Few things bring broader smiles to coaches faces than those proverbial pleasant surprises at the start of a season, such as a rarely-used reserve who worked hard over the summer and looks ready for major minutes, a player who appears to have finally grasped the notion that a rotation meant more than rolling over to the other side of the bed or a rookie who just might not need all that much time as an understudy.

All those surprises were apparent in abundance in the second rounds of the 22nd annual House-Laughton men’s university basketball classic and the sixth annual Metro Glebe women’s tournament Saturday at the Raven’s Nest.

Recently-minted starter Kevin Churchill provided a healthy measure of post defence and boardwork and reserves Dan Penner and Thomas Scrubb added just enough of the same in relief as the Ravens improved to 2-0 by surviving a fierce 80-65 challenge from Victoria.

The big offensive guns — Tyson Hinz, Phillip Scrubb and Elliot Thompson — provided the firepower as Carleton built a 39-35 lead at halftime. When Churchill found himself in foul trouble in the second half, Penner stepped up, while the Ravens’ ball-hawking defence, ball movement and three-point shooting provided the requisite punch to pull out the win.

“They played tough,” said Scrubb, who scored 27 points. “It was a good test for us.”

Thompson added 22 points, Hinz 11 and Penner 7, while Scrubb nabbed seven boards and Churchill six. Ryan MacKinnon blistered the Ravens for 19 points.

Earlier, Bishop’s (1-1) capitalized on multiple Guelph turnovers for runout layups and a 97-81 win.

“We wanted to establish our style, get up and down the floor,” said Gaiters coach Rod Gilpin.

That they did. Sean Monplaiser paced Bishop’s with 2 points. Jeremy Leonard-Smith added 15. Adam Bering led the 0-2 Gryphons with 17.

Improvements in the games of Elizabeth Roach and Genavieve Melatti were instrumental to the Carleton women’s narrow 59-53 win over Brock.

Although both Carleton and Brock shot the ball like bricklayers (25 and 20 per cent, respectively) and the Ravens’ defensive box-outs were often imaginary, they scrapped to a 26-24 lead at halftime on timely buckets by Roach and Melatti.

Raven vets Alyson Bush, Kendall McLeod and Krista Van Slingerland finally got on track as Carleton built an 11-point lead and held on as Melatti delivered some solid post defence, including a pair of blocks, and Roach fed Ashleigh Cleary for a critical bucket.

Roach and Melatti attributed their development to “hard work” over the summer, while coach Taffe Charles was elated the pair “responded to the challenge. … Good things come to those who work.”

Van Slingerland paced 2-0 Carleton with 15 points. Bush added 13 and MacLeod 10. Nicole Rosenkranz led 0-2 Brock with 14 points.

Earlier, Fraser Valley capitalized on eagle-eyed marksmanship (including 10 of-24 from three-point range), savvy post play from Sarah Wierks and deft ball movement (21 assists, including nine by Aleisha Luyken) to improve to 2-0 by dusting the UQAM Citadins 89-63.

“We did move the ball very well,” observed Cascades coach Al Tuchscherer.

Wierks paced the Cascades with 18 points and 10 boards. Courtney Bartel added 15 points. Emie Simard led the Citadins with 26 points.