UBC's latest recruit, rising fourth-year point guard Jadon Cohee has big goals for both himself and the Thunderbirds' basketball program. (Photo by Richard Lam property of UBC athletics)
Walnut Grove's James Woods exchanges a high-five congratulation with B.C. high school boys basketball president Paul Eberhardt Saturday at Richmond's R.C. Palmer Secondary School. (Photo by Wilson Wong property of UBC athletics)
The engine of the 2018-19 Kelowna Owls, Jaeli Ibbetson (left) and Kennedy Dickie embraced earlier this months in the seconds before their team won the B.C. AAA title at the LEC. Kelowna will open next season at No 1. (Photo by Garrett James property of Langley Events Centre)
Walnut Grove guard James Woods had a game-closing performance for the ages Wednesday at the LEC. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of Varsity Letters)
Feature High School Boys Basketball

Gators’ HC Reid Taylor on star guard James Woods game-winning performance: “Just get out of the way and let him do his thing”

LANGLEY — It had previously been information for Walnut Grove insiders-only, but given the drama of the moment, Reid Taylor couldn’t hold back.“What we say on this team is 95 and 5,” began Taylor in the moments after his senior guard James Woods grabbed an opening-round match-up here at the 2018 B.C. senior boys AAAA […]

Kelowna Owls (left to right) Jaeli Ibbetson, Paige Watson, Rylee Semeniuk, Jordan Kemper and Jenna Holland celebrate the school's first B.C. senior girls varsity basketball championship Saturday in Langley. (Photo by Garrett James for Langley Events Centre)
Feature High School Girls Basketball

Owls wise enough to embrace their re-invention, Kelowna’s first-ever B.C. girls varsity hoops title comes on the wings of pressure defence

LANGLEY — Darren Semeniuk is not kicking himself  because he didn’t realize it earlier. He’s just happy that somewhere along the road of a long senior girls basketball season, he realized that the roster of his Kelowna Owls was perfectly suited to embrace every aspect of becoming a team which could press, trap and suffocate B.C.’s […]

Walnut Grove's Natalie Rathler tries to clear her head after taking an early tumble during Friday's Final Four AAA clash with the Abbotsford Panthers. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca)
Feature High School Girls Basketball

Who else rather than Rathler? Senior post re-invents her foul-ridden self, leads Walnut Grove into B.C. AAA final

LANGLEY — Natalie Rathler turned her version of a basketball nightmare into a dream finish as the Final Four hit the Langley Events Centre on Friday.

Fania Taylor of the Walnut Grove Gators splits the defence of theCrabrook's Mt. Baker Wild on Friday at the Langley Events Centre. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of Varsity Letters)
Feature High School Girls Basketball

Cinderella Fraser Heights Firehawks, No. 1 Walnut Grove Gators set for B.C. junior girls title clash today

LANGLEY — Surrey’s Fraser Heights Firehawks started life at the 2018 B.C. junior girls basketball championships as enough of a long shot that they had win a game early Wednesday’s on the opening day of competition just to become a part of the event’s  main field of 16 teams. 

Kelowna's Japleen Chahal (centre) finds the going tough against Walnut Grove's Anneke Cairnie (left) and Juliana Jacobs during Elite 8 B.C. junior girls championship play Thursday at the LEC. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca)
Feature High School Girls Basketball

Junior Gators, Owls draw inspiration from their senior varsity sisters, Walnut Grove and Kelowna deep from top to bottom

By Aly Laube(Special for VarsityLetters.ca)LANGLEY — When Kelowna Owls and Walnut Grove Gators junior girls basketball teams faced off on Thursday in the quarterfinal round of the B.C. junior girls basketball championships at the Langley Events Centre, they both had impressive senior teams to take inspiration from.

Walnut Grove's Sophia Wisotzki (right) is guarded by Riverside's Sammy Shields on Thursday at the LEC. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of Varsity Letters)
Feature High School Girls Basketball

Growth in the Grove: Maturity helps Gators punch Final Four tickets with deepest run in program history

LANGLEY — One year ago seems like a very long time in the maturation process of Langley’s Walnut Grove Gators.Oh yes, they took on all comers as the No. 1-ranked team for the majority of this B.C. senior girls Triple A season.And oh yes, you have to search the provincial scene long and hard to […]