LANGLEY — We’ve gone final at Day 1 of the 2025 B.C. senior girls Double-A basketball championships.
Here are your game reports courtesy of the LEC’s Gary Ahuja for all eight games played Wednesday.
BASKETBALL
B.C. SENIOR GIRLS CHAMPIONSHIPS
DAY 1
SINGLE A
TOP HALF DRAW
QUADRANT A
NO. 1 PACIFIC CHRISTIAN 77 NO. 16 JOHN KNOX 18
(BY GARY AHUJA, SPECIAL FOR VARSITY LETTERS)
LANGLEY – It was a statement-opening win for Victoria’s Pacific Christian Pacers.
In each of the last tournament’s, the top-seeded Pacers have seen their season end in heartbreak in the championship final, both at the 2A level (2023) and at the 1A level (2024).
Playing in the early time slot on Wednesday morning to kick off their tier, the Pacers came out with a determined effort and continued their season-long trend of a trademark combination of strong defence and fast-paced offence.
How’s a 27-0 run –including keeping their opponent scoreless for the first eight-plus minutes – to kick off a game?
Fueled by that dominant start, the Pacers cruised to a 77-18 win over the Hawks, who simply had no answer for the No. 1 seed, who received contributions from up and down their line-up, with no player scoring more than Kealayna Tupas-Singh’s dozen points, all of which came in the first half.
Hannah Young’s nine points led the Hawks.
NO. 8 BULKLEY VALLEY CHRISTIAN 42 NO. 9 KING DAVID 35
(BY GARY AHUJA, SPECIAL FOR VARSITY LETTERS)
LANGLEY – The tandem of Ameya McEwen and Keji Jada were too much for the King David Lions. The Bulkley Valley Christian Royals duo – who both stand 6’0 – combined for 30 of their team’s 42 points in an opening-round 42-35 win.
McEwen – one of three Grade 10s on the roster – poured in 19 points, a dozen of which came in the third quarter as the Royals pulled away to advance to the quarter-final round.
King David – which was making its first provincial tournament appearance since 2022 – was led by the duo of Olivia Glassman and Sharon Tanne, who poured in 25 of the team’s 35 points.
QUADRANT B
NO. 4 UNITY CHRISTIAN 52 NO. 13 FT. ST. JAMES 42
(BY GARY AHUJA, SPECIAL FOR VARSITY LETTERS)
LANGLEY – Usually for success, one of the messages from the coaching staff is do not let your opponent any easy points courtesy of the charity stripe.
The Fort St. James Falcons followed that to a T, but unfortunately it had no bearing on the outcome as despite committing zero fouls, they still fell 52-42 to the defending provincial champions, Chilliwack’s Unity Christian Flames.
Evangeline Koot’s 17 points – which included a trio of triples – while Anna Smiens chipped in with a dozen. Leah Waddell was the leading scorer for Fort St. James with 15 points.
NO. 5 KING’S CHRISTIAN 78 NO. 12 VANCOUVER CHRISTIAN 35
(BY GARY AHUJA, SPECIAL FOR VARSITY LETTERS)
LANGLEY – Had this been a Disney movie, the Vancouver Christian Phoenix – having qualified for provincials for the first time in the school’s 75thyear of existence and with this being the 75th edition of the tournament – the Phoenix would have gone on to a Cinderella run as the No. 12 seed all the way to the championship final.
Instead, the Phoenix were on the wrong end of a 78-35 score to the King’s Christian Thunder.
Forward Moriah Jansen – who played on the Thunder boys’ team last season as there was no girls squad — was unstoppable, pouring home 36 points, with all but two coming in the first three quarters with Leah Funk and Andrea Royal each had 14 as the Grade 12 trio scored 64 of their team’s 78 points.
Vancouver Christian was led by 15 points from Grade 12 forward Matteah Cho, all of which came from beyond the arc.
BOTTOM HALF DRAW
QUADRANT C
NO. 2 ALEXANDER MACKENZIE 80 NO. 15 SALMO 42
(BY GARY AHUJA, SPECIAL FOR VARSITY LETTERS)
LANGLEY – Annika Parr picked up where she left off from last season at the provincial championships. Named a First Team All-Star in 2024 after helping her Sir Alexander Mackenzie Gryphons to a bronze-medal finish, the Grade 11 guard scored half her team’s points (40) in a decisive 80-42 win over the Salmo Falcons.
Twin sister Ayanna Parr – also a First Team All-Star – had 15 points for the North Central champions from Hagensborg, a school with a Grade 8 to 12 population of 86 students.
For the Falcons – who have no Grade 12s on the roster and are making their first appearance at the tournament since 1994 — Grade 11 guard Naiomi Stavast had 33 points.
NO. 7 UCLUELET 36 NO. 10 ABERDEEN HALL 34
(BY GARY AHUJA, SPECIAL FOR VARSITY LETTERS)
LANGLEY – Two teams with little (or none) tournament experience squared off in the No. 7-10 matchup, and in the end, it was the Ucluelet Warriors – in their first appearance at the Big Dance in 36 years – moving on to the quarterfinal round.
The Warriors edged the tournament rookies from Kelowna’s Aberdeen Hall 36-34 in a low-scoring defensive battle.
Kerissa Curley earned the Player of the Game after scoring a dozen points, all of which came from behind the arc. Charlie Fisher had 11 points to lead the Gryphons.
QUADRANT D
(BY GARY AHUJA, SPECIAL FOR VARSITY LETTERS)
NO. 3 CREDO CHRISTIAN vs. NO. 14 SOUTHPOINTE
LANGLEY – The Credo Christian Kodiaks entered the provincial championships in unfamiliar territory. Last March, the team saw its run of four straight gold medals come to an end as they finished in fourth place.
Determined to return to the championship final, the Langley school which entered as the No. 3 seed, came out firing on all cylinders, netting 27 points in the opening quarter on their way to a dominant 100-27 win over Delta’s Southpointe Academy.
Six Credo Christian players finished in double scoring. Grade 11 guard Kenzie Raap – who led the Kodiaks in scoring during the season with 23 points per game – had 14 in this game, with 11 coming in the first half. With a commanding lead, Credo Christian was able to get significant minutes up and down their line-up and Grade 10 guard Hailey Stam led the team with 24 points, 18 of which came in the last eight minutes.
Southpointe Academy – which is making their tournament debut and has players in all five grades and just 2 graduating seniors – received eight points from Grade 9 guard Priyanka Moodliar.
NO. 6 CEDARS CHRISTIAN 57 NO. 11 ST. ANDREWS 18
(BY GARY AHUJA, SPECIAL FOR VARSITY LETTERS)
LANGLEY – After not having a program for seven years, Prince George’s Cedars Christian Eagles have made back-to-back appearances and for the second straight year, will play on the Championship side of the bracket.
And they can thank the fact their offence awoke in the second half after a sleepy start saw them score just 14 points in the opening 16 minutes. Thankfully for the North Central’s No. 2 seed, their defence made sure they went into the locker room with a lead as the Eagles held the St. Andrew’s Sabres (Victoria) to a meagre eight points in that same time frame. Whatever coach Jordan Johnson said in the locker room certainly worked as the offence delivered 24 points over the next eight minutes to put the game out of reach in a 57-18 win.
Leading the way for the Eagles were Mila Johnson and Sofija Johnson. Each had huge third quarters with Mila Johnson scoring 13 of her 18 points in the period while Sofija Johnson hit a trio of triples in the third on her way to a 12-point game. Julia Grohovac paced the Sabres with 10 points.
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