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)
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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 […]

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)
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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)
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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 […]

Tabir Bhangu (left, 5) and the rest of the Fleetwood Park Dragons vaulted to No. 5 in the latest B.C. Quad-A rankings after topping then-No. 4 Tamanawis in Saturday's RCMP final at the LEC in Langley. (Photo by Howard Tsumura exclusive property of VarsityLetters.ca 2024. All Rights Reserved)
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01.22.25: B.C. senior boys basketball rankings: Fleetwood Park finding hoop paradise! Dragons from unranked to Quad-A No. 5 after RCMP upset of Tammy brings January record to 9-1!

LANGLEY — The Fleetwood Park Dragons are taking a cue from the calendar.Unranked in the Quad-A tier last week, the Dragons finally came through with that so-called signature victory, stopping the then-No. 4-ranked Tamanawis Wildcats 72-65 in the final of the Surrey RCMP Classic on Saturday at the Langley Events Centre.The victory, on the backs […]

King George's Charlie Comrie and Collingwood's Sam Li (2) sandwich Cavaliers' forward Jake McAdam during TBI Select 16 championship final 12.07.24 at the Langley Events Centre. (Photo by Ryan Molag property Langley Events Centre-TFSE 2024. All Rights Reserved)
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01.20.25 edition: SRS boys Top 50 sees Oak Bay Bays take over No. 2! SMUS, King George, Handsworth, MEI make top rises while three other newcomers arrive!

LANGLEY — B.C. Basketball Metrics’ latest SRS Boys Top 50 would have No. 1 Spectrum vs. No. 4 Kelowna, and No. 2 Oak Bay vs. No. 3 Dover Bay if the Final Four was tipping off Jan. 20.(As I add a day after posting, thanks to loyal reader Jack Showers, that of course isn’t possible […]

Always under control, Dover Bay's Frank Linder on his way to tourney MVP honours against the MEI Eagles in 2024 B.C. Triple-A championship final March 9, 2024 at the Langley Events Centre. (Photo by Blair Shier property of Vancouver Sports Pictures 2024. All Rights Reserved)
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UBC Thunderbirds men’s basketball lands a prize Class of 2025 recruit! Dover Bay’s 6-foot-7 Frank Linder, reigning BC Triple-A MVP, brings a universal skill set to War Memorial Gym!

VANCOUVER — Start with his agility, length and power.Then consider that it all comes within a 6-foot-7, 195-pound frame.Those who have seen forward/guard Frank Linder grow into his position as one of the top seniors in B.C. high school basketball over the past few seasons with Nanaimo’s Dover Bay Dolphins know all too well that […]

Oak Bay's Tiem Orser (left) is guarded by Dover Bay's Frank Linder during championship game action at the Kodiak Classic Invitational hosted 11.30.24 by Heritage Woods Secondary School in Port Moody. (Photo by Howard Tsumura exclusive property of VarsityLetters.ca 2024. All Rights Reserved)
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01.15.25: B.C. senior boys basketball rankings: Spectrum, St. Pat’s sitting on the pole! Could RCMP, Catholics, Snowball shake it up?

LANGLEY — Only one change atop the four tiers of B.C. boys high school basketball this week, as St. Patricks flip-flops with St. Thomas More at the peak of the Triple-A rankings following the final of the Rich Goutlet Chancellor final Saturday in Burnaby,.Spectrum staved off the same scenario atop 4A, topping No. 3 Oak […]

a St. Thomas More's Logan Ball and Arkin Solis of St. Pat's contest a loose ball during Saturday's championship final at the 2025 Rich Goulet Chancellor in Burnaby. (Photo by Howard Tsumura exclusive property of VarsityLetters.ca 2025. All Rights Reserved)
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Chancellor 2025: Capacity crowds at St. Thomas More induce a 1980’s flashback for your author! We dissect champion St. Pat’s, runner-up Knights boffo No. 1 v. No. 2 title clash!

BURNABY — One thing I’ve noticed happening a lot more with age, are the number of times I get high school basketball flashbacks while attending games in the here-and-now of this 2024-25 season.So before we get to the guts of this story, which is centred around the incredible show that both the No. 1-ranked St. […]

Fleetwood Park's Jas Sangha led his Dragons past Elgin Park 86-66 in the fifth-place final Jan. 12, 2025 at the Rich Goulet Chancellor Memorial played at Burnaby's St. Thomas More Collegiate. (Photo by Howard Tsumura exclusive property of VarsityLetters.ca 2024. All Rights Reserved)
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01.13.25 edition: Whose star is rising fastest in BC SRS Top 50? Notre Dame, Grandview Hts, Mt. Boo!

LANGLEY — Response has been very positive since Varsity Letters began running the B.C. SRS Top 50 senior boys basketball rankings a number of weeks back.If there has been a general concensus from our readers, it has centred around two points.One, you have appreciated the fact that a vehicle now exists which puts all four […]

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A Sunday Read: Guess why No. 1 Spectrum’s win over No. 3 Oak Bay in Terry Fox Legal Beagle final is the defending B.C. 4A champ Thunder’s biggest win of the season!

By HOWARD TSUMURA (VarsityLetters.ca)SPECTRUM 70 OAK BAY 62PORT COQUITLAM — Saturday night’s Legal Beagle championship final victory by the Spectrum Thunder is the Victoria team’s biggest win since it cut down the nets last March at the Langley Events Centre as the kings of B.C. Quad-A hoops.It may seem a heady statement, yet on the […]