Geevon Janday of Chilliwack's G.W. Graham Grizzlies drives past Lambrick Park's Matt Collett during 2A quarters Thursday in Langley. (Photo -- Wilson Wong, UBC athletics for VarsityLetters.ca)
Feature High School Boys Basketball

Double-A: What a Final 4 Friday! It’s SMUS, Brentwood, King George, GW Graham

Gabe Mannes, Ben Keep, Yoel Teclehaimanot and the balanced attack of the No. 1 seeds with no nickname from Mill Bay.

The winners that emerged from Thursday’s Telus 2017 B.C. Double-A senior boys basketball championship quarterfinals have created a most unique Final Four Friday at the Langley Events Centre.

G.W. Graham’s scoring machine Mannes, three-point shooting savant Keep of St. Michaels University School, King George’s do-it-all Teclehaimanot, and the balanced committee of consistency that is Brentwood College.

The wow factor was there Thursday.

Here’s a look at all four quarters by bracket.

TOP HALF DRAW

BRENTWOOD COLLEGE 90 CAMBIE 47

LANGLEY — Both their defensive checks and their overall balance were on full view as the Brentwood went on a 23-7 run to open play.

Aaron Shulga with a game-high 20 points, Nathan Paloske with 17, Olamide Olatunbosun with 16 and Bruno Chan with 11 led the Island power.

Kevin Dhillon scored 15 for Richmond’s Crusaders while Esteban Carrion scored 12. 

G.W. GRAHAM 98 LAMBRICK PARK 80

LANGLEY — Mannes is a scorer without peer in B.C.’s Class of 2017.

The Grizzlies’ leader scored 27 of his game-high 41 points in the opening half, then proceeded to go a surgical 7-of-8 from the stripe in the fourth quarter.

Jon Steele added 19 for the Grizz who used a 20-4 run in the first quarter to lead 25-11 at the end of 10 minutes.

Cole Tudway-Cains scored 27 points for Victoria’s Lions, while Austin Somers added 17.
No. 1 seed Brentwood College faces No. 4-seed G.W. Graham at 8:45 p.m.

BOTTOM HALF DRAW

ST. MICHAELS UNIVERSITY SCHOOL 78 ST. PATRICK’S 64

LANGLEY — Keep earned his and more as Victoria’s Blue Jags kept the potential for a most remarkable streak alive.

SMUS has played in the last three AA finals, including 2015 when it won it all.

On Thursday Keep was simply transcendent.

In a win over Vancouver’s ‘Heart over height’ Celtics, Keep drained 11 triples, six in the first half and five more in the second.

Ryan Hindson scored 14 of his 21 in the first half.

The game was knotted at 42-42 in the third quarter, but the Jags used a 12-0 run to produce their final cushion of victory.

Matthew Parrenas led the Celts with 22 points, hitting seven treys of his own. Josh Dabu added 16 points.

KING GEORGE 73 WESTSYDE 39

LANGLEY — Teclehaimanot is the total package, and while he can be as flashy as they come, the Dragons’ leader showed his focus Friday by going 10-of-13 from the charity stripe en route to a 73-39 win over Kamloops’ Whundas.

Kyle Guerrero scored 14 points and Mohab Mundadi 10 more as the ball-hawking downtown school topped Westsyde 27-2 in points off turnovers.

Finishing as strong as they started, King George outscored Westsyde 28-8 in the fourth quarter.

SMUS clashes with King George Friday at 7 p.m.

(Apologies from the author. Due to the late hour, the 1A round-up preview will appear Friday morning)

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