Sadie Thielen (right) of Carnbrook's Mt. Baker Wild (right) makes things tough for Riverside's Henna Vick during Day 1 of the B.C. Quad-A senior girls basketball championships Feb. 28, 2024 at the Langley Events Centre. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of Varsity Letters 2024. All Rights Reserved)
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A reporter’s notebook from Day 1 at the 2024 B.C. senior girls basketball championships

LANGLEY — Welcome to Day 1 of the 2024 B.C. senior girls basketball championships.A bit of a change-up this year, which I eluded to here yesterday.Today I am solo pretty much the entire day and thus will be wandering the gym with my notepad and voice recorder, looking for a few interesting stories to tell. […]

(Photo property Howard Tsumura, Varsity Letters 2023. All Rights Reserved)
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A message from Howard T: Some changes to my coverage at B.C. girls and boys senior basketball championships

LANGLEY — Hello to all of my loyal readers here at Varsity Letters.I felt it was important today for me to let everyone know that there will be some changes to way I will be covering both the B.C. senior girls and boys tournaments which run Feb. 28-March 2, and March 6-9, here at the […]

Riverside guard Avery Sussex led her team past Kiera Pemberton and the Walnut Grove Gators in last season's B.C. Quad-A final at the LEC. (Photo by Blair Shier property of Vancouver Sports Pictures 2023. All Rights Reserved)
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Avery Sussex and the Big Dance: How an amazing high school debut at Riverside foretold a career of dominance, and a chance to forge an unforgettable Rapids’ finish!

PORT COQUITLAM — The basketball court is the place where Avery Sussex has shown her heart from the very start.It’s also the place where it’s been impossible to miss the fact that she’s had her guile for a while.Very few players ever make the kind of debut that Sussex did, when as a 10th grader […]

Riverside co-coach Jeremy Neufeld (left) does some sideline scheming with Rapids' gritty forward Rae Roycroft during the Fraser North Quad-A title game on Sunday at Simon Fraser University. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of Varsity Letters 2024. All Rights Reserved)
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The 74th annual BC Girls Basketball Championships: Here’s your road map to all four tiers as Riverside, Brookswood, Mulgrave and Pacific Christian hunt provincial titles as No. 1 seeds!

LANGLEY — Defending B.C. champion Riverside of Port Coquitlam, fresh off its Fraser North championship victory over Burnaby South on Sunday, has been installed as the favourites to repeat at Quad-A as draw were released Wednesday for the 74th annual B.C. senior girls basketball championships, set to open a four-day run Feb. 28-March 2 at […]

Hailey Burnhan of Surrey’s Clayton Heights Riders faces Vancouver's Britannia Bruins during the 2023 Tsumura Basketball Invitational this past December at the Langley Events Centre. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of Varsity Letters 2024. All Rights Reserved)
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South Fraser Triple-A final: A year older, a year wiser, Surrey’s Clayton Heights Riders take zone championship spoils into a B.C. tourney return engagement after win over rival R.A. McMath!

SURREY — Last season’s trip to the B.C. senior girls basketball championship tournament was an ice-breaker moment for Surrey’s Clayton Heights Riders.A group which has played together since sixth grade had arrived as a largely Grade 11 team on the big stage of the provincial Triple-A championships last March at the Langley Events Centre.And falling […]

Burnaby Central's Ankita Chopra (left) and Riverside's Rae Roycroft gt all tied up during Fraser North Quad-A championship game played Feb. 18, 2024 at Simon Fraser University. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of Varsity Letters 2024. All Rights Reserved)
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Fraser North Quad-A final: After Riverside tops Burnaby Central in zone title clash, here’s 5 Things You Need to Know about the Rapids, the Wildcats and the best current rivalry in B.C. girls high school basketball!

BURNABY — The countdown is now on to the tip-off of the 2024 B.C. senior girls basketball championships, and at the largest Quad-A tier, Sunday evening’s marquee Fraser North zone championship game clash which saw the Riverside Rapids defeat the Burnaby Central Wildcats 82-72 was a reminder of one simple fact.In year where there has […]

Byrne Creek's Jelly Fulad (left) attempts to block Jocelyn Boyes of Pitt Meadows during Fraser North senior girls Triple-A zone championship final played Sunday at Simon Fraser University. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of Varsity Letters 2024. All Rights Reserved)
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Fraser North Triple-A final: For the Family Boyes, clinching title and B.C. berth for Pitt Meadows is a true generational thrill!

PITT MEADOWS 82 vs. BYRNE CREEK 32BURNABY — Thirty-three years is a long time, but when it comes to high school basketball memories, it can seem all seem as recent as yesterday.That what Jason Boyes thought to himself as the head coach of the Pitt Meadows senior girls basketball team piloted his car up Burnaby […]

Quick as lightning, St. Thomas More Knights' Grade 9 guard Demicah Arnaldo drives through the Archbishop Carney defence for a first-quarter lay-in during Fraser North senior girls Double-A zone championship final played Sunday at Simon Fraser University. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of Varsity Letters 2024. All Rights Reserved)
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Fraser North Double-A Final: With pressure defence that comes from its fun zone, STM’s Knights & MVP Beliveau punch their Big Dance tickets to B.C. tourney!

By Howard TsumuraST. THOMAS MORE 89 ARCHBISHOP CARNEY 32BURNABY — In an era where offence rules the roost at every level of basketball, precisely how does a head coach get her team to make it the No. 1 part of their identity?“I think it’s the most fun part of basketball to be honest,” said St. […]

Jordyn Nohr and the rest of Langley's Brookswood Bobcats take over No. 1 at Triple-A with the B.C. tourney three weeks from an opening tip at the LEC.
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B.C. girls Top 10 basketball rankings 02.05.24: Seaquam moves back into Quad-A final four territory, Brookswood’s baby Bobcats take over Triple-A No. 1!

LANGLEY — Here’s a look at the latest B.C. senior girls high school basketball rankings at all four tiers courtesy of B.C. School Sports:FEB. 5QUAD-A1 Riverside Rapids (Port Coquitlam) (FN) (LW-1)2 Argyle Pipers (North Vancouver) (VSS) (2)3 Yale Lions (Abbotsford) (EV) (3) 4 Seaquam Seahawks (North Delta) (SF) (5) 5 Okanagan-Mission Huskies (Kelowna) (TOK) (4)6 Burnaby Central […]

Lucy Xu (right) and the rest of West Vancouver's Mulgrave Titans continue to keep their grip on No. 1 in the B.C. senior girls Double-A rankings. (Photo by Blair Shier property of Vancouver Sports Pictures 2023. All Rights Reserved)
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B.C. girls Top 10 basketball rankings 01.29.24: As the calendar turns towards February, it’s the powers that be — Riverside, SMUS, Mulgrave — who hold serve!

LANGLEY — The clearest indication yet that the top teams in B.C. senior girls basketball are settling in for the final stretch drive to playoffs?The province’s three largest tiers all issued new Top 10 rankings this week, and the top four at all three remained unchanged.Here’s a look at the latest courtesy of B.C. School […]