Riverside Rapids' Grade 11 guard Tessa Burton hits the deck while trying to play keep-away from Abbotsford Panther guards Sienna Lenz and Sydney Fetterly (obscured) during TBI semifinals Saturday morning in Langley. (Varsity Letters photo by Howard Tsumura)
Feature High School Girls Basketball

TBI 2017: It’s No. 1 Walnut Grove vs. No. 5 Abbotsford in a battle for early-season B.C. girls hoops supremacy

LANGLEY — They don’t have a ton of history as far as each other is concerned, but the No. 1 Walnut Grove Gators of Langley and the No. 5 Abbotsford Panthers just might write the first chapter on Saturday night (8 p.m.).

Riverside's Alanya Davignon (left) hounds Lord Tweedsmuir's Harneet Sidhu during quarterfinal round action Friday at the Tsumura Basketball Invitational at the Langley Events Centre. (Varsity Letters photo by Howard Tsumura)
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TBI 2017: Abby, Grove suddenly the veteran teams, Grade 9 factor strong with Final 4 teams Riverside, Semiahmoo

LANGLEY — The Walnut Grove Gators and the Abbotsford Panthers have been applauded for playing beyond their years as a pair of the youngest title-contending teams in the recent history of B.C. senior varsity girls basketball.

Semiahmoo's Tara Wallack (left) drives against Janessa Knapp of Langley's Brookswood Bobcats during Sweet 16 action at the 2017 Tsumura Basketball Invitational on Thursday at the Langley Events Centre. (Varsity Letters photo by Howard Tsumura)
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TBI 2017: Round of Sweet 16 announces arrival of some of B.C.’s best young senior varsity girls teams

Welcome to Day 1 of the senior girls varsity Tsumura Basketball Invitational. Here’s our look at all eight games from the opening round of Sweet 16.

G.W. Graham guard Jaya Bannerman and her Chilliwack-based Grizzlies will get the best competition of their season Thursday through Saturday at the LEC for TBI 2017. (Varsity Letters photo by Howard Tsumura)
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TBI 2017: Latest B.C. girls basketball rankings shows best-of-the-best squads headed to the LEC this week

LANGLEY — The senior varsity girls take centre this weekend at the Langley Events Centre as the 2017 Tsumura Basketball Invitational tips off a three-day run Thursday.Keep the latest provincial top 10 rankings nearby for handy reference.The TBI will feature eight of the current Top 10 AAA teams, plus three of its five honourable mention […]

Walnut Grove senior forward Natalie Rathler (right) soars to the basket against Saturday against the Handsworth Royals, helping lead her Gators to the title at the No Regrets Classic tournament. (Photo by Blair Shier, www.blair.photo)
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TBI 2017: Walnut Grove’s Rathler brings the noise and the poise, Gators’ forward preps for B.C. title run, future with UFV Cascades

LANGLEY — Natalie Rathler has discovered that in order to stand at your true height, you first need to raise the height of your confidence. And with that said and done, it’s why the senior forward with Langley’s Walnut Grove Gators has been a player impossible to miss, especially if you’re one of those who loves […]

Brookswood guard Jenna Dick is back for her Grade 11 season with the preseason AAA No. 4 Bobcats. (VarsityLetters.ca photo by Howard Tsumura)
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11.26.17: The B.C. senior girls AAA, AA and A preseason Top 10 basketball rankings

The 2017-18 B.C. high school basketball season opens Monday, and to get fans ready for the start of the new campaign, we open with the provincial Top 10 rankings for senior girls varsity. Abbotsford, South Kamloops and Langley’s Credo Christian top the three tiers.

Abbotsford's Kelsey Roufosse is not yet a senior, but still has a lengthy resume of learning at the senior varsity level with the Panthers. (Varsity Letters photo by Howard Tsumura)
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No. 1 is all grown up! Abby’s Panthers still young, but championship finals heartbreak makes its Fab 4 Four wise beyond their years

ABBOTSFORD — There were moments in the opening half of last season’s B.C. senior girls AAA championship final when you questioned what you were watching.Had we reached an age where a team with two Grade 11s, a Grade 10 and a Grade 9 at the forefront of a postseason-shortened player rotation could actually lead their […]

Abbotsford's Marin Lenz (left) and Breanne Homeniuk of Surrey's Lord Tweedsmuir Panthers are both back to take part in TBI 2017 at the Langley Events Centre. (Varsity Letters photo by Howard Tsumura)
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The 2017 girls Tsumura Basketball Invitational at LEC, here’s the full draw!

LANGLEY — Last week we presented the boys draw, now it’s time to debut the girls draw for the 2017 Tsumura Basketball Invitational 16-team tournament, set to run Dec. 14-16 at the Langley Events Centre.

Abbotsford Panthers' senior guard Sienna Lenz has given her verbal commitment to play for the SFU Clan in 2018-19. (Varsity Letters photo by Howard Tsumura)
High School Girls Basketball

Sienna Lenz: Abby’s tough-as-nails senior guard set to join SFU Clan in 2018

NCAA signing day is set for Nov. 8, and sources tell Varsity Letters that the Simon Fraser Clan women’s basketball team has added yet another marquee name to it list of 2018 recruits.