West Vancouver Highlanders' Max Fraser was selected tournament MVP after leading his team to the Terry Fox Legal Beagle championship title Saturday in Port Coquitlam. (Photo by Blair Shier property of Blair.photo 2024. All Rights Reserved)
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Legal Beagle 2024: Led by its wrestling-themed Four Horsemen, West Vancouver Highlanders pull back-to-back-to-back wins out of the fire, then rise to No. 2 in latest Quad-A rankings!

PORT COQUITLAM — They’re named after a legendary stable of professional wrestlers ever assembled, and in a manner of speaking it’s actually very fitting because any time they’ve found themselves on the figurative ropes, a tag-team mentality has just seemed to take over.In a nutshell, that’s the best way to sum up the the quartet […]

Justin Hinrichsen of Victoria’s Spectrum Thunder during Tsumura Basketball Invitational 2023 this past December at the Langley Events Centre. The Thunder won last week’s Rich Goulet Chancellor Memorial at STM, and followed with a win over crosstown rival Oak Bay on Tuesday. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of Varsity Letters 2024. All Rights Reserved)
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Rolling down their own Thunder Road: Behind its Hinrichsen-Felt-Helman power trio, Saanich’s Spectrum Thunder earn old-school respect as B.C.’s new No. 1-ranked Quad-A boys basketball team!

BURNABY — Is March Madness 2024 going to play out to the strains of Bruce Springsteen’s classic Thunder Road?Or perhaps that should be AC/DC’s power-chord bonanza known as Thunderstruck?As January does its usual fast-break towards February and the stretch drive to the B.C. senior boys basketball championships, its soundtrack has indeed been thunderous, as in […]

With St. George's Kevin Zhong (left) in pursuit, St. Patrick's guard Jacob Matabalos surveys the scene during third-day semifinal action from the 2023 Tsumura Basketball Invitational on Friday at the Langley Events Centre. (during second-day quarterfinal action from the 2023 Tsumura Basketball Invitational on Thursday at the Langley Events Centre. Both the Saints and Celtics sit among the Top 10 teams at both the Quad-A and Triple-A tiers this week. (Photo by Ryan Molag property of Langley Events Centre 2023. All Rights Reserved)
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B.C. Boys Top 10 basketball rankings 01.17.24 edition: Spectrum, Lord Byng each move into No. 1 slots, while Lord Tweedsmuir and STMC enjoy this week’s healthiest climbs!

LANGLEY — The Spectrum Thunder of Saanich, and Vancouver’s Lord Byng Grey Ghosts are the new No. 1-ranked senior boys basketball teams atop the province’s two largest tiers.The then-No. 2 Thunder topped former No. 1 Oak Bay 74-65 in Quad-A South Island league play Tuesday, while Byng’s 2-0 week coupled with former No. 1 St. […]

Yale's Ava Heppner (right) pictured here driving on Burnaby Central's Sophia Morton during Dec. 14 action at the 2023 TBI, led her Lions to the G.W. Graham Top 10 title on Saturday in Chilliwack and was later named tourney MVP. (Photo by Ryan Molag property of Langley Events Centre 2023. All Rights Reserved)
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Pride of the Lions! MVP Ava Heppner helps lead Yale of Abbotsford to first place at G.W. Graham Top 10 tourney and to No. 3 in latest B.C. Quad-A rankings!

CHILLIWACK — There has been no shortage of inspiring play this season from the senior girls basketball team at Abbotsford’s Yale Secondary.Yet more times than not for the hard-working Lions, there has been a distinct lack of championship finishes as they have traversed the fields of the province’s very best invitational tournaments in 2023-24.All of […]

South Kamloops' Kiana Kaczur (left) tries to battle around Alex Motherwell of the SMUS Blue Jags during Day 3 Final Four action at the 2023 B.C. senior girls high school basketball championships. Both teams remain in the top three off the latest B.C. senior girls Triple-A rankings. (Photo by Blair Shier property of Vancouver Sports Pictures 2023. All Rights Reserved)
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BC girls Top 10 hoop ranks 01.16.24: It’s all about the rise and fall! Two new No. 1s, plus big climbers at Argyle, Yale, OKM and SMUS highlight a parity-filled party!

LANGLEY — Over a senior girls high school basketball season in which parity is clearly showing itself to be the norm within the province’s two largest tiers, the key plot line is all about the rise and fall.That’s the story behind the first Top 10 rankings of 2024, with new No. 1’s at both the […]

King George guard Ashton Vij (left) and the rest of his Dragons, pictured here during championship game action against St. Thomas More at the 2023 Tsumura Basketball Invitational this past December, retained their position at No. 1 in the most recent B.C. senior boys Double-A Top 10 issued Wednesday. (Photo by Wilson Wong protected image 2023, All Rights Reserved)
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B.C. BOYS BASKETBALL TOP 10 RANKINGS 01.10.24 EDITION: Oak Bay back on top at Quad-A! B.C.’s newest cross-town rivalry resumes vs No. 2 Spectrum resumes Jan. 16! First ranks of 2024 are here!

LANGLEY — As 2023 gives way to 2024, it’s been a case of ‘all quiet’ atop the upper reaches of B.C. senior boys basketball.That is unless you look to the Vancouver Island South league, where the province’s top two Quad-A teams are making news each time they step on the court.The latest installement in the […]

Spectrum's Gil de Gracia (left) and Justin Hinrichsen apply the defensive squeeze to Burnaby South's Roan Mendoza during Day 4 action from the 2023 Tsumura Basketball Invitational on Dec. 9 at the Langley Events Centre. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of Varsity Letters 2023. All Rights Reserved)
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B.C. BOYS BASKETBALL TOP 10 RANKINGS 12.20.23 EDITION: Spectrum moves into Quad-A No. 1 after topping Oak Bay in final of Bays’ own Gary Taylor Classic! Here’s all four tiers!

LANGLEY — Quad-A has a new No. 1 as an all-capital clash capped off the Gary Taylor Classic last Saturday in Victoria.The Spectrum Thunder topped Oak Bay in the championship final of the Bay’s own annual classic, a victory which moved the Thunder all the way to No. 1 while Oak Bay dropped to No. […]

A blur in the open floor, Seaquam's Camryn Tait (left) is guarded by Riverside's Jorja Hart during final day action from the 2023 Tsumura Basketball Invitational on Saturday at the Langley Events Centre.(Photo by Ryan Molag property of Langley Events Centre 2023. All Rights Reserved)
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A SUNDAY TBI READ: As Seaquam tops Riverside for Super 16 title, here’s to a fateful draw, writing about a new generation of Taits and the power of old hoops photos!

LANGLEY — In the days leading up to the Tsumura Basketball Invitational’s tip off this past Wednesday at the Langley Events Centre, Seaquam Seahawks head coach Lucky Toor did a quick scan of the Super 16 draw his team would be a part of.With a hopeful bent, Toor imagined all of the potential foes his […]

St. Thomas More's Kyla Limon (left) tries to slow the progress of MEI's Lola Reimer during final day action from the 2023 Tsumura Basketball Invitational on Saturday at the Langley Events Centre. (Photo by by Wilson Wong protected image 2023. All Rights Reserved)
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Tsumura Hoops: Poise under pressure allows MEI Eagles to weather STM Knights’ pressure defence en route to TBI Select 16 title!

LANGLEY — By the time the fourth quarter had hit its stretch drive in a game much too close to call, Abbotsford’s MEI Eagles were flapping along on ruffled feathers, busy just trying to maintain their intended flight plan towards a championship title here at the Tsumura Basketball Invitational.It was, after all, the very juncture […]

Riverside's Avery Sussex, here guarded by Burnaby Central's Ella Ricketts, was at her very best during Day 3 semifinal action from the 2023 Tsumura Basketball Invitational on Friday at the Langley Events Centre. (Photo by by Wilson Wong protected image 2023. All Rights Reserved)
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SUPER 16 TBI GIRLS FINAL FOUR FRIDAY: Spurred by the agony of defeat, Riverside Rapids at their best when playing from deeper place! Title clash vs. Seaquam to determine new B.C. Quad-A No. 1 team!

4A No. 2 RIVERSIDE 86 4A No. 4 BURNABY CENTRAL 81LANGLEY — It may be cliche to say that the numbers have told the story here all week at TBI 2023 for the defending B.C. Quad-A champion Riverside Rapids.Yet simple math, when used in the right context, turns out to be a pretty telling way […]