Author: Howard Tsumura

How tight is the Fraser Valley AAAA world these days? Just ask Holy Cross'Grade 11 standout Michael Risi, pictured here attempting to split the defence of Semiahmoo Totems' Jordan Chen (left) and Adam Paige at the Terry Fox Legal Beagle Invitational. (Varsity Letters photo by Howard Tsumura)
Feature High School Boys Basketball

01.24.18: No. 1 Bays widen 4A gulf, healthy Titans top 3A poll as all four tiers release B.C. Big 10 boys rankings

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LANGLEY — Surrey’s Semiahmoo Totems climb to No. 2, likely the highest position in the history of its senior varsity boys basketball program, following an impressive win Saturday over crosstown rival Tamanawis Wildcats in the championship final of the Surrey RCMP tournament.

G.W. Graham's Sydney Owens and the rest of her Chilliwack-based Grizzlies are the Fraser Valley's highest ranked AA girls senior varsity team, checking in at No 4 provincially this week. (Varsity Letters photo by Howard Tsumura)
Feature High School Girls Basketball

01.24.18: Gators, Titans strengthen grips on No. 1 , Kodiaks and OKM Huskies make elite climbs in B.C. girls Big 10 rankings

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LANGLEY — So ably led by its trio of Tavia Rowell, Jess Wisotzki and Natalie Rathler, the Walnut Grove Gators stormed to first place at last weekend’s Top 10 Shoot-Out at Centennial Secondary, a performance which solidifies its hold on the No. 1 spot in this week’s Triple A poll.

Junior college transfer Jordan Muir-Keung has the potential to give the Clan a much-needed scoring boost over the second half of a 2017-18 GNAC campaign which begins Thursday atop Burnaby Mountain against Seattle Pacific. (VarsityLetters photo by Howard Tsumura)
Feature University Men's Basketball

Clan shooters encouraged to ‘feel like they can’t miss’ as SFU looks to snap losing skid Thursday at West Gym White-Out

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BURNABY MOUNTAIN — JJ Pankratz continues to battle through an ankle injury. Iziah Sherman-Newsome keeps on plugging, despite those tough defensive assignments that have matched him against much bigger opposition. And Kedar Salam has had enough big-scoring games this season, that he’s getting the best defensive game plan rival teams can throw his way.

UBC's Mason Bourcier is bringing his scoring and playmaking skills to the fore in his freshman season with the Thunderbirds. (Richard Lam/UBC athletics)
Feature High School Boys Basketball University Men's Basketball

Racin’ Mason: UBC’s freshman point guard Bourcier, set for a weekend return to his old Kelowna digs, grabs a piece of ‘Birds hoop history

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VANCOUVER — Put Mason Bourcier’s basketball career on a one-year rewind, and over the final weekend of January, you would have caught the then-Kelowna Secondary senior star preparing with the rest of his Owls for the team’s annual Western Canada invitational.

Tavia Rowell of the No. 1-ranked Walnut Grove Gators (centre) tries to come to grips with a loose ball while being book-ended by Kelowna Owls' Kennedy Dickie (left) and Taya Hanson during championship final at Centennial's Top 10 Shoot-Out invitational Saturday evening in Coquitlam. (Varsity Letters photo by Howard Tsumura)
Feature High School Girls Basketball

TOP 10 SHOOT-OUT ’18: Rowell’s excellence, Rathler’s rugged spirit carry No. 1-ranked, 24-0 Walnut Grove Gators past No. 2 Kelowna Owls

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COQUITLAM — There was a moment late in the third quarter of Saturday’s Top 10 Shoot-Out championship final, when Walnut Gators’ senior forward Natalie Rathler seemed to be checking to make sure she still had all of her teeth.

Duchess Park Condors' Rebecca Landry (left) gives chase to Centennial Centaurs' Grace Killins during early Saturday morning action from Centennial's own Top 10 Shoot-Out in Coquitlam. (Varsity Letters photo by Howard Tsumura)
Feature High School Girls Basketball

Top 10 Shoot Out Saturday at Centennial: Varsity Letters’ live reports from the heart of Coquitlam

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COQUITLAM — Welcome to the final day of the 2018 Centennial Top 10 Shoot-Out! Today we find one of the most enduring invitational sites in B.C. girls high school history in a state of flux. With construction continuing towards the ‘new’ Centennial Secondary, we’re down to one gym!

The most important road trip the UBC Thunderbirds have taken this season was to Cuba over the winter break. (Photo courtesy UBC women's basketball)
Feature University Women's Basketball

Havana hoops holiday helps harvest ‘eureka’ moments, Huband’s UBC Thunderbirds grow together in time to make late-season surge

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VANCOUVER — Listen to Deb Huband talk about the ever-evolving state of the youngest team she has ever coached in her 23 seasons at the helm of the UBC Thunderbirds women’s basketball program, and one phrase — ‘eureka moments’ — stands out above all the others.

Simon Fraser women's basketball brings three explosive guards to the fore as part of its 2018 recruiting class in (left to right) Sienna Lenz, Emma Kramer and Georgia Swant. (Varsity Letters photos by Howard Tsumura)
Feature High School Girls Basketball University Women's Basketball

The power of three! How SFU’s 2018 recruits Lenz, Swant & Kramer will flip the script and re-fortify depth of Clan women’s hoops

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BURNABY — College basketball is filled with unexpected contingencies, the likes of which can, in the course of one offseason, drastically change the fabric of a program. Take the Simon Fraser Clan women’s basketball team as a prime example of that.