High-flying Ron Putzi dunks during the Richmond Colts' 1988 title win over Seaquam at the PNE Agrodome. (Photo property of BCHSBBOA 2020. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Boys Basketball

…And then there were two! The Diamond Jubilee 75th anniversary fantasy bracket produces our two all-time boys team finalists!

LANGLEY — We’ve arrived at the Final Four of our 75th anniversary all-time 64-team B.C. High School Boys Basketball Association championship bracket.None of the fan bases from any of our quartet of survivors wants to hear that our committee couldn’t make a bad choice, but the truth is, these are saw-off matchups.Coins were not flipped, […]

The big Dawg in charge, Sir Winston Churchill's Filip Subotic (right) finds his way past Kelowna's Maxim Storozhuk during Monday's semifinal clash at the 2020 B.C. junior boys basketball championships at the LEC. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2020. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Boys Basketball

Sir Winston Churchill set to challenge for B.C. junior boys title after Subotic directs Bulldogs to big win over Kelowna Owls

LANGLEY — It hasn’t been that long since Vancouver’s Sir Winston Churchill Secondary last experienced the sweet sensation of a provincial boys basketball championships, but after six years, Bulldogs nation might be one sleep away from adding another.Point guard Filip Subotic’s game-high 29 points, as well a healthy does of his on-court generalship proved to […]

Abbotsford's Lockhart MacGreggor (centre) battles through the defence of Kelowna's Everett Schmuland (left) and Ryan Braam during B.C. junior boys quarterfinal play Sunday at the LEC. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2020. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Boys Basketball

FINAL EDITION B.C. Junior Boys Championships DAY 2: Top seeds all advance as Celtics, ‘Dawgs, Owls, Gators combine for a high-powered Final Four

LANGLEY — How’s that for a seeding committee that knows it’s stuff?It’s a draw that may be distinctly lacking in Cinderellas, yet there is no question that the whichever teams claims the 2020 B.C. junior boys basketball title is going to be full deserving.No., 1 seed St. Patrick’s, No. 2 seed Sir Winston Churchill, No. […]

Centennial Centaurs head coach Gordon Betcher accepts the spoils of victory in 1972 after a win over the North Delta Huskies. (Photo property of the B.C. High School Boys Basketball Association 2020. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Boys Basketball

The 75th anniversary Diamond draw hits the Final Four! Kaz, Disbrow, Putzi, Betcher, Bradley and Parmar all share their thoughts on B.C. hoops history!

NORTH DELTA — As our Elite Eight round rolled around this week, and the committee entrusted with selecting the winners in our 75th anniversary B.C. high school boys basketball all-time tournament bracket delivered their latest set of verdicts, I knew it was time to pick up the phone and talk with some of the people […]

Cutting a path through the Centennial Centaurs this past December at TBI 2019 is Kelowna's Jonathon Haughton. The senior guard and the rest of the Owls play host to this weekend's Western Canada Invitational. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2020. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Boys Basketball

Western Canada 2020: No. 3 Owls bring the best to Kelowna! No. 1 Rebels, No. 4 Royals, No. 6 Saints joined by Alberta, Manitoba’s best

KELOWNA — Like every head coach hosting an invitational tournament, the one accepted advantage is the built-in ability to schedule as cushy a first-round opponent as is possible.

Holy Cross' Brent Padilla (centre) finds his way past Kelowna's Jarred Taylor (left) and Taye Parmar during 2020 Legal Beagle consolation final in PoCo. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Boys Basketball

Legal Beagle 2020: No. 2 Owls finally slip, yet Kelowna shows its resiliency with win fourth-place win over Holy Cross

PORT COQUITLAM — Harry Parmar moved his arm in an upward arc.“Very rarely does a season go like this,” he said, his body language indicating one upward step after another. “We hit a dip, and now we’ve got to get out of it.” By the time Parmar’s team, the Quad-A No. 2-ranked Kelowna Owls, left PoCo […]

Langley Christian's Sydney Bradshaw finds a gap in the Kelowna defence during third-place game at 2019 TBI, Saturday at the LEC. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Girls Basketball

TBI 2019 Girls: Double-A Langley Christian tops Quad-A Kelowna for third as BC’s largest tier denied gold, silver and bronze

LANGLEY — When the 2019 girls Tsumura Basketball Invitational tipped off Wednesday afternoon, eight teams from the B.C. Top 10 Quad-A rankings, issued that very day, were among the event’s 20-team field.By the time Saturday’s third-place game concluded however, there was not a single team left standing in the quest for gold, silver or bronze […]

No one at Tsumura Basketball 2019 has been able to keep Britannia's Surprise Munie under wraps, including Kelowna's Paris Kirk (left) and Rylee Semeniuk. Britannia rode a huge scoring performance from Munie to a win and a berth in Saturday's championship final against the Okanagan Mission Huskies. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Girls Basketball

TBI 2019 Final Four: In a zone of their own, Surprise and the Cinderella Britannia Bruins top Kelowna Owls for title-game berth

LANGLEY — It’s wrong to say that the Britannia Bruins were considered a long shot heading into the 2019 Tsumura Basketball Invitational.Yet hands up if you had the East Vancouver Double-A underdogs knocking off, in order, Quad-A No. 6 Riverside, Quad-A No. 7 Yale, and Quad-A No. 8 Kelowna?Of course you did. We all did.Hardly.Yet […]

Kelowna's Nicole Torozan (centre) scoots through the paint against McMath's Liz Kennedy (left) and Kate Carkner. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Girls Basketball

TBI 2019 Elite Eight: Depth, shooting, athleticism carry Kelowna Owls to decisive win over Richmond’s R.A. McMath Wildcats

LANGLEY — The 2019-20 Kelowna Owls are taking head coach Darren Semeniuk on a trip down memory lane.With a bevy of guards and an emerging pair of post players, the current edition that Semeniuk has cajoled into the Tsumura Basketball Invitational semifinals tonight (8:15 p.m.) following its decisive 70-39 win over the R.A. McMath Wildcats […]

St. Thomas More's Bella Gaspar (left) gets off a shot while defended by Brookswood's Quinn Jasper during Sweet 16 round of 2019 TBI on Thursday at the LEC. (Photo by Larry Lawson property of Portland State athletics 2019. All Rights Reserved) (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Girls Basketball

FINAL EDITION: Utter madness hits TBI 2019 Sweet 16! Three Double-A schools crash Friday’s Elite 8 quarterfinals

LANGLEY —What a Thursday of upsets here at TBI.The Sweet 16 for 2019 will be remembered for the way that Double A teams sent the bracket into disarray.Hands up if you had Double A’s Langley Christian, Britannia and St. Thomas More knocking off, respectively, Quad A’s Terry Fox, Riverside and Brookswood?Utter madness!We’ve got all eight […]