The top-10-ranked Moscrop Panthers made short work of the Burnaby/ New Westminster district boys' volleyball final.
The Panthers swept Burnaby South in straight sets in the championship final at Moscrop, winning 25-18, 25-15, 25-23 on Thursday.
Behind a chorus of thundering serves and kills by Grade 10 power J.J. Cross, Moscrop appeared to take the fight out of the South Rebels from the get-go.
In the opening set, Moscrop led 21-11 behind a clutch of kills from team captain Brandon Chin and Jonathan Kum.
Cross had three early kills in the middle set as Moscrop breezed to victory after holding a 19-6 advantage at one stage.
South gave a better account of itself in the final set, but still had few answers for Cross, who had blasted seven winners in the game.
"It's been a while since Moscrop has won a senior championship," said Chin after the game. "I think it's a pretty big deal for the team."
Moscrop will take its No. 1 BurWest ranking into the AAA Lower Mainland championships at McMath Secondary in Richmond, which begins today (Wednesday).
"I think the guys have really worked hard for this one. We wanted to come out hard in our last home game," Chin added.
T h e Panthers, which gave up just one set in regular season play this season to Burnaby North, have been a dominating factor in the district this season.
Moscrop was also ranked as high as sixth in the province this year.
But Chin said no one on the Moscrop squad is looking at the polls, nor at taking a Mainland boys' title for granted.
"Hopefully, we're going to make it into the provincials," Chin said. "I don't think it really matters, getting into the provincials is our main goal."
The finals of the boys' provincial Lower Mainland playdowns continue into Thursday at McMath Secondary.
