UBC’s straight-ahead approach impresses! Here’s 4 things I learned as No. 7 ‘Birds top No. 4 Regina in a 74-68 classic to clinch spot at Final 8 nationals!
By Howard TsumuraVarsity LettersVANCOUVER — The deeper they get into their season, it seems, the muddier, grittier and more single-minded of purpose these UBC Thunderbirds seem to become.On Friday at War Memorial Gymnasium, UBC turned in its second straight pure-guts fourth quarter of their post-season, and as in last Sunday’s 75-69 win over the Alberta […]
It’s TBI time! We unveil all 64 teams in the 2026 Tsumura Basketball Invitational’s boys and girls Super 16 and Select 16 brackets this December at the Langley Events Centre!
By Howard TsumuraVarsityLetters.caLANGLEY TOWNSHIP — It’s been six weeks since the 2025-26 B.C. high school basketball season wrapped itself up before glorious ovation at the Langley Events Centre.Now, it’s time to start the countdown to a new season, and with it, the 2026 Tsumura Basketball Invitational.This coming season, the boys Super 16 and Select 16 […]
A Sunday Read: With 1967’s champs a mirror to their own basketball souls, Van College’s 2026 Fighting Irish make own mark, ending the curse after 59 years with emphatic win over Dover Bay!
BY HOWARD TSUMURA(Varsity Letters)LANGLEY — This week, while preparing this story, the very story I so often wondered if I’d ever have the occasion to write, a scene remained stuck in my mind.In it, with disbelief easily suspended, two basketball coaches, strangers from vastly different eras, meet in the real-time setting of the Langley Event […]
Coming this weekend to VL: It’s a Sunday Read chronicling the end of the Vancouver College Fighting Irish’ half-century-plus quest to re-capture the B.C. senior boys hoops title!
By Howard Tsumura (Varsity Letters)LANGLEY TOWNSHIP — Hope you will check in with Varsity Letters this weekend for our special Sunday Read!Of course, the topic at hand is the historic win by the Fighting Irish over Dover Bay in last Saturday’s B.C. senior boys Quad-A championship final.We’ve spent the week talking with Irish players and […]
Behind a second-quarter sneak attack led by MVP Elliot McNeil, Collingwood tops Notre Dame in 2A B.C. final as coach Andy Wong wins his third provincial title for Cavs!
NO 2 COLLINGWOOD 78 NO. 1 NOTRE DAME 72By Howard TsumuraVarsity LettersLANGLEY — One of the toughest tasks for a head coach is to stand on the sidelines of a high-stakes basketball game and to somehow summon the patience to wait for just the right moment to introduce a new, potentially tide-changing wrinkle to its […]
