LANGLEY — We’ve gone final at Day 1 of the 2025 B.C. senior girls Double-A basketball championships.
Here are your game reports for all eight games played Wednesday.
BASKETBALL
B.C. SENIOR GIRLS CHAMPIONSHIPS
DAY 1
DOUBLE A
TOP HALF DRAW
QUADRANT A
NO. 1 HOLY CROSS 82 vs. NO. 16 HAZELTON 24
By HOWARD TSUMURA, VARSITY LETTERS
LANGLEY — When was the last time the field at the top end of the Double-A tier as competitive as it appears to be this year?
And is Double-A going to provide the most competitive final three rounds of play of any of the four tiers gathered here this week at the 2025 B.C. senior girls basketball championships.
Two questions hot on the mind of girls hoop aficionados over the next four days for sure, and it just makes a special time of year even more special if you ask Holy Cross Crusaders’ head coach Amy Beauchamp.
“It’s really nice because we want to play really good teams and to have them here at Double A is why we have to work so hard,” said Beuachamp after her No. 1-seeded Surrey squad stormed to an 82-24 win over the Northwest champs and No. 16-seed Hazelton Spartans in the opening game of the draw Wednesday here at the LEC Fieldhouse.
“It’s so much better because (the best teams) have to compete and go hard every single time out.”
The Crusaders sit on the same side of the draw as the No. 4 seed St. Thomas More Knights of Burnaby, while on the other side lurks the No. 2 St. Michaels University Blue Jags of Victoria and the defending B.C. champion and No. 3 seeded Langley Christian Lightning.
On Wednesday, the Crusaders played their entire rotation and rode a 34-point run to a 55-11 lead just before the half.
Alyssia Palma with 16 points and Isla Iannuzzi with 15 led five Holy Cross players in double-figure scoring.
Sophia Anderson scored Hazelton’s first eight points and finished with a team-high 13.
Beauchamp was understandably delighted that the B.C. girls tournament, as part of its 75th anniversary celebrations, will move its championship Saturday play into the Arena Bowl this season.
“It’s amazing,” she said. “I think that it’s finally happening for girls basketball. It’s been a long time coming, hopefully we are there.”
NO. 8 NOTRE DAME 68 vs. NO. 9 LAMBRICK PARK 64
By HOWARD TSUMURA, VARSITY LETTERS
LANGLEY — The seedings made them a perfect match, yet ask East Vancouver’s Notre Dame Jugglers what they actually knew about Victoria’s Lambrick Park Pride, their foes in the opening round of provincials, and there was no way to lie.
“I knew it was going to be tough but we knew very little about Lambrick,” longtime Jugglers head coach Tracy Clark said after her team toughed out a 68-64 victory. “We saw something on YouTube, so very little film. We knew they would be bigger and that is literally how they got most of their points… off rebounds and putbacks.”
Well, if the Jugglers were at times flying by the seat of their pants, then why not celebrate a little bit of the spirit of improv.
Senior guard Emily Chan, who battled through a tough shooting game over the first quarter, caught fire in the fourth, and her triple from the top of the arc was like a dagger, giving Notre Dame a 65-62 lead with 35 seconds remaining.
Chan scored 14 of her 24 points in the fourth quarter, capped by what was her third three-pointer of the finale frame.
“That was clutch and I am not surprised,” coach Clark said in the post game. “She did not give up because she was not hitting a lot. That’s why she is a leader, a Grade 12. It was clutch and exactly what we needed.
“And we didn’t draw that one up, she did it all on her own.”
The Jugglers also got a game-high 28 points from Grade 10 guard Selina Quilatan whose bounty included three triples of her own as well as ice-veined 10-of-10 marksmanship from the stripe.
“Super young,” said Clark, “but she penetrated and she played a great defensive game.”
Siena Khosia led the Pride with 19 points, while Wrenna Auld added 12.
The prize for an opening round win?
Notre Dame renews an old rivalry with No.1 Holy Cross in a 3:30 p.m. quarters clash Thursday at 3:30 p.m.
QUADRANT B
NO. 4 ST. THOMAS MORE 66 NO. 13 ST. PATRICK 50
By HOWARD TSUMURA, VARSITY LETTERS
LANGLEY — They have long featured a trio of guards with a penchant for turning games into track meets.
Yes, the St. Thomas More Knights have never had any shortage of speed.
Yet ask Knights’ head coach Cassie Lauang about the more under-the-radar part of the team and she is glad to chat about everything that a pair of seniors have brought to the front court in 5-foot-9 Meara Mccormick and 5-foot-10 Avery Brown.
On Wednesday, as the opening round of the provincial Double-A tournament opened for STM, the Knights found themselves engaged in a tighter game than many might have expected against East Vancouver’s St. Patrick’s Celtics.
In fact just before halftime, the underdog Celts had pulled to within 38-37 and seemed to have wrested their share of momentum away from the draw’s No. 4 seed. The Knights, however, prevailed 66-50.
“Once the second half started we just relied on creating turnovers and rebounding, and Kyla Limond, started making huge shots and was a dog defensively,” said Lauang of the 5-foot-3 Grade 10 guard who hit four triples and finished with 18 points.
“But, I’ve got to shout out our posts Meara McCormick Avery Brown,” Lauang continued. “While they don’t show up on the stat sheet as often as our three guards (Limon, Demicah Arnaldo 15 pts, Mia Beliveau (nine points) , they do everything dirty in the post that they needed to do.”
With that complimentary melding of front and back court in effect, the Knights built their lead to as many as 17 points in the second half.
“Avery must have had 12 or 13 rebounds and Meara is so tough down there that it’s hard to play 40 minutes when our posts are playing that tough and that physical. I think that became the separator in this game.”
McCormick had traditionally been the lone post presence, but this season, as the weeks have turned to months and the calendar set to reach March this Championship Day Saturday, Brown has lifted the level of her game enough to open the possibilities for the Knights at both ends of the floor.
“Avery Brown, for some reason, has taken it upon herself to say that ‘I am going to do everything dirty to make sure our guards can be successful,” Lauang professes. “She hedges ball screens, she rebounds, she is physical. She also made some huge shots for us today in the high post.
“She is someone that has been under-rated this season, but after the B.C. Catholics, she found a confidence in herself, and our guards have done a really good job of nurturing that. She has really done a good job of blossoming this season.”
Guard Lauren Wong energized the Knights’ back court group paced by Arnaldo and Limon with a further 13 points.
Senior guard Gabby Weiser led the Celtics with 16 points, while Kiara Bay and Laya Alojado, a pair of Grade 10 guards, scored 14 and 12 points respectively.
The Knights continue on to the Final 8 on Thursday, with a 1:45 clash against the Southridge-Westsyde winner.
NO. 5 SOUTHRIDGE 67 NO. 12 WESTSYDE 50
BY MIRIAM CELEBILER (Special for Varsity Letters)
LANGLEY — The fifth-seeded Southridge Storm headed to the locker room down by 10 at the halfway mark of their first contest in the Double-A championships against the Westsyde Whundas.
Coach Paul Chiarenza had one message he wanted to get across: to play relaxed.
“We have high expectations for ourselves, so the fear of not getting there started to creep in,” he
said. “We just reminded everybody who they were, and what they bring to the table and
honestly referenced the game right before us and said STM was in a similar spot. Just go out
there and play your game.”
And that’s exactly what they did.
The game, however, didn’t start with a huge advantage for either team.
Rianna Brar and Nicole Lofing built out a slight 12-10 lead for Southridge in the tightly contested first quarter as the teams started to ease into the flow of the game.
The second quarter would see a leader emerge. Midway through the frame, a series of baskets
ending with a wide-open jumper from behind the arc by Hudsyn Morrison brought Westsyde up
20-14 and pressured Chiarenza to call a timeout for the Storm.
The Whundas continued to hold their opponents scoreless, building to a 13-point lead at 27-14,
but as the clock wound down, Westsyde started falling victim to avoidable mistakes.
The Kamloops team ended the third quarter with a 10-point advantage, but Southridge had the
momentum, and it showed when the teams came back from the break.
“Rianna Brar, who’s our point guard, took what we talked about at halftime about trying to get
into the dirty areas and do something and got two buckets right away, and I think when
everybody else saw the ball go in, everybody just kind of exhaled, and we started playing our
game,” added Chiarenza.
The Storm came out of the half firing, starting the quarter with an impressive 19-0 run. They
outrebounded Westsyde, who were starting to feel the shallowness of their three-player bench.
Mira Sanghe hit some big threes, while Jayda Rhandawa played a lights-out second half on a
rolled ankle and led her team with 20 points.
Heading into the tournament, Chiarenza was not certain Rhandawa was even going to be able
to play. “To have her come in and do what she did, it was just probably one of the guttiest wins
I’ve ever had,” he explained.
Southridge cruised to a 67-50 victory to advance to the semis, where they will face No. 4
St.Thomas More Collegiate at 1:45 p.m. on Thursday. The Storm and Knights are 1-1 this
season.
“The STM coach and I are very close, so we know each other's teams like the back of our
hand,” added Chiarenza when asked about the matchup. “We know every in and out. This is
gonna be one of the most difficult and most fun games I’ve ever coached because I do not want
one of us to lose. And so it’ll be bittersweet regardless, but tomorrow, it’s two completely
different styles. STM plays very quick, they press the ball, we wanna grind it a little bit more, so I
think whoever gets their tempo probably has the best shot.”
BOTTOM HALF DRAW
QUADRANT C
NO. 2 ST. MICHAELS UNIVERSITY SCHOOL 79 NO. 15 NECHAKO VALLEY 28
LANGLEY — The seeds in all four quadrants have won their opening-round games at the B.C. girls Double-A basketball championships after Victoria’s No. 2 SMUS Blue Jags brought an eight-game sudden-elimination day to a close at the Langley Events Centre’s Fieldhouse.
Guard Charlie Anderson led four Blue Jags in double figures on offence with a game-high 19 points. Point guard Avery Geddes scored 15.
Mikaela Dube 14 and Oliva Pickering 10 completed the quartet with Isabella Herrara Orduna added nine points.
Vanderhoof’s Viqueens were led by Abby Dykstra who clicked on three treys to finish with nine points. Molly Black and Rachel Brooks each scored seven in the loss.
SMUS moves on the the Final 8 Thursday when it faces Surrey’s seventh-seeded Pacific Academy Breakers.
NO. 7 PACIFIC ACADEMY vs. NO. 10 MULGRAVE
BY MIRIAM CELEBILER (Special for Varsity Letters)
LANGLEY — This is the second year in a row that the Pacific Academy (PA) Breakers and Mulgrave Titans have met in the Provincials quarter-final. A year ago, the then-favourites Mulgrave came out on top 73-50, but they have since seen many top players graduate. Although Pacific Academy has
a more veteran team, it was two youngsters that stood out in the nail-biting 64-54 win over the
Mulgrave Titans on Wednesday.
When asked what gave the Breakers the advantage in the end, head coach Jody Wandzura
called out two players.
“The composure of our point guard, Emily Baril,” she said. “She took care of the ball so well
for us. Also, Meghan Thompson, it’s her first game back after being out for four weeks. As
the game went on, she slowly started really picking it up and really attacking like she used to,
and she came back to her regular self. Those two were fantastic in the game
“I think the team believed so I want to give full credit to the whole team for encouraging each other as well.”
From the get-go, the score was close.
Standout guard for Mulgrave Maryam Mojarradi made back-to-back plays, assisting a bucket in the paint and another from behind the three-point arc to tie the score at 11-all near the end of the first.
The tightly contested game stayed neck-and-neck.
Mulgrave downed a three in the closing minutes, hoping for the advantage heading into the half, but PA’s Sarah Ude laid one in to bring the score back to even at 33-33 by the break.
Mojarradi and Pacific Academy’s Eden Hansen went head to head in the third quarter, each
notching nine points, including a three-pointer for both. A late-quarter scoring run propelled the
Breakers ahead, and unable to stop Megan Thomson in the paint, the Titans could not recover.
“It’s really exciting for me because an injury took me out for a little bit, and so to play really well
gives me a lot of momentum for the rest of Provincials,” said Grade 10 guard Thompson. “It’s
really uplifting to see that I can come back from injury and still play strong.”
With Thomson and Baril acting as leaders on the court as sophomores, hopes are high for PA’s
Provincials run this year but also in years to come.
“Pacific Academy has a very bright future with those two being as strong as they are,” said
Wandzura.
“As I get older and improve, I think as much as I can be vocal, I can help others improve and lift
up my teammates,” added Thompson. “I feel like the better I play and the more I lead, the more
I can help the whole team. That’s just my plan, to uplift everybody.”
Tomorrow the Breakers go up against the winner of St. Michael’s University School-Nechako
Valley in the Final 8 round at 5:15 p.m.
QUADRANT D
NO. 3 LANGLEY CHRISTIAN 70 NO. 14 FERNIE 41
By Miriam Celebiler (Special for Varsity Letters)
LANGLEY — The Fernie Falcons looked to be the more dominant team in the opening minutes of their Sweet 16 contest against the Langley Christan Lightning, pulling ahead 7-0.
Langley Christian’s response? To score 29 unanswered before the end of the first frame.
“We just sought after it on defence and started to settle down a little bit, so that first game is always jittery. We’ve got a lot of new kids here, for some of them their first provincials or in different roles. So it was just about settling down and working hard on defence, which led to some offence for us,” said Lightning head coach Danie Gardner humbly.
Grade 11 guard Payton Brunoro led the charge for Langley Christian with 13 points in the first quarter alone and 26 total. Gaby Vis and Zoe Bradshaw added valuable points for the Lightning.
“I thought Gaby was great inside for us,” answered Gardner when asked about difference makers. “I thought Brielle and Georgia brought some things and obviously Zoe and Peyton were solid from the outside. Rainey just tough for us, so I think it was a good team effort.”
After the dominant first half, Langley Christian was back to playing like the powerhouse B.C. basketball knows and expects.
The rest of the game saw the two teams go back and forth for points. The Falcons avenged their first quarter, reaching 41 points by the final buzzer, while Langley Christian played an end-to-end game with their young team en route to a commanding 70-41 win.
The Lightning continue their tournament at 7:00 p.m. tomorrow when they face Britannia in the Final 8.
“Tomorrow is a totally new day,” emphasized Gardner. “The only thing today does is it allows you to advance. Each game it’s its own, and we’ve got a tough matchup tomorrow. So we just wanted to focus on this game, and we’ll prepare for tomorrow now that we’re done.”
NO. 6 BRITANNA 65 NO. 11 BRENTWOOD COLLEGE 58
BY MIRIAM CELEBILER (Special for Varsity Letters)
LANGLEY — The Britannia Bruins added to their 18-game undefeated streak on Wednesday, outplaying Brentwood College 65-58. Both teams brought a strong scoring game, but it was Britannia’s calmness and composure that won it in the end.
When asked what he could attribute his team’s coolness to, Bruins coach Mike Evans said, “A
lot of great 12s. We’ve played a lot of games and we’ve changed. We have actually been
calmer, and in the pregame talk, I talked about the speaker last night.
We talked about having
confidence, getting your shoulders back, taking the court in a confident way, and playing that
way and owning the gym. So maybe that translated.”
Whether it was Canadian basketball player Kim Gaucher’s words from Tuesday night’s banquet,
the experience and skill of the players on the team or a combination of the two, Britannia’s
command over the court was felt.
Grade 11 guard Chenesayi Kagande and grade 12 guard Bianca Padolina led the Bruins with
18 and 23 points, respectively, while Ruby McDougald and Kionah Williams were difference
makers for the opposing side.
Brentwood mounted a comeback late in the first quarter to cut a 12-point deficit to just a single
point at 24-23 by the early minutes of the second. A McDougald steal and drive to the basket
brought the first big lead change of the game in favour of Brentwood at 29-27.
The teams continued to play with a lot of energy, going hoop for hoop until the halfway buzzer
rang at 35-33 for the Bruins.
Brentwood had a great pick-and-roll play for 41-39 Bruins, but Britannia started to pull ahead
again, ending the quarter with a Padolina trey to enter the final quarter with a 53-42 advantage.
“We calmed down a bit, so we didn’t press as much as we were in the first half,” added Evans
about his team’s play in the second half. “We moved things to center, and we tried to win the
game between the centre line and the three-point line. So instead of playing down there, which
they were doing a good job of meeting us, we just moved it back and then made their court
shorter, if you look at it that way.
And I think we helped on defence and really that that was a
difference. Plus, the kids stole the ball and made some free throws, which we don't normally
make, so that was good.”
Once the Bruins had built up a cushion, it was smooth sailing to a 65-58 win.
Britannia now looks to keep their winning streak alive in the semifinals vs the winner of Langley
Christian and Fernie.
“We haven’t seen these schools that that we're gonna play,” finished Evans. “I just know that
Langley Christian has a real history in [this tournament]. We beat them in the 2020 finals, so
we’ll see. I think we’ll have to outwork them.”
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