Semiahmoo's Grade 12 forward Faith Dut (centre) helped her Totems past Walnut Grove in the Gators Classic final, then later joined teammate Deja Lee on the all-star team. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2018. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Girls Basketball

01.09.18 B.C. girls hoop ranks: No. 1 Semi tops No. 2 Walnut Grove in Gators tourney final; Aquinas is AA’s new No. 1

LANGLEY — It was a No. 1 vs. No. 2 showdown at the highest tier of B.C. senior girls basketball this past weekend, and in the end, the rankings held true.

If you had to peek especially hard on the court to notice Sarah Buckingham in past seasons, all of that has changed for the fourth-year TWU Spartans' guard this season. (Photo by Scott Stewart property of Trinity Western athletics 2018. All Rights Reserved)
Faith Dut (centre) and the Semiahmoo Totems hold down No. 1 in B.C. girls AAA basketball through the holiday break. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2018. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Girls Basketball

12.19.18 edition: Our final B.C. senior varsity girls provincial Big 10 basketball rankings of 2018

LANGLEY — All three tiers of B.C. senior girls high school basketball check in with their final Big 10 rankings of the calendar year. Our pollsters are eligible to submit their next set of provincial rankings for Jan. 9 release.

Riverside Secondary's Tessa Burton models the Rapids' all-pink jersey which the team will wear Tuesday through Friday at its 15th annual A Tournament For Emily cancer awareness fund-raiser and basketball tournament at the Port Coquitlam school. (Photo courtesy Riverside Athletics)
Feature High School Girls Basketball

Riverside girls to wear all-pink jerseys at A Tournament For Emily! Says Rapids’ Tessa Burton: “…I think it makes a big statement”

PORT COQUITLAM — For Tessa Burton, there was nothing ordinary about getting a chance to don her basketball team’s newest game-day jersey and shorts.

Walnut Grove's Tavia Rowell, picked tourney MVP, dished the rock like never before Saturday night in helping her Gators win the 2018 girls Tsumura Basketball Invitational at the Langley Events Centre. (Photo by Wilson Wong property of UBC Athletics 2018. All Rights Reserved)
Kelowna's Nicole Torozan (left) is guarded by Riverside's Jessica Parker during TBI semifinals Saturday at the Langley Events Centre. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2018. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Girls Basketball

TBI 2018: Defending tourney champ Walnut Grove to face Riverside in Saturday’s 8 p.m. title final at the LEC

The semifinal portion of championship Saturday here at the Langley Events Centre is over. The Riverside Rapids of Port Coquitlam will face Langley’s Walnut Grove Gators in tonight’s 8 p.m. Tsumura Basketball Invitational 2018 title game.

Riverside's Sammy Shields (right) tries to bring the ball back into safety against St. Thomas Aquinas' Caelan Prescott during Friday's TBI quarterfinal played at the LEC. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2018. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Girls Basketball

TBI 2018: PoCo’s Final Four-bound Riverside Rapids play “…like the Kansas City Chiefs” of B.C. girls high school hoops

LANGLEY — Head coaches of high school girls basketball teams don’t often throw out NFL teams when they’re looking for comparables.

Kelowna senior Jaeli Ibbetson hits the pine to maintain hold of a loose ball and gets into a battle with Abbotsford's Grade 11 star Marin Lenz on Friday at the TBI quarters, staged at the LEC. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2018. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Girls Basketball

TBI 2018: En route to Final Four, Ibbetson and Kelowna’s parliament of Owls show a wisdom worthy of defending B.C. AAA champs

LANGLEY — Kennedy Dickie had Canada Basketball duty this weekend, and thus had to pass on the 2018 Tsumura Basketball Invitational.

Brookswood senior guard Jenna Dick (left) wins hard-fought loose ball scramble with McMath's Jayna Wilson during TBI quarters on Friday at the LEC. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2018. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Girls Basketball

TBI 2018: Brookswood guard Jenna Dick speaks to virtues of single-minded purpose as her ‘Cats use fourth-quarter jets, fly to Final 4

LANGLEY — Single-minded purpose. Back in about 10th grade, when Jenna Dick made a huge senior varsity splash with the Brookswood Bobcats, she might not have been capable of encapsulating her thoughts on what needs to happen for a team to raise the level of their collective mercury in order to win a basketball game.

Few anywhere play the game with the same outward joy of Walnut Grove senior Tavia Rowell (centre), pictured as she explodes to the hoop off the dribble against Langley Christian's Makenna Gardner (left) and Hailey Van Roekel. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2018. All Rights Reserved) (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2018. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Girls Basketball

TBI 2018: Now Final Four-bound, Walnut Grove senior star Tavia Rowell says her Gators play every game “…like it’s our last game”

LANGLEY — Point out a box on her team’s list still to receive a check mark and Walnut Grove’s star senior guard Tavia Rowell takes no offence.Instead, following an 86-59 win over the Langley Christian Lightning on Friday in the quarterfinals of the 2018 Tsumura Basketball Invitational, Rowell noted that the process her team is […]