LANGLEY TOWNSHIP — Welcome to Day 1 of the 2026 B.C. senior girls xxxx basketball championship, coming to you from the Langley Events Centre.
Please check back here reguarly as our team of writers provide first-hand game coverage from the eight sudden-elimination games being contested at this tier.
Thanks for your loyalty!
Howard Tsumura
DAY 1
QUAD A
ROUND OF 16
RIVERSIDE 104 LORD TWEEDSMUIR 48
By GARY KINGSTON (Special for Varsity Letters)
LANGLEY – This one was always going to be one-sided, a blowout between a Quad A No. 2 seed at the senior girls provincials and a #15 seed, which had won only four games all season.
But as the Riverside Rapids easily dispatched the Lord Tweedsmuir Panthers 104-48, there was still a sense of head-nodding appreciation to be able to watch the kind of complementary magic with which the Port Coquitlam school plays hoops.
With a great mix of front-court size and dazzling backcourt wizardry, the Rapids play with an intuitive chemistry that belies the fact the starting five includes a Grade 9 and a Grade 10.
While the Panthers did play surprisingly robust basketball early, staying within six points well into the first quarter, Riverside used a full-court press to force several turnovers and pull out to a 59-28 lead at halftime.
A 19-0 run to start the third quarter clearly showcased the depth of the Rapids’ skill.
Kaitlin Vergara, the five-foot-three Grade 12 dynamo, opened the run with a three-pointer, then uber-talented Grade 9 forward Ari Brown stole the ball under the offensive basket and made a put-back. Brown scored again on a fastbreak layup off a feed from Vergara and added another layup off a seeing-eye, back-handed feed from Vergara.
“A lot of my teammates have learned to be ready for my passes,” said a beaming Vergara. “At the start of the season, they weren’t always expecting me to pass it when I did. They were caught off guard. Now that we’ve built that chemistry, built that relationship, they know to be ready.”
Assists are not recorded on the opening day of the tournament, but Vergara had a bushel full to go along with 17 points. Brown, the six-footer, was terrific working inside, with her first three baskets coming off offensive rebound put backs. She had 25 points, while guard Francesca Salonga added 15 and Henna Virk 14.
Riverside head coach Paul Langford said the uneven start by his squad was likely a result of nerves.
“I think we were maybe a little bit too hyped, too excited to play,” he said. “But we started the second half how I wanted us to play. When we share the ball we’re really good and if we play defence we’re pretty good.”
Langford had high praise for Vergara, vocal leader who is set to join former teammates Annabelle Neufeld and Mikella Campanile next year at Vancouver Island University.
“When she moves the ball she can be extremely effective. She was very effective today. When her teammates are running the floor, they know she’s going to get them the ball. And she can shoot it.”
On that backhanded pass to Brown, Langford, a longtime high school coach, said “she’s very creative, one of the most creative players I’ve had.”
Although Tweedsmuir won only four games all season, two of those were crossover playoff games, including a six-point defeat of a team that beat the Panthers by 53 earlier in the season.
Sharp-shooting Grade 11 guard Zara Mann led the Panthers with 18 points, 12 of them from behind the arc.
NO. 7 G.W. GRAHAM 60 NO. 10 KELOWNA OWLS 54
By GARY KINGSTON (Special for Varsity Letters)
LANGLEY – Given the adversity the G.W. Graham Grizzlies senior girls basketball team has faced this season – injuries, illness, car accidents and severe flooding in the Chilliwack area – falling behind by 10 points in the third quarter of their B.C. championships opener wasn’t going to be a big issue.
Sure enough, with a tenacious defence keying a turnaround, the Quad A No. 7-ranked Grizzlies went on a 18-0 run to put themselves in an advantageous position against the upset-minded Kelowna Owls.
The No-10 ranked Okanagan squad did rally in the fourth quarter to retake a two-point lead, but a clutch three-pointer from Grade 11 guard Janessa Wiebe with 34.1 seconds remaining clinched the 60-54 win.
“I was wide open . . . I had to try it,” said Wiebe, who had struggled with her shot earlier in the game before hitting her sole trey. “We were kind of nervous (earlier) with our whole school being here (in the stands). I had to do it.”
When Kelowna fouled with a few seconds remaining, Grizzlies’ head coach Ashley Hayes inserted injured Grade 12 forward Macie Svehia, one of the team’s leading scorers this season, to shoot the final two free throws.
“That was good for her, she could barely walk,” said Hayes.
It was a low-scoring, plenty-of-fouls game early, just 11-7 for G.W. Graham after one quarter, when the two teams combined to make just three baskets combined.
The offences found their footing after that point, but after Kelowna took a 39-29 lead in the third, the Grizzlies went on that big run and held the Owls scoreless for five minutes by switching to a zone defence.
“We felt like our help side defence wasn’t great,” said Hayes. “We were a little bit slow and they (the Owls) were in our heads a little bit. We felt like if we were in zone, at least we’d have that confidence that our team would find itself. We talked about making one stop at a time.”
The Grizzlies did a terrific job of dropping down and double-and-triple teaming the Owls leading scorer, six-foot Grade 12 forward Jasmin Guarasci in the post, holding her to just nine points.
“It’s funny, we talked about her nearly every time out,” said Hayes. “We knew what she was going to do. We played them in our home tournament in January. We discussed her tendencies, what she liked to do to bait girls in. Sometimes (our team) listened, sometimes they didn’t, but we really paid attention to her and that helped to make sure she didn’t go off.”
Grade 11 guard Katie Schmitke led the Grizzlies with 26 points.
G.W. Graham made it to the final game last season as a No. 7 seed, so they’re hoping for a repeat performance this year.
“This is a huge win,” she said of staving off the Owls. “Resilience is one of our key words of the year and I think they were definitely resilient today.”
NO. 3 MEI EAGLES 91 NO. 14 HANDSWORTH ROYALS 57
By GARY KINGSTON (Special for Varsity Letters)
LANGLEY – New coach. New division. Same old story.
The MEI Eagles remain a dominant force in B.C. senior girls basketball.
The Abbotsford school, the reigning Triple A champions, moved up to Quad A this season due to the sustained excellence formula that takes into Top 5 finishes over a five-year period. And even though longtime bench boss Rick Thiessen stepped away in the off-season, the Eagles arrived at the Langley Events Centre as the No. 3 seed.
With new coach Sarah Neufeld calling the shots, they opened the tournament with a relatively easy 91-53 win Wednesday over the No. 14 seed Handsworth Royals.
“I’ve been given a great opportunity,” said Neufeld, an American who finished her college career at Trinity Western and then coached in Alberta for a decade afterwards.
“I’ve inherited a very talented group, a generational talent group, which is kind of rare,” said Neufeld.
“I’m very thankful for the work Rick Thiessen and our staff at MEI has done over the last few years fostering this group. It’s been a joy to coach them.”
The squad includes a pair of six-foot-two Grade 12 forwards Ella Tatlock and Julianna Reimer, who combine skill with disruptive length and a physicality that allows them to dominate inside. But it’s also a deep MEI team that includes a group of talented Grade 11s, including forwards Brooklyn Elford (13 second half points) and Madie Corneau, who chipped in eight.
Tatlock had a team-high 13 points and Reimer 12 while sitting almost the entire second half.
In a tournament that could mean four games in four days if the Eagles make Saturday night’s final, getting her big stars some early rest was crucial for Neufeld.
“I think they got one or two short shifts (in the second half) and that was kind of the goal,” said Neufeld, who had 11 different players record points.
Putting up 91 and spreading the points around was a positive, but Neufeld was disappointed at times with the commitment to defence.
“Defensively, we’ve got some things to correct.”
Leila Aaker led Handsworth with 15 points.
NO. 11 CHARLES BEST 80 NO. 6 SEAQUAM 62
By GARY KINGSTON (Special for Varsity Letters)
LANGLEY – Jim Day had a feeling that his Charles Best Blue Devils might be poised to upset the seeding chart on the opening day of the Quad A senior girls B.C. basketball championships.
Just 17-14 on the season, his Coquitlam-based squad was the No. 11 seed and was going up against the No. 6 seed Seaquam Seahawks, the two-time reigning champions on Wednesday at the Langley Events Centre.
But after going on a 15-0 run in the first quarter to build a 19-6 lead, the Blue Devils kept rolling en route to a decisive 80-62 win.
“Our kids played unreal, that’s the best game they’ve played all year,” said Day. “I thought we were building towards that in the last few weeks and then we had a great week of practice and the kids just executed beautifully today.”
Grade 11 guard Bianka Mazan, scored 28 points while showcasing a brilliant all-round game. An energy player whose motor never stops running, she scored on offensive rebound put backs, by driving the baseline, with double pump push shots and on dead-eye three-pointers.
“She played great today,” said Day. “She’s been our leading scorer all year and she showed that today. But today’s a day where it’s hard to single people out because the collective group was just so good. Everyone did their jobs, executed the game plan the way we wanted to.”
Grade 10 forward Ashreya Sanghera-Gulamhussein, who made the odd questionable decision, still contributed 16 crucial points, while Grade 11 guard Elizabeth Fast added 18.
Seaquam, which lost standout forward Camryn Tait early in the season to a foot injury, stayed within hailing distance for a while in the second half as guards Callie Brost and Syra Toor combined for 11 three-pointers.
But Charles Best would answer each one of those treys with another Mazan foray along the baseline, a crazy hook shot from Sanghera-Gulamhussein or a banked shot off glass by Madison Day, the coach’s daughter.
“It was a real team effort,” said Mazan, who agreed with Coach Day that it was the biggest win of the year. “We all worked together and it was a lot of fun. We said at the start of the year that we were not just going to get here, but we were going to win.”
Knocking off the two-time reigning champs was a good way to start.
“I have so much respect for (Seaquam head coach Lucky Toor) and that program, for what they’ve done the last few years,” said Day. “Winning two titles and then they get the bad break with the injury to Camryn this year. That’s a hell of a program and just a great win for our kids.”
Toor admitted the loss of Tait was tough, but said his team was just too inconsistent this year.
“And, it shouldn’t happen, but I felt they wanted it more than us today.
“Coach Day is a phenomenal coach. That’s a very well-coached team and he certainly had his team prepared. Kudos to them.”
Charles Best will face the No. 3 seed MEI Eagles in a quarterfinal today. The two teams have not faced each other this season.
NO. 5 SEMIAHMOO 89 NO. 12 W.J. MOUAT 51
By DAN KINVIG (Special for Varsity Letters)
LANGLEY TOWNSHIP — Wednesday afternoon’s opening-round Quad-A provincial clash between the Semiahmoo Thunderbirds and W.J. Mouat Hawks was a fascinating snapshot of two programs at very different phases of their respective developmental cycles.
On one hand, the South Surrey-based Thunderbirds are fully formed, Grade 11 and 12-laden, ready to meet the moment.
The Hawks of Abbotsford, by way of contrast, are predominantly driven by underclass athletes, inexperienced at the senior level yet dripping with potential, with their best days yet to come.
Given those demographic profiles, the end result – a dominant 89-51 T-Bird triumph at the Langley Events Centre – made sense. It’s fair to suggest the Thunderbirds are who the Hawks hope to be one day, but they’re not there yet.
“They were aggressive, and their full-court press threw us off,” noted Google Sidhu, the former UFV Cascades standout who is now head-coaching her alma mater Mouat Hawks.
“And Jaida Claypool, she’s a star. She’s a very good player.”
Indeed, Grade 11 guard Claypool lit the fuse for the Thunderbirds on Wednesday, scoring 19 of her game-high 33 points in the first half as Semiahmoo led wire-to-wire.
The Thunderbirds broke the game open midway through the first quarter, reeling off a 20-2 run highlighted by a pair of Mya Thompson three-pointers to surge ahead 25-6. They controlled the game from there.
The opening-round win is a natural progression for a Semi program which won Grade 8 provincials in 2023 with its core group of Grade 11’s; won junior provincials in 2024 with its current Grade 11’s and 12’s; and suffered a tough opening-round loss at senior B.C.’s last year before reeling off three straight confidence-building wins to finish ninth overall.
“The experience we had last year was really key for us,” T-Birds head coach Simrit Bindra explained. “Last year we played Oak Bay in the first round, and they were up 23-9 in the first quarter. Learning from that, we knew we needed be really ready from the start, and knew we had to control the tempo. I’m proud of the girls for coming out the way that they did today.”
Nine Thunderbirds hit the scoresheet on Wednesday, with senior guard Thompson (17 points, five three-pointers) joining Claypool in double digits. Priya Sangha (eight points), Elia Sparling and Savanna Wong (seven points apiece) also chipped in offensively for the winners.
“The way that these girls get along is special,” Bindra said. “They hang out at basketball and after school, and they hang out together at school. We’re really lucky, because a lot of teams don’t get that. It’s a big deal.”
Mouat, meanwhile, showed flashes of its youthful potential, with as many as four Grade 9 players – guards Nyah Sandhu, Nevaya Neufeld and Nayeli Djulus, and forward Seerat Mann – on the court at a time. The quartet was part of a Hawks Grade 9 team that finished second at Grade 9 provincials last week.
Mann poured in 21 points, while Djulus added 12 points of her own.
“It’s everything to them,” Mouat coach Sidhu said, reflecting on what her young players learned in their provincial debut. “This gets them ready for what’s next. They’re playing against women – they’re not playing Grade 9 kids anymore. . . . You’ve got to move faster, react faster. This will help them in the long run, for sure.”
4:45 P.M. JOHNSTON HEIGHTS (4) VS. DOVER BAY (13)
6:15 P.M. OKANAGAN MISSION (8) VS. OAK BAY (9)
7:45 P.M. ARGYLE (1) VS. NORTH PEACE (16)
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