LANGLEY — We’ve gone final from Day 1 of the 2025 B.C. senior boys basketball championships.
Included are eight game stories and photos. We hope you enjoy.
Our thanks go out to out team of writers (Gary Kingston, Dan Kinvig, Ian French, Gary Ahuja) and to our photographers (Gordon Kalisch, Wilson Wong and Ryan Molag)
We will be back tomorrow with reports and phots from the quarterfinals.
I thank you once again for your patience and for being a loyal follower right here at VarsityLetters.ca
Howard Tsumura
B.C. SENIOR BOYS
79TH B.C. CHAMPIONSHIPS
LANGLEY EVENTS CENTRE
SOUTH COURT, CENTRE COURT, ARENA BOWL, FIELD HOUSE
DOUBLE-A
DAY 1
SWEET 16 ROUND
TOP HALF DRAW
QUADRANT A
No. 2 SUMMERLAND 114 No. 15 FERNIE 56
By IAN FRENCH (Special for Varsity Letters)
LANGLEY — If you get knocked down, try and try again, however, when it comes to the BC High School Basketball 2A boys Provincial Championships, the Summerland Rockets only needed to try one more time.
In 2024, the Rockets entered the tournament as the No. 9 seed and fell to the Langley Christian Lightning in the opening round, 71-60. Fast forward to 2025, and Summerland returns as top dog, holding the No. 2 position with a firm grasp.
This season’s team looks quite familiar to that 2024 roster, as they began the campaign with nine players returning to their squad. Two of which were a pair of brothers, Desmond and Mateo Ducheck. Despite leading the scoring charge in last year’s loss, the Duchecks entered the game against the Fernie Falcons at the Langley Event Centre on Wednesday determined. Another year of experience under their belts clearly paid off as this new year, similar-look Rockets efficiently pulled away with a decisive 114-56 win.
“[The Ducheck brothers] came out with a lot of confidence today. It’s pretty cool to see, especially with Mateo only being in grade 10”, mused Summerland head coach Matthew Raimondo. “They definitely love the game, and they put a lot of time in, so I’m not surprised.”
Summerland kicked off the scoring on the game’s opening play while earning the subsequent stop on the defensive end. This summed up how the frame would play out for the heavyweight Rockets.
With over a minute off the clock, the Ducheck brothers caught fire. Following a pair of defensive stops, Rockets’ Senior Desmond Ducheck knocked down back-to-back threes. Just a few plays later, Mateo Ducheck got in on the scoring-fun, knocking down a deep trey himself. As the Falcons brought the ball up the court, leading to a quick drive toward the paint, fellow Rockets senior, Jack Campbell rose up and swatted the opportunity away with an emphatic block. Now, coming down the court with haste, the Rockets set themselves up on offence before finding Mateo who also rose up but for a three-pointer and found the net despite having a hand in his face.
Campbell followed the scoring outburst with continued clamps, recording two steals on back-to-back plays on the defensive end. While on offense, the Ducheck brothers continued to pile on. Mateo went on to hit another trio of threes – ending the first quarter with a total of 21 points — before brother Desmond, caught the ball on the corner and fired a three to beat the first quarter buzzer, handing his team a decisive 38-11 advantage to end the frame.
Rocket’s Campbell picked up where he left off in the first by beginning the second with another steal and block in the opening minutes. After further scoring from the Ducheck brothers, the Rockets led 50-18 at the halfway mark of the frame. However, the Falcons managed to get into a rhythm and landed some punches of their own. Falcons’ senior forward Kyle Tugger raced down the floor to get back on defence, and as the Rockets headed to the hoop in transition, Tugger leaped up and swatted the threat away. Just a few plays later, teammate, brother, and first-year guard Beck Tuggle nailed a three. The Falcons held their own by the end of the frame, as the quarter’s score narrowly finished 22-17 in favour of the Rockets.
“[Campbell] told me this morning, before he came to the gym, that he wants a defensive player of the year award”, chuckled Raimondo. “He said that, ‘No matter what place we come in, I’m going to play hard, but I want that award.’”
Coming out of the break, the Ducheck’s didn’t miss a beat. On the frame’s opening play, Mateo found himself in the corner before connecting on a catch and shoot three. The lead continued to inflate for the Rockets from here, and after yet another steal from Campbell a few minutes later, Desmond Ducheck followed suit with a drive to the paint, sinking the layup through thick traffic. The very next play, a forced turnover led to Ducheck brother, Desmond receiving the ball alone on the break, ending in a slam dunk for the 6-foot-3 guard to put a stamp on this one.
The game continued in this direction for the remainder of the game, resulting in the lead inflating to a final score of 114-56 for the top seeded Rockets.
Desmond Ducheck ended the contest with a game-high of 42 points while younger brother Mateo tallied a whopping 38 of his own en route to the commanding victory. Oscar Wrigglesworth led scoring for the Falcons, ending the game with 16 points while Isaac Stuckey added 12 of his own.
No. 7 NOTRE DAME 71 No. 10 BRENTWOOD COLLEGE 61
By IAN FRENCH (Special for Varsity Letters)
Despite not making an appearance at last year’s tournament, the Notre Dame Jugglers
made quite the jump as they enter this year’s BC High School Basketball 2A boys
Provincial Championships as the No. 7 seed.
Kicking off the second game of the opening round, the Jugglers matched up with No. 10 Brentwood College at the Langley Event Centre on Wednesday and eventually pulled away with the 71-61 victory.
The game got off to a slow scoring start as defensive intensity on both sides highlighted
this matchup. Eight minutes into the opening quarter, Brentwood narrowly led 11-10.
Trouble finding the basket led to plenty of rebounds for Notre Dame’s Adam Buric, who
made his presence felt early. While the six-foot-eight forward managed to pull in multiple
boards, he provided extra plays for his team with his work on the offensive glass. After
battling in the opponent’s paint, Buric hauled in the rebound but, after kicking it out, his
team couldn’t convert any second chance points as Brentwood found their defensive
feet once more to lock down the Jugglers, eventually heading into the second quarter
with a score of 16-13 in favour of Notre Dame.
“[Buric] is the hardest working guy out there, also on the nicest kids out there, it’s funny,
sometimes we ask him to be a little bit more mean”, laughed Notre Dame head coach
Cam Wright. “We are really fortunate to have such a coachable young man that’s willing
to sacrifice for others. He’s been great.”
It was a similar story in the following frame, but Notre Dame’s Caleb Parotta began to
find an offensive rhythm as his nine points in the quarter led all players. However, he
didn’t simply stop at scoring, the third-year guard was running the point and
continuously found his teammates for open looks throughout. While on the other end,
Brentwood continued to battle for buckets, keeping pace with the Jugglers, but headed
into halftime down 34-29.
Coming out of the break, Buric continued to run down rebounds and connect on
emphatic blocks, slowly rising the score for Notre Dame. While floor-general Parotta
continued to display pristine playmaking abilities by finding countless open teammates,
only for Brentwood to respond with controlled closeouts, limiting the damage.
However, Parotta broke through the wall of defence at the midway point of the frame.
Driving along the baseline, Parotta leaped and, while in mid-air, his eyes darting around
the court, before landing on an open teammate at the three-point line. Bang. Following a
timeout shortly after, Parotta drove to the paint, but instead of kicking it out, he took it to
the hoop for the layup through traffic, handing his team a 14-point lead.
“[Parotta] is also the starting quarterback for the Notre Dame football team, so having
him as the point guard, his vision and his ability to create for others, it’s great to have
him.” mused Wright. “We’re looking forward to seeing what he can do the rest of the
tournament.”
Brentwood fought back, clawing their way into the deficit but couldn’t muster much
more, eventually ending the frame 54-44 in favour of Notre Dame.
The final frame saw both teams exchange blows throughout, leading to Notre Dame’s
10-point lead to yo-yo around that marker for the remaining 10 minutes, eventually
finishing on a score of 71-61 in favour of the Jugglers.
Caleb Parotta led the way for Notre Dame, totalling a game-high 25 points while Adam
Buric landed a doble-double in the win. Brentwood’s scoring was well-rounded, ending
the game with double-digit contributions from four players, Julian Bishop (16), Jaxen
Lust (15), Jackson Lenarcic (14), and Temi Sapara (12).
“It was a fast-paced game. We pushed the ball pretty well; I was happy with how we
executed coming down the stretch”, concluded Wright. “At the end of the day, we’re just
looking forward to the next wound.
QUADRANT B
No. 3 COLLINGWOOD 100 No. 14 NECHAKO VALLEY 44
By IAN FRENCH (Special for Varsity Letters)
LANGLEY — The No. 3 seeded Collingwood Cavaliers made their way to the familiar Langley Events Centre to take on the No. 14 ranked Nechako ValleyVikings in opening round action of this year’s BC High School Basketball 2A boys Provincial Championships. After earning the Finals victory at this tournament last season, Collingwood lost a handful of players due to graduation.
“We know it’s a long process. You have to take it game by game, quarter by quarter”, said Cavaliers Head Coach Andy Wong. “It’s something in which we’ve been about a lot, heading into provincials. A couple of key players are returning, so they have that game experience, but overall, there’s several levels of confidence when we come back here.”
However, they stormed through the 2025 campaign as they finished in the top of their division. The fruits of their labor produced a longer season, as in, their successes earned berths into multiple tournaments, including winning the 2024 Tsumura Basketball Invitational event at the same arena in December.
“Honestly, getting used to the courts here is a huge advantage”, reflected Wong when asked about his team’s recent Tsumura Invitational win. “We absolutely love being able to look at the rims and how everything works out with that, playing on a slightly bigger court.”
A scoring explosion, through three quarters of work, from Collingwood led to the Cavaliers eventually walking away with the commanding 100-44 victory. Fourth-year Finnegan Murphy and third-year Sam Li carried the offensive load for Collingwood, ending the game with 25 points each. While Cavs’ guard Amir Mojarradi walked away with player of the game honours alongside his 18 points on the night.
The Collingwood Cavaliers needed little time to make a sizeable impact in this one. Teamwork was on full display early in the first as Wong’s squad was executing the fundamentals well. Coming off solid ball movement around the perimeter due to team-wide pinpoint passing, alongside baskets from inside the paint as well as from deep, the Cavaliers managed to pull ahead with a commanding 35-8 by the end of the first quarter.
Despite the sizeable advantage, there was still thirty minutes left to play and, in the second quarter, the Vikings fought back. When the Cavs threw a jab, the Vikings threw one of their own. Both sides opened the scoring evenly with a 10-10 run, and over the latter half of the frame, the Vikings were right there with them, closing out a 9-8 run to be trailing 54-26 at the break.
Head Coach Andy Wong most likely had words for his squad at the break as they began the third with a fire under them. They kicked off the frame with a 13-2 run and did not look back. They maintained the pressure, timely closeouts and efficient offense all throughout the quarter, led to the Cavs’ lead swelling to 81-36 by the end of the third, and that pressure carried them to the final buzzer, walking away with the 100-44 win over the Vikings.
“We like to play really fast, play 94 feet, that’s our goal, make teams uncomfortable by the tempo that we play at”, added Wong. “I thought we did a really good job of that for parts of the game, especially the first quarter.”
No. 6 KING GEORGE 63 No. 11 CREDO CHRISTIAN 49
By IAN FRENCH (Special for Varsity Letters)
LANGLEY — The No. 6 ranked King George Dragons made their way from east Vancouver to Langley to face off against the No. 11 ranked Credo ChristianKodiaks in the opening round of the BC High School Basketball 2A boys Provincial Championships on Wednesday. The matchup was a defensive showcase for both sides, with King George carrying a slim lead all throughout before pulling away and earning the 63-49 victory.
Despite having the gym covered in loud, opposing Kodiak fans, the courts at the Langley Event Centre are familiar territory for the Dragons as they have made quite a bit of noise in this building. They entered this same tournament in 2024 as the first seed, only to fall in a quarterfinal upset. The year prior? They made it to the Finals, where they took down Brentwood College to walk away as champions. Leading to King George hitting the hardwood this year with expectations to recreate that 2023 magic.
Kicking off the first quarter of this matchup, both teams began by executing rock solid defence resulting in the score being tied at just seven apiece with only three minutes remaining in the frame. Dragons’ six-foot-five forward, Faisal Shawwa, already having his fingerprints all over, caught the ball and worked aggressively in the post before laying it in with a touch off the glass over multiple outstretched hands. Shortly after, the Dragons were back on offense and began tossing it around the team, using three touch-passes from multiple players before reaching King George’s Kio Nickel, who caught, shot and connected on the three, aiding in the Dragons’ eventual lead by the end of the first, up 16-11.
This playmaking ability, all throughout the Dragon lineup, carried over into the second quarter, including a point when the Dragons were set up in the offensive zone and proceeded to work around the arc with seven to eight passes without a dribble, yet the Dragons could not capitalize on the created open space. Which was in thanks to Credo’s defensive grit and help defence, extending the low-scoring affair. By the midway point of the frame, it was a two-point game. However, three straight baskets from the Dragons helped regain their advantage and closed out the half, 32-24.
Coming out of the break, the game picked up where it left off in the first half, for both sides. As the paint clogged, Dragons’ big man, Charlie Comrie found himself in the middle of the fight, but as the Kodiaks went for the bucket, Comrie met them at rim-height for an emphatic block. However, Credo was not phased as they responded with a three just one possession later. Both sides would take turns with scoring for the remainder of the quarter, having the Dragons head into the fourth up, 46-39.
Just as it was in the opening thirty minutes, defence took centre stage in the fourth quarter. Over the first five minutes, the Kodiaks caught a rhythm and went on a small but effective 7-3 run to shrink the Dragons’ advantage to just four. However, momentum seemed to sway back in favour of King George as Shawwa caught the ball down low and, after drawing multiple defenders, kicked out for a much needed, wide open three-pointer. On the defensive end, Shawwa followed his dime up with a well-executed close-out to block a Kodiak corner trey.
With two minutes to go and the lead boosted to double digits for the Dragons, Shawwa wasn’t finished. Looking to shut the door completely, Shawwa worked inside the paint once more, while gaining a double team on him, before pulling out the pump fake to get two defenders to bite, and followed with a up-and-under, putting a stamp on the low-scoring victory for his team, 63-49.
King George’s Faisal Shawwa finished the day with 17 points alongside a myriad of rebounds and blocks. While fellow King George big man, Charlie Comrie led his team in scoring with 21 — including 12 points coming in the second quarter. For Credo Christian, both Deakan Kobes and Arend Vandergaag led the way with 16 points each.
“We didn’t start the way we wanted, but fortunately a win is a win in this tournament”, said Dragon standout, Faisal Shawwa. “You can’t let a slow first game affect your second. When you start a game, you have to go all out. Don’t let any team stay in the game with you.”
BOTTOM HALF DRAW
QUADRANT C
No. 5 ST. MICHAELS UNIVERSITY SCHOOL 65 No. 12 CHARLES HAYS 47
LANGLEY — The Vancouver Island champion SMUS Bluer Jags parlayed suffocating first-half defence into a trip to the quarterfinals following an 18-point win over Prince Rupert’s Rainmakers.
The Blue Jags got all of their scoring five players, led by the 17 of Dani Pelyhe. Zaki Pelyhe with 13, Wil Woods with 13 and Elliot Mairet with nine did all the damage for SMUS, whose path to a first title since 2015 meets its next obstacle against Kamloops’ Westsyde Whundas in an 8:45 p.m. semifinal on Thursday.
Thales Innes with 13 points and Tyson Bomben with 12 led the Rainmakers.
No. 4 WESTSYDE 90 No. 13 KHALSA 39
LANGLEY — The Whundas got 35 points from 6-foot-7 senior forward Cason Scott in a decisive win over Surrey’s Lions.
Scott, who achieved his numbers through just three quarters, scored 29 of his points after the first quarter, turning a 17-13 lead after 10 minutes into a 75-29 game heading into the fourth quarter.
Jayden Broadfoot added 16 for the winners while Naunihal Gill led Khalsa with 14.
QUADRANT D
No. 8 ABBOTSFORD CHRISTIAN 74 No. 9 PACIFIC CHRISTIAN 52
Led by the dual 19-point outings of Colton Redekop and Nil-Adjetey Osekre, the Eastern Valley champ have earned their quarterfinal shot at the No. 1 team in the field following a 74-52 win over Victoria’s Pacific Christian Pacers.
Brayden Redekop added 13 more for the winners who face Pacific Academy in a in a 7 p.m. Final 8 clash Thursday.
The Pacers scored more than half of their points via the three, hitting nine triples on the game.
Thomas Reems hit five of them to lead his team with 15 points.
No. 1 PACIFIC ACADEMY 93 No. 16 SAMUEL ROBERTSON TECHNICAL 67
LANGLEY — The high-flying Breakers from Pacific Academy stuffed the scoresheet in a win over Maple Ridge’s Titans.
Ariel Bouguep, a 6-foot-5 Grade 10 guard poured home 33 points with hitting a three in a performance that included a perfect 5-of-5 game from the charity stripe.
Tei Lee Kim added 17 more Judah Ashbee had 15 and Joel Aikoriogie has 11 more.
Chase Vanderwal had 17 for the Titans while Tomas Lima and Cole Blakeway had a dozen apiece.
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