite a bit of size.”
As for the postseason, Jordan believes that’s not out of the realm of possibilities.
“We think it is a realistic possibility for us. I hate to be cliche but we have to take it one game at a time and at the end of it, hope we have enough wins to get us in that position.”