LANGLEY — Welcome to Day 1 of the 2025 boys Tsumura Basketball Invitational and our eight Select 16 bracket games.
Before we get to today’s eight game reports, a huge thanks to the LEC’s Gary Ahuja for pinch-hitting and delivering with seven of those game reports.
You can read them below, but first, here’s a look at Thursday’s quarterfinals, all played at Centre Court beginning at 3 p.m.
TOP HALF DRAW
6:15 p.m. — Pacific Academy vs. St. Thomas More
7:45 p.m. — King George vs. Wellington
BOTTOM HALF DRAW
3 p.m. — Brentwood College vs. Collingwood
4:30 p.m. — Richmond vs. L.A. Matheson
Ok, here’s the game reports:
BOYS
SELECT 16
DAY 1
(South Court)
TOP HALF DRAW
QUADRANT A
PACIFIC ACADEMY 86 MARK R. ISFELD 77
By GARY AHUJA (Special for Varsity Letters)
LANGLEY — The defending BC School Sports 2A provincial champions entered the season as the pre-season No. 1, but Pacific Academy co-head coach Joel Ashbee knows this year brings new challenges.
“We’re just trying to figure out who we are,” he said. “We’re replacing a lot of guys from last year, so we’re seeing who can do what.”
Although the winter season officially began last week, Wednesday’s Tsumura Basketball Invitational matchup against Courtenay’s Mark R. Isfeld Ice marked the Breakers’ first game of the 2025–26 campaign.
Pacific Academy came out firing, scoring 49 first-half points before holding off an Isfeld rally for an 86–77 win.
Point guard Judah Ashbee — the reigning 2A provincial MVP and one of just three Grade 12s on the roster — led the Breakers with 23 points. Grade 11 forwards Jessie Babs-Ishola and Mario Ekene combined for 38, with Ekene scoring 10 of his 18 in the first quarter and Babs-Ishola — the game’s Player of the Game — pouring in 17 of his 20 across the second and third periods.
“Jessie was unreal with his finishing — I was surprised how well he did — and Judah took care of business at the point,” Ashbee said. “We got to see what they could do, so it was a good education for them.”
Ashbee also praised the Ice, particularly their shooting.
“Man, I couldn’t believe the shooting from Mark Isfeld. The number of mid-range jumpers they hit was crazy. Nate Boan was especially very, very good,” he said.
Boan, a Grade 12 guard, led Isfeld with 27 points, while Lucas Fisher (14), Shervin Singh (13), and Cohen Moldenhauer (10) also hit double digits.
ST. THOMAS MORE 67 RICK HANSEN 65
By GARY AHUJA (Special for Varsity Letters)
Graduating all but three players from last season’s silver-medal squad, Denzel Laguerta and his coaching staff knew the St. Thomas More Collegiate Knights were in for a youth movement this year. And on Wednesday morning at the TBI Tournament, the team’s youngest player delivered.
Clinging to a 63–62 lead over the Rick Hansen Hurricanes in the final minute, Grade 10 guard Vidak Nikolic buried a three from the top of the arc, providing the cushion in a hard-fought 67–65 victory.
“We asked him to move up this year. He’s very talented with a lot of potential — still plenty to learn, don’t want his ego getting too big — but he’s a very good player. He gets it,” Laguerta said. “I was worried about the maturity, but he has responded to every challenge, and it shows in moments like that.”
The game was tight throughout, with neither team leading by more than seven and a combined seven ties and eight lead changes.
Logan Ball, one of only three Grade 12s on the Knights roster, scored 26 points while Nikolic finished with 20. For the Hurricanes, Harjap Thind had 34 and Abhi Brar added 12.
Laguerta said the early test is exactly why his team values the TBI.
“We love being here. In terms of where teams want to be at the end of the season, this is the place,” he said. “The TBI emulates that. The talent is so good, and we’re grateful Howie has us here. It is a good gauge to see where we are.”
QUADRANT B
KING GEORGE 61 HERITAGE WOODS 53
By GARY AHUJA (Special for Varsity Letters)
LANGLEY — After leading for nearly the entire game, the King George Dragons saw their double-digit cushion shrink to just four points.
“They switched to a 1-3-1 and it kind of shocked us,” said Grade 10 guard Rei Ikeda. “But coach called a timeout, we settled our offence, and we were able to get some good looks.”
The reset worked. King George responded with a 9–1 run to secure a 61–53 win over the Heritage Woods Kodiaks.
Ikeda said the Dragons’ game plan focused on containing Heritage Woods’ 6-foot-6 Grade 11 standout Vuk Lekovic, who finished with 18 points — the only Kodiak in double figures.
“We stopped their transition. Vuk is a great player, so we matched up with him, had lots of help-side, and made sure we were in the gaps,” Ikeda said. “We took him away, and offensively we were able to pick apart their defence and move the ball.”
Ikeda led the Dragons with 29 points, while Leon Latinovic added 10.
“I was just getting downhill, playing off two feet, and shooting the midrange,” Ikeda said. “If they dropped off me, I’d shoot — and my shot was falling today.”
WELLINGTON 74 SULLIVAN HEIGHTS 56
By GARY AHUJA (Special for Varsity Letters)
The Wellington Wildcats shook off their “ferry legs” and pulled away for a 74–56 victory over the Sullivan Heights Stars.
The Wildcats took the ferry over from Nanaimo earlier in the day and then tipped off in the final game of the Select 16 bracket on day one.
“Their full-court pressure affected us early, but in the second half we took care of the ball better and adjusted — that was probably the difference,” said Wildcats coach Luke Letham. “We also got the ball where we needed to, which was inside to Jackson.”
Jackson Peters, Wellington’s 6-foot-8 Grade 12 forward, dominated with 33 points, while 6-foot-4 forward Everyl Knudsen added 14.
Kabir Mand led Sullivan Heights with 10 points.
Wellington led by 10 at halftime, and the Stars never got the margin under nine the rest of the way.
BOTTOM HALF DRAW
QUADRANT C
BRENTWOOD COLLEGE 83 STEVESTON-LONDON 73
By GARY AHUJA (Special for Varsity Letters)
It wasn’t always smooth, but Brentwood College found a way to get it done.
After travelling over from Vancouver Island on Wednesday morning, the Mill Bay school held off the Steveston-London Sharks for an 83–73 victory.
“Anytime you get off the boat on the first day of a tournament and find a way to win, that’s a good thing,” said Brentwood coach Blake Gage. “We had some flashes, but overall, we weren’t great.”
Early on, Grade 12 forward Ben Akindipe was dominant, scoring 14 of Brentwood’s first 19 points as they built a 19–12 lead. The margin was nine at halftime before the Sharks erupted for 32 points in the third quarter to take a 59–56 edge.
Brentwood responded, closing the game on a 20–8 run, with Lair Hill scoring 10 in the final frame.
Kang Cho paced Brentwood with 20 points, followed by Akindipe’s 19, while Hill and Jaxen Lust each added 14. The Sharks were led by Justin Zhao (18 points), Dario Androsevic (14), and Jay Liu (13)
COLLINGWOOD 77 SARDIS 55
By HOWARD TSUMURA
LANGLEY — Ask Andy Wong who his ‘go-to guy’ is this season with West Vancouver’s perennial title-contending Collingwood Cavaliers is, and he defers.
“We’ve got 12 seniors,” the head coach smiles.
On Wednesday, as the TBI opened its Select 16 round, the man of the hour was senior guard Peter Huang.
Playing within the rhythm of the team’s offence, Huang hung five first-quarter triples on the scoreboard en route to a 20-point performance as the Cavs toppled a talented Sardis Falcons squad 77-55.
It was a start that left no doubt.
“I mean we had 77 points for the game, and I think we had 38 points in the first quarter,” Womg said, smiling of the fact that Collingwood scored half its points in the first 10 minutes of play.
“Our shooters came ready to shoot,” added Wong who led Collingwood to the B.C. Double-A title in 2024 and to a third-place finish last season. “That’s an identity that we have, but we don’t know who it’s going to be every time and today it was Peter Huang. So every time someone sort of steps up… today was him. And so super happy with our effort. We knew how good Sardis was.”
Elliot McNeil scored 10 of his game-high 23 points in the fourth quarter for the winners while Tomas Villamil added 10.
Landon Pomeranz led the Falcons with 16 points.
Maybe Collingwood’s identity will wind up being its dozen-strong co-op of seniors, a trait that will make them very hard to scout.
“Honestly, we’re a team that plays with a lot of confidence, and when something goes in, everyone else feels confident,” said Wong. “And so they get that catch-and-shoot three where they get rhythm and they feel really good about it. And so when we’re going, we can really go.”
QUADRANT D
RICHMOND 89 SPECTRUM 57
By GARY AHUJA (Special for Varsity Letters)
A dominant first-half defensive effort set the tone as the Richmond Colts led wire-to-wire in an 89–57 win over the Spectrum Thunder.
Up 13–9 early, the Colts broke the game open with 12–0 and 16–0 runs, holding Spectrum to just four points in the second quarter and 15 in the entire first half. While the second half was more balanced, Richmond still held a 46–41 edge over the final 20 minutes.
“We competed defensively in the first half. In the second, I thought we let them get to the paint a bit, but overall we were confident,” said Richmond coach Daniel Afanasiyevskyy. “Guys were getting to their spots and hitting the shots they’ve been practicing. You could see the team’s confidence.”
With a strong mix of Grade 11s and 12s, Afanasiyevskyy said the Colts’ chemistry comes from five years of playing together.
Grade 12 standouts Joshua Ning (22 points), Tomiwa Aderinto (20), and Justin Chen (17) powered the offence, with Chen earning Player of the Game honours.
“Justin is a great athlete — he doesn’t realize how good he is yet,” the coach said. “He’s a great leader, really selfless, but he still needs to be more aggressive.”
Grade 10 guard Blake Albiso led Spectrum with 13 points while Tristan Cabal and Toluwani Ariyo had nine points apiece.
L.A. MATHESON 75 WINDSOR 54
By GARY AHUJA (Special for Varsity Letters)
Locked in a one-point game early in the second half, the L.A. Matheson Mustangs turned to their defence.
“We went back to what we’re good at and really honed in on our ability to defend,” said Mustangs coach Tyler Ram. “Once we got some crucial stops, we were able to go on a run.”
That run pushed the lead to 18 by the end of the third quarter, and the Mustangs pulled away for a 75–54 win over the Windsor Wolves.
“They’re a great team — the defending 3A champs — and we were happy to see them because they have championship pedigree,” Ram said of the North Vancouver program, which captured the BC School Sports 3A Boys title at Langley Events Centre in March. “I told the guys: they know what it takes to win, and if we want to reach that level, we have to show what we can do.”
“We came into this tournament saying it’s a provincials preview. It’s the only other event at LEC where you play four games in four days.”
Leading the way on Wednesday was 6-foot-5 Grade 12 guard Joven Sanghera, who scored a game-high 21 points to earn Player of the Game honours. Ram was pleased to see him rebound after a tough outing in last weekend’s championship final against Grandview Heights at Queen Elizabeth Secondary.
“He’s going to be a big piece for us. He struggled a bit last week, so it was great to see him turn it up. He bounced back — that’s what we wanted,” Ram said, calling Sanghera a “high-energy, high-motor player.”
Sanghera was one of four Mustangs in double figures: Jason Hothi scored 18, Jashan Mahal had 16, and Jaiden Shergill added 12. Windsor, with just four Grade 12s on its roster, was led by Grade 11 standouts Marcus Field (20 points) and Marcus Pollock (12).
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