MVP Braeden MacDonald (left) of Chilliwack's G.W. Graham Grizzlies steps up on defence against MEI's Connor Friesen during Eastern Valley senior boys AAA final played Feb. 27 at the Langley Events Centre. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of Varsity Letters 2022. All Rights Reserved)
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This linebacker tackles hoops just fine! G.W. Graham post Braeden MacDonald scores 23 points, earns MVP nod as Grizz top MEI’s Eagles for 3A Eastern Valley title!

LANGLEY — Through the flooding and through the pandemic, Braeden MacDonald has persevered with a smile on his face.On Sunday, the dream season for G.W. Graham’s 6-foot-4, 200-pound Grade 11 linebacker/tight end/power post just kept on getting better.MacDonald, who in December helped the Grizzlies win a Subway Bowl senior varsity Quad-A football title at B.C. […]

Two of B.C. junior basketball's rough-and-tumble best came together Sunday in the provincial quarterfinals at the LEC as West Vancouver's plaid-adorned Zeyad Ahmed collides with Burnaby South's Llorikk Gutierrez. (Photo by Blair Shier property of Vancouver Sports Pictures 2022. All Rights Reserved)
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B.C. Jr. Boys Elite 8: Burnaby South shows plenty of shine as roster’s depth steps up to earn win over West Van and berth in Monday’s Final Four!

LANGLEY — What’s a sure-fire way to get Burnaby South junior boys basketball coach Rupi Dahia to shrug his shoulder?Simple: Ask him who the stars of his team are.“That’s the key thing about this team… we don’t really have that ‘best’ player,” Dahia confessed Sunday after his No. 3-seeded Rebels made every key shot they […]

St. Pat's players had plenty of second-half moments to celebrate as they rallied past Fleetwood Park on Sunday to earn a berth in the B.C. junior Final Four. (Photo by Blair Shier property of Vancouver Sports Pictures 2022. All Rights Reserved)
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B.C. Jr. Boys Elite 8: St. Pat’s Jovin Sunner shines bright as defending champ Celtics rally past Fleetwood Park Dragons for Final Four berth!

LANGLEY — The St. Patrick’s Celtics are playing their best basketball of the season at precisely the right time.Ask head coach John Boateng about it, and he’ll tell you that it’s a case of Sunner rather than later.Oh, that’s as in Jovin Sunner, the hard-luck 6-foot-3 Grade 10 forward who did a little bit of […]

Vancouver College's Vince Velasquez and SMUS' Camilo Libreros (bottom) illustrate the abandon to which the two history-laden programs attacked Sunday's B.C. junior quarterfinal at the Langley Events Centre. (Photo by Paul Yates property of Vancouver Sports Pictures 2022. All Rights Reserved)
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B.C. Jr. Boys Elite 8: Van College’s 29-0 Fighting Irish top SMUS as team defence continues to be its baromtre!

LANGLEY — The Vancouver College Fighting Irish are taking care of one thing first and foremost, and it’s served them well as B.C.’s No. 1-ranked team heads into the semifinals of the provincial junior boys basketball championship semifinals on Tuesday.“I think we’re continuing to play well, and the focus is getting stops on defence,” said […]

Brookswood's Logan Stewart found the going tough against the defence of Tyler Browne and the rest of Victoria's Oak Bay Bays. (Photo by Paul Yates property of Vancouver Sports Pictures 2022. All Rights Reserved)
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B.C. Jr. Boys Elite 8: Oak Bay tops Brookswood, Bays’ coach David Thompson loves his ‘basketball junkies’!

LANGLEY — David Thompson loves the way his players love the game.The head coach of the Vancouver Island champion Oak Bay Bays got yet another commanding performance from his so-called ‘basketball junkies’ on Sunday morning, as the No. 5-seeded Victoria squad used a commanding third-quarter surge to hand Langley’s No. 20-seeded Brookswood Bobcats a 58-49 […]

Fleetwood Park's Karan Sran dishes the ball as book-end Gators' defenders David Kim (left) and Joshua-Owen Merriott converge on Saturday at the LEC. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of Varsity Letters 2022. All Rights Reserved)
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Fleetwood Park, Walnut Grove fans brings the emotion (and volume) back to our game… Dragons top Gators in a classic Sweet 16 clash as BC juniors close out Day One!!

LANGLEY — They abided by the 50 per cent capacity rules on the opening day of the B.C. junior boys basketball championships at the Langley Events Centre.Yet based on the passion, emotion and flat-out volume brought to proceedings by the cheering sections for the final game of the night, supporters for Surrey’s Fleetwood Park Dragons […]

Burnaby South's Lordrikk Gutierrez (centre) looks to gain some separation in the open floor from Tamanawis Wildcats Mintu Chahal (left) and Gursewak Mann on Saturday at the LEC. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of Varsity Letters 2022. All Rights Reserved.
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B.C. Junior Sweet 16: Burnaby South’s Redemption Season moves to Elite 8 after Lordrikk-powered Rebels rally to top Tamanawis!

LANGLEY — They call it their Redemption Season.Ever since a Grade 8 campaign back in 2018-19 fell well short of their expectations, the Class of 2024 boys basketball team from Burnaby South Secondary has been out to prove a point to both themselves and the rest of the province.And on Saturday, on a perilous opening […]

Damon Bains of SMUS tries to slow the progress of Claremont's Chris Greengoe during Sweet 16 action Saturday at the Langley Events Centre. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of Varsity Letters 2022. All Rights Reserved)
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B.C. Junior Boys hoop championships: Follow our reports tonight from the round of Sweet 16!

LANGLEY — Here is the draw for the Sweet 16 portion of the B.C. junior boys basketball championships, set to tip off at 4 p.m.Check back on this posting throughout the evening for game-by-game reports which are bing posted below the draw:TOP HALF DRAWQUADRANT A (Centre Court)4 p.m. — SMUS (Van Isle-4) vs. Claremont (Van […]

Handsworth's Ashton Bain looks for a cutter while defended by Riley Santa Juana of St. Patrick's during opening-round play Saturday at the 52nd annual B.C. junior boys basketball championships at the LEC. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of Varsity Letters 2022. All Rights Reserved)
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Day 1 B.C. Junior Boys championships: Keeping pace with Sudden Saturday’s 32-game schedule!

LANGLEY — Round one of Day 1 of the 32-team B.C. junior boys basketball championships is now complete at the Langley Events Centre.We’ve started a new posting to cover the evening card’s Sweet 16 games. You can find it in the lead spot at VarsityLetters.caHere is how that round shapes up based on the 16 […]

Centennial's K.C. Ibekwe turned in a triple-double on Friday in his team's win over previously undefeated Burnaby South, earning a B.C. Quad-A tourney berth in the process. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of Varsity Letters 2021. All Rights Reserved)
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Behind K.C. Ibekwe triple-double, Centennial punches B.C. 4A tourney berth while handing No. 1 Burnaby South first loss in 28 games!

BURNABY — In an emotional final scene Friday night, in a sport only high school basketball games are seemingly able to produce, the fans of Coquitlam’s Centennial Centaurs stormed the court in absolute delirium to celebrate their team’s 69-62 upset win of No. 1-ranked, undefeated and defending B.C. champion Burnaby South in the semifinals of […]