They did it! The 2018-19 Robert Bateman Timberwolves officially became the first senior girls varsity basketball team from the school to qualify for the provincial championships. (Photo courtesy Robert Bateman athletics 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Girls Basketball

Road to the LEC 2019: Four-year goal accomplished as Bateman tops Killarney to earn first-ever senior girls B.C. tourney berth

BURNABY — They set a goal, four years ago, of giving themselves a chance to compete for a banner as Grade 12s at the B.C. senior girls AAA basketball championships. On Wednesday, nobody had to remind Abbotsford’s Robert Bateman Timberwolves that they had indeed achieved their goal.“They are a pretty calm and cool group, but the […]

Brookswood senior guard Jenna Dick (left) helped lead her 'Cats past Handsworth and back to the B.C. senior girls AAA basketball championships. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Girls Basketball

Road to the LEC 2019: Jenna Dick dishes dimes as Brookswood tops Handsworth, Bobcats book passage back to B.C.’s

SURREY — No where was there more proof of the Fraser Valley’s depth of strength this season than the fact that Langley’s Brookswood Bobcats were playing a sudden-elimination game less than three full weeks into February.The Bobcats, however, marshalled their best qualities and more, as point guard Jenna Dick scored 15 points and dished eight […]

Abbotsford's Marin Lenz scored 35 points on Tuesday at Saanich's Stelly's Secondary as her Panthers punched B.C. tourney tickets with a win over Claremont in the wildcard round. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Girls Basketball

Road to the LEC 2019: Marin Lenz scores 35, Abby Panthers find way back to B.C.’s with wildcard win over Claremont

VICTORIA — It hasn’t been their normal road to the Langley Events Centre, but the Abbotsford Panthers are back on track to the home of the B.C. championships thanks to the second sudden-elimination victory of their post season.Grade 11 guard Marin Lenz poured home 35 points and the Panthers used a 33-11 run in the […]

W.J. Mouat Hawks' Jade Trolland (red) has found her way to Tuesday's gold medal final at 64 kilos. (Photo by Gary Ahuja property of Langley Events Centre 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Wrestling

B.C. High School Westling 2019: Finalists all set for Tuesday’s 29 boys, girls B.C. weight-class finals

By Gary AhujaSpecial to VarsityLetters.caLANGLEY — Following 10 hours of wrestling and 602 bouts on Monday, the finals are set to determine which wrestlers will be crowned provincial champions.

Chris Graham of Victoria's No. 1-ranked B.C. Single A Glenlyon Norfolk (centre) will be one of the most dynamic scorers in the 16-team field if his Gryphons qualify for the 2019 provincials next month at the Langley Events Centre. (Photo by Wilson Wong 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Boys Basketball

Topping B.C.’s Single-A charts with extended run at No. 1, Victoria’s 25-3 GNS Gryphons re-kindle magic of 2007’s title-winning team

VICTORIA — When you’ve coached a senior boys varsity basketball program at one school for over 30 years, you build an extremely large and reliable sample size as a base of comparison.

Vancouver College's Damien Clark is an exciting Grade 9 talent guided by Fighting Irish head coach Mike Roselli. (Photo by Wilson Wong 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Wrestling

Van College’s wrestling Irish: Rising stars like Grade 9 Damien Clark signal rise in fortunes as B.C. tourney opens Monday at LEC

VANCOUVER — At a school were football, basketball and rowing are king, and where soccer came out of nowhere this past November to claim its first-ever top-tiered B.C. title, you’d think the student body was already pretty much picked over for athletes.

UBC's Manroop Clair (front) dribbles out of the clutches of Fraser Valley's Parm Bains on Saturday at War Memorial Gymnasium. (Photo by Richard Lam property of UBC athletics 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Men's Basketball

The Jordan-esque Manroop Clair! UBC shooting star skips morning shoot around, saves energy for series-clinching win over UFV

VANCOUVER — By his own admission, Manroop Clair is still not back in game shape.Yet the UBC Thunderbirds’ dead-eye shooting guard is so dangerous that even without his legs fully under him, he’s still capable of being a difference maker.On Saturday, still reeling from having played back-to-back games the previous two nights in its Canada […]

UBC's Jadon Cohee brought the aggressive nature back to his game Friday and helped the 'Birds stave off elimination at the hands of the visiting Fraser Valley Cascades. (Photo by Wilson Wong property of UBC athletics 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Men's Basketball

After playing “…one of the worst games of my career” UBC’s Jadon Cohee flips the script Friday as ‘Birds stay alive with win over UFV

VANCOUVER — Jadon Cohee has had some great days playing basketball in his home province of B.C.Like scoring 22 points and being picked tournament MVP in leading the Walnut Grove Gators to the B.C. senior boys Triple A championship in March of 2013.Or later that summer, picking up the phone to take a call from […]

Few if any players in the history of Simon Fraser women's basketball have over-exceeded their initial expectations quite like Clan senior Sophie Swant. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2019. All Rights Reserved)