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)
Feature High School Girls Basketball

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)
Feature High School Girls Basketball

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 […]

Behind the play of TBI MVP Dominic Parolin, Coquitlam's Centennial Centaurs have moved into the No. 1 spot in boys Quad-A basketball for the first time in at least two decades. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Boys Basketball

B.C. senior boys basketball 12.11.19 rankings: Centennial Centaurs hit No. 1 for first time in over 20 years following TBI title!

LANGLEY — The Tsumura Basketball Invitational has re-shaped the rankings at the two largest tiers in the province.It has given Quad-A a new No.1 in Coquitlam’s Centennial Centaurs, and ignited the paths of fast-risers in Claremont and Seaquam. We’ve also got an undefeated Abbotsford Panthers team climbing fast.Centennial coach Rob Sollero confirmed Wednesday morning that […]

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)
Feature High School Girls Basketball

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 Jarred Taylor (23) pays the price for guarding Centennial's Dom Parolin during Saturday's Tsumura Basketball Invitational championship final at the Langley Events Centre. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Boys Basketball

TBI Boys 2019 Final: Parolin unparalleled! Centennial superstar pours home 41, stuffs stat sheet in title win over Kelowna Owls

LANGLEY — At one point pretty early on in Saturday’s Tsumura Basketball Invitational championship final, it became pretty clear that the Dom Parolin who was patrolling the court at the Langley Events Centre for Coquitlam’s No. 3-ranked Centennial Centaurs had stepped onto the hardcourt straight off the pages of a super-hero comic book.

Burnaby South's Jimmy Zaborniak (centre) splits the defence of Duchess Park's Tony Zejnulahovic and Caleb Lyons during TBI bronze clash Saturday at the LEC. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Boys Basketball

TBI 2019’s Surprise Team: Despite third-place loss to powerhouse Burnaby South, PG’s Duchess Park Condors leave their mark

LANGLEY — Prince George’s Duchess Park Condors, the Triple-A interlopers with the audacity to crash the Final Four party here at TBI 2019 on Friday night, may not have gotten the finish they wanted following an 81-63 loss to the Quad-A No. 1-ranked Burnaby South Rebels in Saturday’s third-fourth place contest.Falling behind 23-4 off the […]

Claremont's Ethan Boag (right) looks for space in the post against Holy Cross' Logan Mathers on Saturday in the fifth-seventh clash at TBI 2019. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Boys Basketball

TBI 2019’s Fifth-place game: Victoria’s Claremont Spartans ready to rise in Big 10 poll after topping three ranked teams

LANGLEY — Victoria’s Claremont Spartans are ready to do some climbing this week when the Varsity Letters’ Big 10 Quad-A senior boys basketball rankings are released.Ben Manns drained a critical three-pointer with 56.9 seconds left, a highlight in the capital city crew’s game-closing 10-2 run, in a 77-72 win over Surrey’s No. 5-ranked Holy Cross […]

It's crash-and-bang time in the paint for Kelowna's Jayden Lalonde who is met in the post by Burnaby South's Karan Aujla on Friday at the LEC. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Boys Basketball

Tsumura Basketball 2019: Super-powers trade thunder bolts before No. 2 Kelowna tops No. 1 Burnaby South to earn its TBI title shot

LANGLEY — No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchups in high school basketball should never go quietly into the night.Thankfully, the figurative basketball spirits left to inhabit Centre Court tonight at the Langley Events Centre following just such a contest in the semifinal round of the 2019 Tsumura Basketball Invitational must surely still be kicking up […]

Guarded by Duchess Park's Emir Zejnulahovic, Centennial big man Dominic Parolin prepares to execute in the past Friday night at the LEC. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Boys Basketball

Tsumura Basketball 2019: Duchess Park Condors discover the perils of Parolin! Centennial star scores 39 to lead Centaurs to final

LANGLEY — If you wanted to see what it looked like to witness one player grabbing a basketball game by the figurative scruff of it’s neck, then you had to be sitting at Centre Court in the Langley Events Centre on Friday night.With his Centennial Centaurs nursing a seven-point lead with six minutes remaining against […]

Duchess Park guard Tanner Cruz (right) does his best to shake Holy Cross' Tee Anim during dramatic TBI quarterfinal clash Friday morning at the LEC. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Boys Basketball

Tsumura Basketball 2019 Day 3: Elite 8 clashes complete! Get set for No. 1 Bby South vs. No. 2 Kelowna & Centennial vs. Duchess Park

LANGLEY — We’ve punched our Final Four dance card.Following quarterfinal-round action today, the Quad A No. 3 Centennial Centaurs of Coquitlam will face the Triple A No. 3 Duchess Park Condors of Prince George at 6:45 p.m., followed by the all-Quad-A No. 1 Burnaby South Rebels against the No. 2 Kelowna Owls.KELOWNA 101 TERRY FOX […]