RAGE ERAS eee

PLAYOFF time came
around for his team. UBC
Thunderbirds sophomore Derek
Christiansen prepared the way he
always did before high school
basketball games — by watching
Michael Jordan's video, Come Fly
With Me.

WHEN

By Guido Marziali

Contributing Writer

And as always, Christiansen ac-
cepted the invitation gleefully. The
19-year-old) North Vancouver
forward netted 25 or more points
in three of fixe playoff games,
outscoring everyone but the T-
Birds’ living legend, point guard
J.D. Jackson. In the last of those
games, on March 2, Jackson and
Christiansen Jed their squad with
25 points each. and the T-Birds
clinched the Canada West con-
ference with a 93-92 victory over
University of Victoria. Starting on
Friday, UBC will compete for the
national title at the CIAU cham-
pionships in Halifax.

Before he lett for Nova Scotia
with the rest of the team, Chris-
tiansen Jooked back on the
highlights of the previous two
weeks. Wearing a Michael Jordan
T-shirt and sitting within reach of
a big-screen TV and his favorite
video, the 6'6’ teenager first
recalls, not surprisingly, (two
dunks against the University of
Lethbridge.

Secondly, he remembers going
to the foul line for two free
throws with nine seconds left, in
the first game against UVic. The
Vikings trailed by two points, and
two misses, or even one, could

CAP Blues forward (right) fights for the ball with a member of the 86er reserves at Capilano Col-

lege.

SPO)

Derek Christiansen: I-B

SOPHOMORE FORWARD Derek Christiansen is a leading scorer on UBC’s Thunderbirds who travel

this week to Halifax for the CIAU championships.

have allowed them to tie the
game.

In such a pressure situation
Christiansen mow asks himself,
only half-jokingly, ‘What would
Michael Jordan do?”’ Christiansen
answered his own question by
sinking both shots.

“Usually I'm super tense, but

this time | just sort of made
myself relax and just walked over
there totally confidently, really
cocky."*

Appearances can deceive. Chris-
Uiansen may seem unsure, but he
never plays fike it. Conversely,
those who know him see a fragile
psyche inside the body of a na-

MEWS photo Neil Lucente

Skiers qualify for championships

THREE NORTH Shore skiers
have qualified for the Pepsi

Canadian Juvenile Alpine
Championships slated = March
18-23 at Nakiska, Alberta.
Sam Posner, Drew
Hawkshaw and Joseph Gib-
bons are among 12) boys and
five girly aved [3 and 14

selected after the recent: Pepsi
B.C. finaly held at Blackcomb
and Whistler mountains.
Poyner, 14. of West) Vin-
couser, won the Super Go at
Whistler while Hawkshaw, 14,
ot North Vancouver, registered
a fourth and l9¢h in the stalom
at Blackeontbh and a fourth and

seventh in Super Gat Whistler.

Gibbons, 14. of West Van-
couser, skied to eighth and’
1th-place finishes in slalom at
Blackcomb and a seventh and
{Oth in Super Gat Whistler.

All three skiers are members
of the Whisder Mountain Ski
Club.

Wednesday. March 13, 1991 - North Shore News - 15

ees

NEWS photo Neil Lucente

tionally ranked power forward.
Said T-bird coach Bruce Enns:
“In his first year, [ think Derek
was very much in awe of what
was going on around him, both in
terms of being away from home
— he was no longer in the
sheltered environment of high
school and living at home — but

TOTNES RE LE RE IONE ST TREE a ES

irds’ mild olant

as a plases. Ptkhe most freshmen,
they qustosat in awe of esersthing
that was going on”

tinns credits a summer of one-
onmone couching and a promising
tryout with dhe junior national
team) with tuming Christiansen
around.

“He's becoming a very good
offensive player. He takes the ball
to the basket well. he’s got a nice
touch as a shooter, and with that
big body of his — he’s very. very
quick for his size.”

Nevertheless, continues Enns,
many players on the team still
take a protective attitude towards
the mild giant. ‘Derek is very
shy. He's very unassuming. |
think he's a very ingenuous per-
son, What you see is what you get
— a very. very shy kind of guy
who's really not all that sure of
himself at times. He's anything
but cocky. and uhis was kind of
interesting, because when |
recruited him in high school there
were people who said that Derek
was arrogant, that) Derek was
cocky, and he's anything but."

Capilano Blues basketball coach
Ken Sherk, who coached Derek
and his older brothers, Axel and
Eric, at Sentinel Secondary agrees,
saying ‘‘he’s not a primadonna, in
high school he never was.*’ Chris-
tiansen’s only ambition, Sherk
stresses, was to excel.

**He shot the ball since he was
12 years old. He said, ‘I'm going
to be better than Eric, better than
Axel,’ and he shot and shot and
shot.”"

This weekend, Enns and the
T-Birds expect nothing more than
for Christiansen to keep shooting.

Cap squad surrenders
to 86er reserves

THE CAPILANO College soccer
team are the reigning men’s Ca-
nadian collegiate champions. To
coach Joe facobellis and his
players, that simple truth is more

than a pleasant thought these
days: it is therapy.
By Guido Marziali

Contributing Writer

Capilano dominated their col-
legiate rivals last fall, but have
been ailing in spring competition
against university and professional
sides. Including Saturday’s 4-0
mashing at home, courtesy of the
Vancouver 86ers Reserves, the
Capilano College Soccer Club
boasts a single tie against three
losses.

lacobellis blamed the most re-
cent debacle on low confidence
among his players.

‘They don’t believe in
themselves against the higher
calibre. They feel very, very good
about college play, but maybe not
against professionals,’” he said.

And the 86ers happen to be the
top professional side in Canada.
The group which took the field on
Saturday inctuded players like
midfielder Doug Meckinty, who
according to coach Alan Err-
ington, ‘‘came on very strong last
year and was a big part in us be-
ing successful in winning the third
(CSL) championship."

lacebellis explained, “*l said to
them at the beginning of the
game: ‘Gentlemen, you're not
ready for this game, you haven't
prepared properly — if you don’t
start to concentrate immediately,
you're going to be down three

CAPILANO COLLEGE
SPORTS

goals by 15 minutes."”"
Concentration must have been
in short supply, because the goals
were not. lacobellis’ prediction
came true to the minute thanks to
Dave Fiorvento, who bagged his
second goal just inside the
quarter-hour to put the 86ers up
3-0. (Rob Aujla had opened the

scoring).
All three goals stemmed from
mental errors — missed passes,

giveaways, and a general lethargy
in aerial challenges. Not all of the
Capilano players escaped praise,
however, as lacobellis com-
plimented Kurt Friesen, Matt
Humphries, and especially Ken
Campbell for ‘‘a great first half.”"

The flurry of activity had the
referee trotting to the sideline to
shed his jacket, but for the rest of
the half the home team settled
down and played their best soccer
of the match.

All the same, Humphries and
the others continued to press.
Despite a late mistake which the
86ers’ McKinty exploited for the
fourth and final goal, Capilano
looked at least competent.

The second half was less re-
markable for the soccer than for
the boxing.

The actual soccer was less
entertaining. Concluded. lacobellis,
“In the second half. yeah, we
played with them, but we didn’t
play brilliantly or anything, we
just played with them and did
what we had to, which is goad to

see,

ESSE UD as a a