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
QUAD A
TOP HALF DRAW
QUADRANT A
By Howard Tsumura, Varsity Letters
NO. 8 OAK BAY 75 vs. NO. 9 SEMIAHMOO 64
LANGLEY —In the near two seasons which have passed since Victoria’s Oak Bay fell to Jordyn Nohr and the Brookswood Bobcats in the 2023 B.C. junior girls championship final at the LEC, the Breakers have been going about their business of carving out their true identity.
On Wednesday, right off the opening tip, Oak Bay showed just that, jumping out to a 28-6 lead by late in the first frame en route to a 75-64 win over a Semiahmoo Totems team from Surrey, that coming off a provincial junior title of its own in 2024, is navigating very similar territory.
And that start?
Ask the Breakers’ first-year head coach Quinn Campbell about it, and based on its emergence on the elevated stage of the provincials, it’s something just shy of revelatory.
“I think especially that start of the game was very telling of how far we have come,” said Campbell.
“The whole narrative of the start of the season was we’d get punched in the face early and we would just be crawling to get back into the game,” he said speaking figuratively. “So to come out and to actually throw the first punch was big for us and that is something that has been a good trend that I am hoping we can keep up.”
Semiahmoo recovered very nicely but by that time, the damage had already been done.
Eden Henderson led the winners with 26 points while Adelle Bergman added 18 and Molly Andulajevic 15 more.
The Thunderbirds got a game-high 28 points from Jaida Claypool and 15 from Sonum Sran.
The Breakers journey through the championship side of the draw reaches a challenging stage as No. 1 seed Argyle of North Vancouver provides the opposition in a 3)30 p.m. game Thursday.
BY GARY KINGSTON (Special for Varsity Letters)
NO. 1 ARGYLE 100 vs. NO. 16 MT. BAKER 17
LANGLEY — When the verb annihilate is connected with the Mount Baker senior girls basketball team it usually relates to some of the Cranbrook school’s history of first-round results at the B.C. high school championships.
A 78-point loss in 2023, a 68-point shellacking in 2024 and an almost unfathomable 83-point defeat this year.
So, a cheeky Facebook post a couple of years back from the city of Cranbrook turned the tables a bit: ‘It’s time again to watch our #Cranbrook firefighters get annihilated by the Mount Baker Senior Girls basketball team in the annual McDonald’s Wildfire Classic . . .”
The cleverly named charity event, now sponsored by A&W, is held in early spring, and extends the Wild’s season by one game after provincials, raising money for the Cranbrook Professional Firefighters Local 1253. And while the girls don’t exactly obliterate or vanquish the old, bald guys and occasional calendar-worthy hunks of the hose brigade, a 25-point margin of victory is common and the Wild are undefeated in the game’s 11-year history.
“We still maintain a perfect record,” crowed head coach Al Nutini. “Although last year, we had to hit a three at the end to win the game.
“It was tight last time, they’ve got a couple of competitive guys. But I get to ref, so I can decide how it’s going to go,” he added with a laugh.
Wednesday’s opening-round game at the Quad A provincials was anything but tight as the No. 16-seeded Wild were hammered 100-17 by the No. 1 seed Argyle Pipers, who led 69-6 at halftime. (Further details aren’t necessary; and we’ll have more on the Pipers over the next three days.)
So what kind of pre-game speech, against an opponent favored to win by 50-plus points, does Nutini impart? Any Herb Brooks Miracle-on-Ice type message?
“We know the first game is tough,” he says. “They (the Pipers) are clearly No. 1 for a reason . . . but I tell them they’re just 15-, 16-, 17-year-old girls like you are.
“So just make sure you put an effort on the floor for 40 minutes. Don’t get discouraged, work hard and be supportive of each other and never give up. Make sure you leave an impression.”
Grade 12 guard Sadie Thielen admits it’s challenging to make the trip from Cranbrook, knowing a first-game blowout is assured.
“It’s definitely very hard,” she said after the game. “And it’s not even the physical part, it’s the mental part, going into the game knowing you’re going to lose, but that you’re still going to have to perform at your best and play your hardest.
“But Al’s pretty good at prepping us and amping us up, telling us that he believes in us and just to execute and work hard.”
Thielen says the goal now on the loser’s side of the bracket is simple.
“I want us to upset anyone we can. And it’s still exposure for anyone who wants to play secondary.”
At least a couple of Wild players are being recruited by schools in the Alberta Colleges Conference.
WHATEVER IT TAKES TO PLAY THE GAME
As the only Quad A school in the Kootenay Zone, the 18-8 Wild, who play the majority of their games on the road and mostly in Alberta, are guaranteed a spot at provincials. But it’s likely they’ll drop to Triple A next year, meaning a battle with J. L. Crowe of Trail and L.V. Rogers of Nelson for a B.C. championship berth.
Nutini says his team operates on a budget of $38,000 to $40,000 a year, all of it acquired through season-long fundraising. The big one this year was packaging up and selling 5,000 bags of nuts and bolts snack mix for Christmas entertaining, which raised $28,000. The girls also do bottle drives and bag groceries. And this past December, they put on a ‘camp for kids,’ playing games and watching movies with young children one night to allow parents free time to do Christmas shopping.
The annual game against the firefighters, says Nutini, is a fun way to end the season for his girls.
“They look forward to it. They love playing the firefighters. They usually come out in some form of a costume or wear ladies wigs. There can be (cream) pies to the face, sometimes a firefighter will pick up a girl and carry her down to the other end of the court.”
Firefighter Fergus Showart, who co-organizes the game with Nutini, says the smoke eaters, who feature one player who is six-foot-eight, have just as much fun. Although, their shooting touch can let them down.
“We shoot more air balls than anything,” he admits ruefully. “We just don’t get any better and don’t practice a lot.
“It was really close last year, but we’ve got a couple of guys with injuries this year. We’ll see what happens.”
Thielen compares the game to an iconic basketball movie.
“It’s almost like you’re in Space Jam, playing against a whole bunch of giants. They’re so big, so tall and so strong. We’re just so small and we’re running around them. But it’s such an opportunity for us to interact with them and also it’s such a fun event for our community.”
The event – a game, accompanied by a BBQ – annually raises between $1,000 for the B.C. Professional Fire Fighters Burn Fund.
This past Christmas break, Nutini also took his squad to San Diego for a tournament.
“We got schooled a bit,” he admits. “But the girls had a great time, they really bonded. We do it every few years.”
It’s all part of Nutini’s effort to run a program that isn’t just about the pick-and-roll, setting screens and defensive tenacity, but as a way to teach important life skills and to bring something back to the community.
“A lot of them won’t play past high school, but I tell them that one day you’re going to live in a community, working and maybe having a family. And those life skills are what’s going to matter.
“Whether they’re on the bench or playing a starring role, it’s something I want them to grow from and learn from.”
QUADRANT B
NO. 4 BROOKSWOOD vs. NO. 13 CLAREMONT
By Howard Tsumura, Varsity Letters
LANGLEY — Jordyn Nohr time has come once again to the Langley Events Centre.
The Brookswood Bobcats’ star guard brought a highlighted 16-point quarter to the fore Wednesday in her team’s B.C. Quad-A tournament’s opening-round 69-37 win over Victoria’s Claremont Spartans.
Nohr finished with 28 points as the Bobcats turned up the defensive intensity over a fourth quarter in which the Spartans were held to just three points and without a made field goal.
Senior forward Hazel Phillips scored 11 points for the winners, who advance to face the G.W. Graham Grizzlies of Chilliwackin a 1:45 p.m. quarterfinal matchup at South Court on Thursday.
Iva Kalabric led Claremont with 14 points.
NO. 5 G.W. GRAHAM 75 NO. 12 SOUTH DELTA 43
By Howard Tsumura, Varsity Letters
LANGLEY — It’s provincial championship season in the B.C. girls high school basketball world, that time of the year when the regular-season’s rigiours have helped define the personality and the roles on the province’s best teams.
That latter is exactly what Chilliwack’s G.W. Graham Grizzlies looked liked Wednesday as a lot of hard-nosed defence combined with balanced offensive contributions paved the way to a decisive 75-43 win over the South Delta Sun Devils of Tsawwassen.
There was a lot to like in the overall performance, but what most pleased Grizzlies’ head coach Colleen Folka?
“I like the fact that we can rely on everyone and trust anyone on our team to make that shot,” said Folka, “and I think our execution is pretty good, and we’re working hard on locking down on defence and being tough on the boards.”
Folka’s twin daughters Carmen Folka (16 points) and Nicole Folka (14 points), along with Ashlynn Adams (15 points) and Jada Paquin (11 points) all scored into double-figures as G.W. Graham advances to face the No. 4 seed Brookswood Bobcats in a 1:45 p.m. quarterfinal on Tuesday.
“When one peson gets a little hot then we can facilitate that more on the floor,” continued Folka. I am pretty poroud of the girls and how far they have come.”
The Grizzlies created their separation in the second quarter, using a 10-0 run as part of a 25-point quarter, one it which its defence limited South Delta to seven points inthe frame.
“We know that defensive stops build your energy and confidence moving forward into offence, so we have been really working on more pressure on the ball, and just taking ownership of our on-ball defence, our switches and boxing out everyone.”
South Delta’s Zoe Millette led all scorers with 22 points.
BOTTOM HALF DRAW
QUADRANT C
NO. 2 SEAQUAM vs. NO. 15 HERITAGE WOODS
By Howard Tsumura, Varsity Letters
LANGLEY — They say that a rolling stone gathers no moss.
In a roundabout way, the old adage might be a new way to explain the evolution of Mackenzie Henderson’s role on offence with North Delta’s Seaquam Seahawks.
Known throughout the earlier part of her career with the current defending champions of girls senior Quad-A hoops as a dead-eye three-point shooter, Henderson has since added a second persona, this one as a ball-handing guard adept at not only shooting the medium-range jumper, but also using her dribble to attack the rim.
Now, it’s one thing to say that Henderson has decided to dabble in a broader offensive skill set.
In her case, however, it’s something all together more meaningful.
On Wednesday, showing nice chemistry with the team’s top offensive player in Grade 11 forward Camryn Tait, Henderson went on to score a game-high 27 points.
Not only did she hit three triples in her team’s 80-49 win over Heritage Woods of Port Moody, she also had seven two-point regulation buckets.
One came off what would be a successful three-point play from the free throw line.
“I was excited at the start of the season to expand my role and tonight I demonstrated that the work I have put in to do that,” said Henderson, who along with Priya Toor, Neelum Sidhu and Sydney Roufosse are the team’s four seniors playing in their final B.C. high shcool championship tournament.
“I have put in a lot of time on my own and a lot in practice,” she said. “Lots of it for me is mental, thinking to myself ‘Get downhill when my shot’s not there’… just looking for another option when my shot is taken away.
“Coach Lucky always tells me when my shot is not there, get down hill.”
And that’s why a rolling stone gathers no moss.
Seaquam rolled to a 23-8 lead to open the game with balanced scoring to be found up and down the roster.
Guard Callie Brost scored 18 points in the win and Tait added 10 while six others also hit the scoresheet.
Izzy Lloyd scored 16 points while Anita Tavasi had 15 for Heritage Woods.
Seaquam will face the Kelowna Owls in a 5:15 p.m. game Thursday with the winner ticketed for Friday’s Final Four.
NO. 10 KELOWNA 56 NO. 7 DR. CHARLES BEST 42
By Howard Tsumura, Varsity Letters
LANGLEY —As the Kelowna Owls battled their way to a berth in Thursday’s quarterfinals here at the 75th annual B.C. senior girls Quad-A championships, it was hard not to notice who their senior leader was.
She’s a 5-foot-6 senior guard named Mavleen Chahal, and en route to the No. 10 Owls’ 56-42 upset win over the No. 7 Dr. Charles Best Blue Devils of Coquitlam, it wasn’t just the game-high 28 points she scored that resonated.
It was pretty much anything that you might consider important in the success of a high school basketball team.
“I mean, pound for pound she is one of the best players in this tournament,” Kelowna head coach Peter Guarasci explained after his team punched its ticket to to face the No 2 seed and defending B.C. champion Seaquam Seahawks in a 5:15 p.m. Final 8 game.
“She competes so hard on both ends, I mean I must think she had 12 or 13 rebounds tonight,” continued Guarasci.”She’s not the biggest girl out there. She plays with confidence, she cares about the team first. She is kind of like a coach’s dream. A bit of a cheat code for me.”
Guarasci has been around the global basketball block.
A Canadian national team member who played for Canada at the 1998 FIBA Worlds and the 2000 Olympics, he knows what elite character is in a youth player.
And so when he’s asked what she has that the great internationals he’s rubbed shoulders with in his own career have had, he doesn’t pause.
“She’s got the killer instinct in her,” Guarsci says. “She wants to win. I’ve coached her for three or four years and the winning matters (to her) in practice. It’s kind of like her essence and it’s started to carry over to the team. She has been a pleasure to coach.”
And the way that Chahal’s karma has spread throughout the line-up was noticeable in all of the intangible ways.
“I think we did what we had to do in terms of being scrappy defensively. We put a lot of ball pressure on them and made them handle the ball a bit more than they are maybe used to.”
Another big part of the game plan?
Limiting touches as best they could to Best’s dangerous post Jessica Parkinson was another.
“She was a big challenge for us,” said Guarasci of Parkinson who still managed to score 19 points.
“As a big, you need the guard to pass you the ball. So we were trying to make life difficult for them, and I thought our guards did that well.”
QUADRANT D
NO. 3 RIVERSIDE vs. NO. 14 LORD TWEEDSMUIR
BY HOWARD TSUMURA, VARSITY LETTERS
LANGLEY — They’re not the tallest team in the province, but PoCo’s Riverside Rapids are among the fittest.
On Wednesday, the Rapids looked a little shaky early against Surrey’s Lord Tweedsmuir Panthers, but when it mattered most, it was an early-season team-led initiative which wound up putting a little extra wind beneath their wings.
“I think our constant pressure and our constant fitness, up and down the court, transition-wise… I think Tweedsmuir just got worn out,” explained Rapids assistant coach Jeremy Neufeld. “They couldn’t deal with our pressure.”
Jorja Hart, the team’s senior leader, got into a shooting groove, scoring 21 of her game-high 28 points between the second and third quarters, a span which saw the No. 3 seeds push their lead to 34 points (61-27) heading into the fourth quarter.
Fellow senior Mikella Campanile added 15 more in the win.
And the stamina they were able to summon Wednesday, according to Neufeld, was borne in the first weeks of the new school year back in September.
“I think all of our seniors have taken that on,” he said. “They didn’t want to do cross-country, they wanted to do it on their own.”
And so with the Grade 12s leading the way, the Rapids began their own dynamic endurance workouts on the turf field outside the school.
“It was the Grade 12s leading the 11’s, the 10’s, the Grade 9s. For us, fitness was going to have to be a big thing because we didn’t have any size. We have no post players again, so just the pressure, the running up and down is what we have to really zone in on.”
And that’s what turned the tide against the Panthers, who due to untimely injury, weren’t able to be at their very best.
Saavyn Mann with nine points led the Panthers.
Riverside moves on to face Abbotsford’s Yale Lions in a highly-anticipated quarterfinals clash Thursday at 7 p.m.
NO. 6 YALE 64 NO. 11 OKANAGAN MISSION 24
BY GARY KINGSTON (Special for Varsity Letters)
LANGLEY – By the time Maeva Carnahan sat up after a nasty-looking face and stomach splat onto the Langley Events Centre hardwood, her left leg and hand were covered in blood from a cut on the bridge of her nose.
With a towel to her face as she limped to the sideline, alternating between tears and laughs, it looked like she’d been in a particularly vicious bantamweight UFC fight.
But no, this was an opening-round game at the Quad A senior girls provincial basketball championships. And Carnahan and her No. 6 seed Yale Lions teammates were easy winners, 64-24 over the No. 11 Okanagan Mission Huskies from Kelowna.
“I was terrified,” the Lions’ star Grade 12 guard said after the game of her fourth quarter nose-dive while being fouled on a fast break. “I thought it was broken. I thought I was done for. I was ready for the whole crooked (beak) and everything.”
“It was awful, but it’s all good now,” she added with a cheerful grin and a straight nose.
And why not leave the gym with a grin.
The 5-foot-10 guard had a game-high 31 points, dazzling spectators with fearless drives to the basket, dead-eye shooting and a defensive game built on her ability to make crucial steals with great positioning and cat-quick hands.
“I love making plays on defence. Steals and easy transition buckets, those are my favorites. It just feels so good.”
Yale head coach Bobby Braich said Carnahan is a special player.
“When I saluted her on seniors night, my closing line to the crowd after building her up was ‘If I was picking a player to play with, she’d be the player I would pick.’
“Forty minutes, every end of the floor. Lightning quick reflexes, total motor, doesn’t stop. Can shoot the ball, great passer. There’s nothing she can’t do. I’d put her up with anybody in B.C. right now, wouldn’t trade her for anybody.”
Yale opened up the game on a 14-0 run, using full-court pressure to stymie the Huskies. The intense defensive lockdown was so effective that the Lions built a 39-6 halftime lead.
“Our kids were very ready defensively,” said the dapper Braich, clad in a tie and beige sweater. “We got a lot out of the (full court press) early and then just backed off a bit in the second half, just trying to contain a little bit and not give them a flow to the game. At halftime, it was a tough game for them to get back into.”
Grade 12 guard Kendal Dueck added 19 points for the Lions, whose signature win this season was at home over No. 4 seed Brookswood in January.
“I’m feeling pretty good about us, especially after this game,” said Carnahan after the rout of the Huskies. “We’ve got a chance (at the title). We can make a run at this.”
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