LANGLEY — Let the countdown begin.
The 2020 B.C. senior boys high school basketball championships turn 75 when the annual showcase event tips off March 4 at the Langley Events Centre.
Varsity Letters is hoping that one of the highlights of that countdown will be our All-Time B.C. High School Boys Basketball Tournament Bracket.
It’s a single-elimination, NCAA Big Dance-style featuring what our committee of some 20 B.C. high school basketball experts, picked as the top 64 teams of all time.
We will unveil the bracket right here at VarsityLetters.ca on Wednesday, and by Friday, we’ll re-post the draw with all of our 32 opening-round winners. From there, we’ll play a round per week, with the championship fantasy game tipping off on March 3, the day before the actual tournament begins.
In keeping with the fantasy theme, we’ve chosen gymnasiums which hold iconic status in the world of B.C. high school basketball history.
But most of all, by the time it’s all over, our panel of hardcourt historians, coaches and caretakers will have made the tough, tough choices of not only who made and missed the tourney field, but who stands as B.C.’s greatest of all time.
Hope you’ll enjoy the journey!
Yours in basketball
Howard Tsumura
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Just a heads up Howard the undefeated Team from Oak Bay 72-73 beat North Surrey in the Finals at The Pacific Coliseum in front of the largest ever crowd in BC High School History of 8000 fans and was filmed by BCTV. The following year Oak Bay again went undefeated and beat Kamloops in the finals again at the Coliseum against 7’2″ Alan Chappell and our tallest player was 6’4″. Thanks Western Higbie member of both undefeated and winning Teams.
Disappointed not to see the Oak Bay ’74 Team being the second of back to back undefeated Teams not in the main bracket( only 3 Teams accomplished this feat)and were considered the second best all-time Oak Bay Team in School history, That being said, this is a great idea to represent the 75th Anniversary!
The 75th Anniversary Tournament will be fun to watch. It is great to see my old school, Vic High Totems, with coach George “Porky” Andrews being honoured twice for 1959 and 1966, although I think that they won it five times. Oak Bay was recognized four times, 65, 68, 73, and 77. Not that I am competitive, but we won the island in 1964 and Oak Bay never got “off” the island. Courtenay and Esquimalt joined us on the bouncy floor of the War Memorial Gym. Oak Bay won the BC’s the following year.
Defensively, I believe that our Vic High teams would shut down anyone. And if they played without a 3 point line or 24 second clock………game on. 🙂