Author: Howard Tsumura

Timberwolves Classic MVP Norben Bulosan (right) of the Sir Charles Tupper Tigers sharers a lighter moment with teammate Gaurab Acharya (3) Saturday in Abbotsford. (Photo by Wilson Wong property of UBC athletics 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Boys Basketball

Timberwolves Classic ’19: Topping No. 2 Vernon Panthers no small feat for compact MVP Bulosan and No. 1 Tupper Tigers

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ABBOTSFORD — Until we meet again? East Vancouver’s No. 1-ranked Sir Charles Tupper Tigers and the No. 2 Vernon Panthers may well have given an advance showing of the B.C. senior boys Triple A basketball championship final deep in the Fraser Valley on Saturday night.

SFU's Julian Roche grabbed 10 rebounds and also scored 23 points, including the game-winning hoop with five seconds remaining as the Clan stunned nationally-ranked SMU in Lacey, Wash. (Photo by Paul Yates property of Simon Fraser Clan athletics 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Men's Basketball

Julian shows his jam! SFU Clan big-man Roche stuns No. 12 Saints, sinks winning shot with five seconds left

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They’ve got a fine kettle of mettle. That’s the best way to describe the Simon Fraser Clan men’s basketball team after they battled through layers of second-half adversity on the road Saturday night to claim the biggest win in their NCAA history.

Simon Fraser's five 2018-19 freshmen strike a serious pose. They are (left to right) Sienna Lenz, Justina Chan, Sophie Klassen, Emma Kramer and Georgia Swant. (Photo property SFU Athletics. All rights reserved 2019)
Feature University Women's Basketball

A Freshmen Five for the Future: SFU’s rookie class helps Clan to register its second largest margin of victory all-time in GNAC play

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BURNABY — It’s hard to know with exact certainty, yet there was a chance on Thursday that Simon Fraser Clan head women’s basketball coach Bruce Langford put a group of five players on the floor together which represented the youngest of his entire 18-year university coaching career.

Liam McChensey (right) is off to an NCAA Div. 1 basketball career next season at Utah State. Before he gets there, however, he'd like to lead the Charles Hays Rainmakers to the B.C. Double A high school basketball title. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Boys Basketball

Talking hoops with Prince Rupert’s old-school Rainmakers! Says star McChesney: “…we have the best chemistry in the province”

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If you’re a B.C. high school boys basketball fan who slips into a nostalgic stupor upon simply hearing the name ‘Rainmakers’ then we’ve got good news for you.

They're a great eight. Yale's 2018-19 roster includes (left to right) Kyleigh Boldt, Brooklyn White, Tana Pankratz, Neelam Rai, Karishma Rai, Jessica Daley, Lily Borseth and Emmy Curtis. (Photo property of Yale Secondary athletics 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Girls Basketball

Yale’s Pride of Lions! New head coach Bobby Braich’s five-year plan gives girls program a reason to roar

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ABBOTSFORD — Like the vast majority of his contemporaries, high school basketball coaching isn’t a paying proposition for Bobby Braich.

Last season, head coach Guy da Silva carried Saints to the B.C. junior varsity basketball title at the LEC. The latest polls have St. George's right back in the hunt at No. 3. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Boys Basketball

01.30.19 B.C. JV boys basketball Big 10 rankings: No. 1 Burnaby South carries No. 1 into the February Frenzy!

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LANGLEY — The Burnaby South Rebels continue to hold on to the No. 1 spot in the B.C. junior varsity boys basketball rankings.

Vernon's Liam Reid (right) guards Lord Tweedsmuir's Jackson Corneil during B.C. JV quarterfinal OT classic last season at the Langley Events Centre. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Boys Basketball High School Football

Vernon’s ‘Cats in the Cradle’ growing up fast! Young, talented Panthers take No. 2 rank into Bateman’s T-Wolves Classic

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ABBOTSFORD — It’s happened precisely twice. That’s how many times over the first 73 years in which the B.C. senior boys basketball championships have been staged that a school won both senior varsity football and basketball championships in the same academic year.

Arun Atker and the North Delta Huskies get every team's best shot, and on Tuesday night at Clayton Heights Secondary, the host Nightriders were able to deliver one of 2018-19's signature upsets. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2018. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Boys Basketball

01.30.19 Big 10 boys rankings: In topsy-turvy times, take a bow Kitsilano, Clayton Heights and Charles Hays

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LANGLEY — Looking for some plot lines to savour in the world of B.C. boys high school basketball? If so, you’ve come to the perfect place.

Abbotsford Panthers' senior Kelsey Roufosse (left) contests a shot by Kelowna's Jaeli Ibbetson during second-day action at the 2018 TBI at the Langley Evernts Centre in mid-December. This week, the Panthers and four other city teams give the eastern Fraser Valley hotbed perhaps its greatest provincial ranking representation yet. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Girls Basketball

01.29.19 Girls Basketball Rankings: It’s Abbotsford fever! Five Top 10, HM schools in latest BC Triple-A poll

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ABBOTSFORD — The Yale Lions rise, while the W.J. Mouat Hawks and the MEI Eagles move into honourable mention territory.