Simon Fraser Red Leafs Tate Christiansen (left) and Matthys Van Bylandt, a pair of North Vancouverites and Handsworth Secondary graduates, have an emotional and energetic surge to the Simon Fraser Red Leafs in their redshirt-freshman seasons on the hill. (Photo by Wilson Wong property of Simon Fraser athletics 2023. All Rights Reserved)
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Rookie Red Leafs rise to new challenges atop Burnaby Mountain! Ex-Handsworth stars Van Bylandt, Christiansen lead with work ethic while their talents begin to shine for Simon Fraser!

BURNABY — A mere three minutes of viewing may not be enough to constitute any kind of a scientific sample size.Yet if you were among the small crowd gathered earlier this month for the CCA Div. 2 Canadian Tip-Off Classic at the Langley Events Centre, you might have at least developed a pretty strong hunch […]

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Tsumura Basketball 2023: Follow your favourite TBI teams with our complete four-day brackets for all 64 of our boys and girls entrants!

LANGLEY — This past week we unveiled the opening-day draws in each of our four separate 16-team boys and girls pools at next month’s Tsumura Basketball Invitational senior boys and girls tournaments at the Langley Events Centre.Today, we’ve got the complete Wednesday-through-Saturday brackets for all four divisions of play.BOYS (Dec. 6-9)SUPER 16Click on link below […]

Alex Motherwell of the SMUS Blue Jags returns as a senior this season as the Victoria squad looks to claim the B.C. senior girls Triple-A title. (Photo by Blair Shier property of Vancouver Sports Pictures 2023. All Rights Reserved)
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B.C. senior girls basketball Top 10 rankings! Preseason polls rate Riverside, SMUS, Mulgrave as teams to beat for B.C. hoops glory!

LANGLEY — A pair of defending B.C. champions, and a silver medallist from a season looking to strike some elusive gold of its own this season.That’s the back-story behind three of B.C.’s best teams, each of whom carry No. 1 rankings into the new 2023-24 campaign.Quad-A B.C. champion Riverside Rapids of PoCo and Double-A B.C. […]

Mulgrave's Eva Ruse (right) towers over Holy Cross' Kaitelyn Takeuchi during Day 3 Final Four action at the 2023 B.C. senior girls high school basketball championships. Last March. Both teams return to the LEC next month for the Tsumura Basketball Invitational. (Photo by Mark Steffens property of Vancouver Sports Pictures 2023. All Rights Reserved)
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Girls Draws – Tsumura Basketball 2023: Who’s playing who in Round 1 as the best of B.C.’s very best gather Dec. 13-16 at the LEC!

LANGLEY — The very best of B.C.’s best.That’s the quickest and neatest way to sum up the 32 senior girls basketball teams who can now begin preparations for their opening-round opponents at B.C.’s home away from home for high school hoops.That’s right, today we unveil the two 16-team independent draws which will compete at the […]

They're back! Kelowna's Nash Semeniuk, is pictured here being guarded by Claremont's Nico Vickers (left) and Dak Amor during on Day 1 of last March's B.C. Quad-A championship. All three rising seniors are on tap to take part in TBI 2023 Dec. 6-9 at the LEC. (Photo by Blair Shier property of Vancouver Sports Pictures 2023. All Rights Reserved)
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BOYS DRAWS-TSUMURA BASKETBALL 2023: Who’s playing who in Round 1 of our Super 16 and Select 16 pools Dec. 6-9 at the LEC!

LANGLEY — Start the countdown to the 2023 edition of the Tsumura Basketball Invitational senior boys basketball tournament Dec. 6-9 at the Langley Events Centre.After months of planning, we’re thrilled to unveil the two brackets of 16 which will comprise the 32 teams taking part in this year’s festivities.Competing in both the Super 16 and […]

Trinity Western's David Mutabazi (right) dribbled past Ajay Mitchell of Santa Barbara on Tuesday at the Langley Events Centre as the Canada West's Spartans played host to the visiting, NCAA Div. 1 Gauchos. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters. com. All Rights Reserved)
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A SUNDAY READ: Tsumura on the joys of summertime basketball, NCAA Div. 1 foreign tours, and the road-less-travelled path of Trinity Western’s electric David Mutabazi!

LANGLEY — The best part of ageing into an ‘old’ basketball writer?For me, it’s that rare but reassured feeling I get, when against any reasonable expectation, a player straps the fortunes of his team on his back, and in this case almost carries them to an improbable upset.That is the place I found myself this […]

Frank Linder (right) and the rest of Nanaimo's Dover Bay Dolphins put on a show at the provincial tournament last March. The rising Grade 11 and the rest of the Dolphins make a Langley return in December for the 2023 TBI at the LEC. (Photo by Blair Shier property of Vancouver Sports Pictures 2023. All Rights Reserved)
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TBI BOYS 2023: Our 32-team Tsumura Basketball boys unveil includes BC biggies, plus Cali’s Santa Margarita & Calgary-St. Mary’s, all at the LEC!

LANGLEY — The vast majority of B.C.’s very best teams will once again take to the court when the boys 2023 Tsumura Basketball Invitational tips off Dec. 6-9 at the Langley Events Centre.Yet as part of our latest December classic, which this year features two distinctly separate 16-team fields, we’re also thrilled to announce a […]

Riverside's Avery Sussex (left) and Walnut Grove's Kyanna Knoedel squared off in last March's B.C. Quad-A final at the LEC. Both players and both teams return to same friendly confines Dec. 13-16 for the Tsumura Baseball Invitational. (Photo by Wilson Wong 2023. All Rights Reserved)
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TBI GIRLS 2023: At 32 teams strong, here’s our full team reveal for the latest girls Tsumura Basketball Invitational, set to tip Dec. 13-16 at the LEC!

LANGLEY — Best ever?Admittedly, it’s a superlative that gets tossed around a little too lightly these days.Yet as it pertains to the overall quality, depth and competitiveness of what will be the 2023 senior girls Tsumura Basketball Invitational, it’s one that seems more likely than not to hit its mark.For the first time ever, the […]

Oak Bays' Finnley Lillis (left) and the rest of Victoria's Bays will come into the 2023-24 B.C. senior boys Quad-A basketball season with the province's No. 1 ranking. (Photo by Wilson Wong 2023 by special permission. All Rights Reserved)
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B.C. boys preseason Top 10 hoops ranks: Oak Bay, Lord Byng, Pacific Academy, King David top the early charts!

LANGLEY — Just in time for summer, here is B.C. School Sports’ preseason senior boys varsity basketball rankings at all four tiers.Digest all of this as you anticipate the road to the 2024 provincials this March at the Langley Events Centre:BASKETBALLTOP 10 RANKINGSB.C. SENIOR BOYSPRESEASONQUAD A1 Oak Bay Bays (Victoria) (VI)2 Vancouver College Fighting Irish […]

Semiahmoo's Torian Lee was selected MVP of the 2023 B.C. senior boys Quad-A basketball championships after his Thunderbirds defeated fellow Surrey rival Fleetwood Park at the Langley Events Centre. (Photo by Blair Shier property of Vancouver Sports Pictures 2023. All Rights Reserved)
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A SUNDAY READ: With a 39-point average margin of victory at 2023 Quad-A B.C.’s championships, are the Semiahmoo Thunderbirds ready to be counted as one of tourney’s all-time best teams? Let the debates begin!

LANGLEY — Take a day to ponder what was in all likelihood one of the most dominant four-day runs in top-tiered B.C. boys high school basketball history, and you come to the realization that the 2022-23 Semiahmoo Thunderbirds have to be counted among the greatest champs in the event’s 77-year history.With too many gaping holes […]