Walnut Groves Anneke Cairnie (left) eyes the basket in Saturday's TBI 2019 fifth-place game while being guarded by R.A. McMath's Hope Chan. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Girls Basketball

TBI 2019 Girls: Walnut Grove Gators top McMath for fifth place as 2019-20 looks like the start of ‘deja vu, all over again’ for Langley power

LANGLEY — If it was a bit of an unfamiliar place for the Walnut Grove Gators to be on a mid-December Saturday, it’s understandable.For the past two years, the Gators have walked off the court here at the Langley Events Centre as champions of the Tsumura Basketball Invitational senior girls tournament, first behind the MVP […]

No one at Tsumura Basketball 2019 has been able to keep Britannia's Surprise Munie under wraps, including Kelowna's Paris Kirk (left) and Rylee Semeniuk. Britannia rode a huge scoring performance from Munie to a win and a berth in Saturday's championship final against the Okanagan Mission Huskies. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2019. All Rights Reserved)
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TBI 2019 Final Four: In a zone of their own, Surprise and the Cinderella Britannia Bruins top Kelowna Owls for title-game berth

LANGLEY — It’s wrong to say that the Britannia Bruins were considered a long shot heading into the 2019 Tsumura Basketball Invitational.Yet hands up if you had the East Vancouver Double-A underdogs knocking off, in order, Quad-A No. 6 Riverside, Quad-A No. 7 Yale, and Quad-A No. 8 Kelowna?Of course you did. We all did.Hardly.Yet […]

OKM's Tatum Wade (left) rises in the paint past Langley Christian's Keira Hummelman during TBI Final Four Friday at the LEC. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2019. All Rights Reserved)
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TBI 2019 Final Four: On a mission, Kelowna’s OKM Huskies top Langley Christian to earn tourney-title shot Saturday!

LANGLEY — Oh my… how their star has risen over the nine-plus months.Last season, Kelowna’s Okanagan Mission Huskies had to beat Surrey’s Lord Tweedsmuir Panthers on a neutral court in Merritt in a sudden-elimination, last-chance to the Big Dance clash just to qualify for the B.C. Triple-A championship tournament.They won that game, and ever since […]

Surprise Munie was as prolific as ever on the offensive end, but the Brit star had a shout out for the Bruins' defence in its Elite 8 TBI win over the Yale Lions. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2019. All Rights Reserved)
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TBI 2019 Elite 8: Britannia’s Double-A Bruins show a depth of versatility, adaptability in taming Yale’s Quad-A Lions

LANGLEY — They aren’t as recognized as their fellow senior Bruins Surprise Munie and Shemaiah Abatayo, yet you could almost say that Britannia’s emerging frontcourt duo of Tiana Sacco and Lagi Vaa hold a big key to the ultimate versatility and fortunes of East Vancouver’s finest.

Kelowna's Nicole Torozan (centre) scoots through the paint against McMath's Liz Kennedy (left) and Kate Carkner. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2019. All Rights Reserved)
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TBI 2019 Elite Eight: Depth, shooting, athleticism carry Kelowna Owls to decisive win over Richmond’s R.A. McMath Wildcats

LANGLEY — The 2019-20 Kelowna Owls are taking head coach Darren Semeniuk on a trip down memory lane.With a bevy of guards and an emerging pair of post players, the current edition that Semeniuk has cajoled into the Tsumura Basketball Invitational semifinals tonight (8:15 p.m.) following its decisive 70-39 win over the R.A. McMath Wildcats […]

Battling in the paint to score two of her eight points is Langley Christian's Kathryn New. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2019. All Rights Reserved)
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TBI 2019 Elite Eight: Lightning strikes in defensive battle! Double A No. 1 LCS tops STM, faces Triple-A No. 1 OKM in Friday night Final Four

LANGLEY — It wasn’t too long ago when the Langley Christian Lighting were competing in the province’s small school Single-A tier.Tonight (6:45 p.m.), the Lightning face Kelowna’s Okanagan Mission Huskies in the TBI 2019 semifinals, sitting a win away from a berth in Saturday’s championship final.Maintaining poise and patience, and ultimately finding ways to execute […]

Okanagan Mission's Melaina Corrado digs in during a drive to the rim against Walnut Grove's Tabitha Knoedel (left) and Tia Rowell on Friday morning during TBI quarters at the LEC. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2019. All Rights Reserved)
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TBI 2019 Elite Eight: Deep and dangerous Okanagan Mission Huskies too much for Walnut Grove Gators

LANGLEY — It’s still early in the season, yet Meghan Faust is not letting anything get stale with her Okanagan Mission Huskies senior girls basketball team.While the focus is on execution during the games this week here at TBI 2019, it’s pretty clear that B.C.’s No. 1-ranked Triple-A team holds some pretty intense practices, and […]

St. Thomas More's Bella Gaspar (left) gets off a shot while defended by Brookswood's Quinn Jasper during Sweet 16 round of 2019 TBI on Thursday at the LEC. (Photo by Larry Lawson property of Portland State athletics 2019. All Rights Reserved) (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2019. All Rights Reserved)
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FINAL EDITION: Utter madness hits TBI 2019 Sweet 16! Three Double-A schools crash Friday’s Elite 8 quarterfinals

LANGLEY —What a Thursday of upsets here at TBI.The Sweet 16 for 2019 will be remembered for the way that Double A teams sent the bracket into disarray.Hands up if you had Double A’s Langley Christian, Britannia and St. Thomas More knocking off, respectively, Quad A’s Terry Fox, Riverside and Brookswood?Utter madness!We’ve got all eight […]

Walnut Grove's Sophia Wisotzki helps lead the No. 3 Walnut Grove Gators into TBI 2019. The locals will open at the Langley Events Centre against Port Moody's No. 5-ranked Heritage Woods Kodiaks. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2019. All Rights Reserved)
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B.C. senior girls basketball 12.11.19 rankings: Look out for new No. 2 Quad-A Terry Fox! Inspired Ravens top field heading into 2019 TBI!

LANGLEY — With eight of the Top 10 senior girls Quad-A ranked teams set to do battle over the next four days at the Tsumura Basketball Invitational, it’s interesting to note heading into play at the Langley Events Centre, which team comes into the 20-team field with the highest provincial ranking.No. 1 Semiahmoo and No. […]

Kelowna's Avery Chalmers and the rest of the Owls remain at No. 2 in first B.C. Quad-A basketball poll of the new season. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Girls Basketball

B.C. senior girls basketball 12.04.19 rankings: Totems, Owls still rule Quad-A roost, but Terry Fox Ravens jump up to No. 3

LANGLEY — The Semiahmoo Totems and Kelowna Owls maintained their position atop the B.C. senior girls Quad-A basketball Top 10 rankings this week,Meanwhile, Port Coquitlam’s Terry Fox Ravens parlayed a 77-72 win over Langley’s Walnut Grove Gators in the championship final of The Big Ticket tournament last Friday in Abbotsford to jump three spots to […]