When youB次元官网网址檙e the in the province, you enjoy it while you can.

Those are the words of St. Michaels University School Blue Jaguars head coach Ian Hyde-Lay, as the Blue Jags have picked up some key wins to start the year.

The Blue Jags hosted a number of teams for the St. Michaels Invitational, a basketball jamboree of sorts, with NanaimoB次元官网网址檚 Wellington, CourtenayB次元官网网址檚 Mark Isfeld, Mill BayB次元官网网址檚 Brentwood College and SaanichB次元官网网址檚 Lambrick Park visiting.

SMUS won both its games, beating Wellington 78-54 and Mark Isfeld 62-38. The Lambrick Park Lions defeated Wellington 68-56 and Mark Isfeld 80-52.

B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檓 not really sure how they figure weB次元官网网址檙e the top team. We got knocked out of quarterfinals of B.C.B次元官网网址檚 last year, and have fewer returnees than other schools, but itB次元官网网址檚 hard to get up there, and when you do you enjoy it,B次元官网网址� Hyde-Lay said.

Key among the Blue Jags who have returned is a trio of Grade 12 guards, Mark Yorath, Dawit Workie and Georgios Ikonomou.

Yorath is the chief distributor, although all three can move the ball upcourt. Workie played a lot with last yearB次元官网网址檚 team and is a workhorse for the Jags, while Ikonomou is a wildcard player.

Ikonomou led the Blue Jags with 19 points against Wellington on Saturday, and is having a tremendous return after a season lost, said Hyde-Lay. Last year a broken leg kept Ikonomou out until the final few games.

New to the Blue Jags squad this season are a pair of crossover athletes in their senior year. Standout baseball pitcher Mackenzie Catto, a 6-foot-8 giant who had 12 points and 15 boards against Wellington, is UBC bound next year. SMUS and Castaway Wanderers rugby player David Pollen is a former Blue Jag who didnB次元官网网址檛 play for the basketball team last year. Both David and his younger brother Max, of the junior Blue Jags, are exceptional athletes, said junior coach Reagan Daly.

Adding height up front is 6-foot-3 Matt Rudd, though the team is not a tall one, and will rely on a full effort every game, said Hyde-Lay.

The weekend prior to the SMUS invitational, the Blue Jags won a pair of extremely close games that went down to the buzzer, beating AAA No. 7-ranked St. GeorgeB次元官网网址檚 56-55, and AA No. 5-ranked Brentwood College 51-49.

Despite healthy wins by the Blue Jags and Lambrick Park Lions, Hyde-Lay insists B次元官网网址渢hereB次元官网网址檚 still not much between them and Island AA teams Brentwood, Wellington and Mark Isfeld. And Gulf Islands is another good AA team, a sleeper that no one is recognizing.B次元官网网址�

For now the Blue Jags donB次元官网网址檛 want to put any stock in the rankings. The last time Hyde-Lay can recall his team atop the B.C. charts was 2003 as a AAA school, and even that was just a couple of weeks in February, he said. ItB次元官网网址檚 all far from the days of the 1990s, when the powerhouse Blue Jags were an annual contender.

This weekend the Blue Jags and Oak Bay Bays will face visiting AAA team W.J. Mouatt from Abbotsford, with 6-foot-9 star Tristan Etienne, at Oak Bay on Friday night and SMUS on Saturday night.

Junior Jags on top

The Blue Jags junior boys squad, coached by Reagan Daly, won all three of its games, beating Fleetwood and Semiahoo, and then the Oak Bay Bays 50-35 on Saturday night.

Max Pollen scored 13 points to lead the Jags against the Bays, with Jason Scully netting 11 points and four rebounds, while Graham Hyde-Lay and Liam Catto combined for 10 rebounds.