Feature

Glenlyon Norfolk's Chris Graham is finishing his senior season with a bang. On Thursday he led his Victoria-based Gryphons into the the B.C. Single A Final Four. (Photo by Paul Yates property of Vancouver Sports Pictures 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Boys Basketball

FINAL EDITION: B.C. Boys Single A Day 2 — We’ve got reports from all four Elite 8 games!

Howard TsumuraComment(0)

LANGLEY — Welcome back loyal Varsity Letters readers. We’ve gone final for the night.

Although they have made two Final 8 national tourney appearances since, UBC Thunderbirds' head coach Kevin Hanson has his team at the event's traditional Halifax site for the first time since it lost in the semifinals back in 2011. It's a first-time trip for star guard Jadon Cohee. (Photo by Bob Frid property of UBC athletics 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Men's Basketball

UBC hoops back in Halifax! On long journey to Final 8 nationals, here’s why you can stamp these underdog ‘Birds as ‘battle-tested’

Howard TsumuraComment(0)

VANCOUVER — Over the course of a 17-game in-conference win streak which defined its Canada West regular season schedule, it was sometimes difficult to wonder if the UBC Thunderbirds were getting the level of competition which would best serve them on the road towards qualifying for the ultimate challenge.

Daunte Nelson of the Belmont Bulldogs is guarded by Kelowna Owls' Jonathon Haughton (centre) and Ajay Gill. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Boys Basketball

FINAL EDITION: B.C. Boys Quad A Day 1 — We’ve got reports from all eight Sweet 16 games!

Howard TsumuraComment(0)

LANGLEY — Welcome to our coverage of the B.C. senior boys Triple A basketball championships. We’ve wrapped our coverage for the day.

Duchess Park's Caleb Lyons (left) is guarded by Caledonia's Ty Giesbrecht during opening round action Wednesday at the LEC. (Photo by Wilson Wong property of UBC athletics 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Boys Basketball

FINAL EDITION: B.C. Boys Triple A Day 1 — We’ve got reports from all eight Sweet 16 games!

Howard TsumuraComment(0)

LANGLEY — Welcome to our coverage of the B.C. senior boys Triple A basketball championships. We’ve wrapped our coverage for the day.

Sparwood's Tanner Barclay scored 83 points in a game this season, the second-highest single-game total in B.C. high school history. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Boys Basketball

The Diego of the Kootenays is at the BC’s! On same day Maffia scored 94, Sparwood’s Barclay scored 83! Watch him this week at the LEC!

Howard TsumuraComment(0)

LANGLEY — If you’re a high school basketball historian, you may remember this past February 9th as the day Oak Bay Bays’ senior guard Diego Maffia set a new B.C. single-game record by scoring 94 points in a 114-88 win over Edmonton’s Ross Sheppard Thunderbirds at Kelowna’s Western Canada Invitational.Yet that very same day, in […]

Steveston London Sharks head coach Mike Stoneburgh has not only done a terrific job getting his team back to the dance, he's got no shortage of entertaining stories to tell. (Photo by Wilson Wong property of UBC athletics 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Boys Basketball

Tsumura’s ‘Twas the Night Before Tip-Off! Here’s 10 stories to tell on the night before the 2019 B.C. senior boys basketball championships

Howard TsumuraComment(0)

One more sleep til the The Big Dance tips off. For me, it’s a day to reflect on the greatness of our game, to appreciate the efforts of our coaches and players at all four tiers, and to try offer a sampling of stories which I feel touch on why this time of year is so […]

Simon Fraser Clan head coach Steve Hanson calls Jasdeep Singh (centre) and Julian Roche (tight) the best front court duo in the GNAC.The pair leads SFU into the post season for the first time in nine seasons on Thursday. (Photo property of Simon Fraser Clan athletics 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Men's Basketball

SFU men’s hoops: After going 8-5 last 13 games versus 8-59 the previous 67, Clan set to end nine-year playoff drought on Thursday

Howard TsumuraComment(0)

BURNABY — Want to know who might have had the biggest turnaround this season in all of NCAA men’s basketball, regardless of division?

Western Washington's Anna Schweke (44) has had a firm grip on Claudia Hart and the Simon Fraser Clan this season. The two teams meet in the oping round of GNAC playoffs Thursday in Bellingham. (Photo property of Western Washington University athletics 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Women's Basketball

GNAC playoffs ’19: SFU must take bad times with good, Clan face adversity head-on as they battle injuries, illness and WWU’s Vikings

Howard TsumuraComment(0)

BURNABY — Over a grand and somewhat surprising stretch from early-January through mid-February, the Simon Fraser Clan women’s basketball team were among the most consistent in all of NCAA Div. 2 basketball, winning 11 of 13 games.