C.J. Zuno and the Spectrum Thunder topped rival Oak Bay in league action to reclaim No. 1 in the B.C. Quad-A rankings. (Photo by Howard Tsumura exclusive property of VarsityLetters.ca 2024. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Boys Basketball

02.05.25 edition: B.C. Boys Top 10 ranks see Spectrum and Wellington notch huge tourney title victories!

LANGLEY — Last week’s No. 1 teams in the two largest tiers of B.C. senior boys basketball suffered invitational tournament championship game losses, yet another indication that we’re in store for four unpredicatable days of fun when the provincial tournament tips off in exactly one month’s time at the Langley Events Centre.In Quad-A’s three-team musical […]

UBC's Nikola Guzina drives to the basket against the Trinity Western Spartans in Canada West action Nov. 3 at War Memorial Gymnasium. After losing the 2023-24 season to a brain injury, the 6-foot-10 standout is playing a huge role in UBC's drive to the Final 8 national championships this March. (Photo by Richard Lam property of UBC athletics 2024. All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Men's Basketball

Bright lights, brighter future: After losing last season to concussion, ‘Birds 6-foot-10 standout Nikola Guzina can see clearly now as UBC gears up to host 2025 U SPORTS Final 8 nationals!

VANCOUVER — Nikola Guzina’s basketball dream had always been to play under the bright lights at UBC’s hallowed War Memorial GymnasiumAnd coming off an amazing two-season stretch at nearby King George Secondary School, where over his Grade 11 and 12 seasons combined (2018-20) he averaged an NBA 2K-like 30.7 points, 14.1 rebounds and 6.5 assists […]

Wellington Wildcats' star forward Grayson Ritzand leans in for a lay-up against Vancouver College during Day 1 action in the TBI Select 16 bracket Dec. 4, 2024 at the Langley Events Centre. (Photo by Howard Tsumura exclusive property of VarsityLetters.ca 2024. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Boys Basketball

02.03.25 edition: The SRS Top 50 returns with its take on B.C.’s top 50 senior boys teams regardless of tier!

This week’s SRS Top 50, brought to you byB.C. Basketball Metrics is here!Mark Isfeld of Courtenay is the biggest climber, the Ice moving up five spots from No. 36 to No. 31.Victoria’s Lambrick Park enter the Top 50 at No. 50.(Note — the SRS Top 50 has been updated as of 10:30 pm on Feb. […]

SFU head coach Steve Hanson has coached his Red Leafs to a 3-3 stretch following Thursday's 77-74 overtime win over the Alaska-Fairbanks Nanooks. (Photo by Wilson Wong 2024. All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Men's Basketball

SFU men’s basketball: Red Leafs battle through fourth straight one-possession contest, go to OT to top Fairbanks 77-74!

By Howard TsumuraVarsityLetters.caHeavy mettle.That’s the best way to describe the Simon Fraser Red Leafs men’s basketball team over its past six games.On Thursday night in Fairbanks, Alaska, a Red Leafs’ team which had opened the GNAC season with an 0-4 record won for the third time in their last six outings, this time going to […]

Simon Fraser's Myrlaine Shelvey on her way to scoring two of her game-high 24 points during GNAC clash against Western Oregon January 30, 2025 at the West Gym. (Photo by Gordon Kalisch/FastTrackSportsPhotographyy 2025. All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Women's Basketball

She’s the Red Leaf rising! Myrlaine Shelvey hits six triples and Simon Fraser flirts with GNAC’s free throw record in much-needed 83-68 win over Western Oregon’s Wolves!

BURNABY MOUNTAIN — Myrlaine Shelvey knows the one thing her basketball team needs most is secondary scoring.On Thursday, as Simon Fraser continued a three-game home stand against a visiting Western Oregon Wolves team tied with them at 3-6, both locked just outside of playoff contention in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference standings, the redshirt sophomore […]

MEI Eagles senior Olivia Sidhu has helped her team maintain a solid grip on the No. 1 ranking in B.C. senior girls Triple-A basketball this season. (Photo by Paul Funk property of MEI Eagles athletics 2025. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Girls Basketball

MEI puts vise grip on AAA No. 1 rank ahead of BC girls championships 75th anniversary tourney! Coach Thiessen calls his 2024-25 Eagles ‘unique’ over his 31 seasons on the bench!

BY HOWARD TSUMURAVARSITYLETTERS.caABBOTSFORD — When you’ve coached basketball for three-plus decades at the same school, you arrive at a juncture of your career where your words begin to carry an-ever deeper meaning.So when MEI Eagles’ senior girls head coach Rick Thiessen, who this season finds himself in his 31st year of guiding either a senior, […]

Oak Bay's Toren Franklin, pictured here in the semifinals of the Terry Fox Legal Beagle earlier this month in Port Coquitlam, helped lead his Bays to the title at the Vancouver College Emerald tournament on Jan. 25, 2025. (Photo by Howard Tsumura exclusive property of VarsityLetters.ca 2025. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Boys Basketball

01.29.25 edition: BC Boys Top 10 hoop ranks: What’s hotter than new Quad-A No. 1 Oak Bay and its star Toren Franklin who scored 42 in Emerald title tilt? And how about those No. 7 Heritage Woods Kodiaks!

LANGLEY — Toren Franklin scorched the goals to the tune of 42 points on Saturday in carrying Victoria’s Oak Bay Bays to 95-89 win over Nanaimo’s Dover Bay Dolphins in the championship final of the Vancouver College Emerald tournament.The win lifted the Bays into the No. 1 spot in the B.C. senior boys high school […]

Argyle's Mariia Mayden (left) is guarded by Claremont's Island Campbell during TBI Super 16 Day 1 action 12.11.24 at the Langley Events Centre. (Photo by Ryan Molag property Langley Events Centre-TFSE 2024. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Girls Basketball

01.27.25 edition: B.C. senior girls basketball rankings: It’s a month to the start of the provincials, and No. 1’s and No. 2’s holding ground at all four tiers!

LANGLEY — One month out from the start of the B.C. championships and finding spots in the top four of B.C.’s four senior girls varsity tiers is tough sledding.This week, North Vancouver’s Argyle Pipers move up one spot to No. 3 in Quad-A.Prince George’s College Heights Cougars and the Vernon Panthers each move up a […]

Yale's Besijan Shala (left) protects a rebound against Centennial's Emerson Davis during Day 1 action in the TBI Super 16 bracket Dec. 4, 2024 at the Langley Events Centre. (Photo by Howard Tsumura exclusive property of VarsityLetters.ca 2024. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Boys Basketball

01.27.25 edition: SRS boys Top 50 sees Spectrum maintain top spot while Heritage Woods’ six-spot jump portents exciting Fraser North 4A title battles to come!

LANGLEY — Victoria’s Spectrum Thunder hold their spot atop the SRS weekly Top 50 for B.C. boys high school basketball.Here are this week’s latest set of numbers, which also see Walnut Grove and Sullivan Heights make Top 50 entries, courtesy of B.C. Basketball Metrics:

Frank Linder scored 39 points to lead Dover Bay past Spectrum in the semifinals the VC Emerald Invitational on Friday. (File photo by Howard Tsumura exclusive property of VarsityLetters.ca 2025. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Boys Basketball

No. 2 Dover Bay tops No. 1 Spectrum in Van College Emerald Final 4 as UBC signee Frank Linder scores 39 points, including winning triple! Dolphins face No. 2 Oak Bay in Saturday final!

VANCOUVER — Frank Linder’s game-winning three-pointer with 24 seconds remaining snapped a 79-79 tie and lifted Nanaimo’s No. 2-ranked Dover Bay Dolphins to an 82-79 win over the previously undefeated, reigning B.C. champion Spectrum Thunder of Victoria in the second of two afternoon semifinals at the Vancouver College Emerald tournament on Friday.“Today, Frank really stepped […]