Spectrum's Justin Hinrichsen (left), battling in the paint with West Vancouver's Malcolm Lotz at the 2022 B.C. junior boys Sweet 16 at the LEC, has come into his own as a 10th grader on the senior varsity Thunder, in town to play in the Tsumura Basketball Invitational beginning Wednesday at the Langley Events Centre. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of Varsity Letters 2022. All Rights Reserved)
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Tsumura Basketball 2022: A chip off the old hoops block, Grade 10 Justin Hinrichsen helps lead Spectrum Thunder precisely 30 seasons after dad Eric’s B.C. title with Carihi Tyees!

Justin Hinrichsen doesn’t spent a whole lot of time thinking about it.“It just happens,” the 6-foot-3, 165-pound Grade 10 guard/forward with Victoria’s Spectrum Thunder admits when asked how his rare combination of athleticism, talent and instinct has managed to intersect in such a timely fashion just weeks into his first season of senior varsity hoops.“I’ve […]

Semiahmoo's Marcus Flores (12) and Andre Juco (11) are part of the Quad-A No. 1-ranked Thunderbirds' team which will face Eastside Catholic on Dec. 9 during TBI week at the Langley Events Centre. (Photo by Paul Yates property of Vancouver Sports Pictures 2022. All Rights Reserved)
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Quad-A No. 1 Semiahmoo brings Seattle-area’s Eastside Catholic Crusaders and top prospect Cofie to the LEC! 35 years after Richmond-DeMatha, the B.C.-U.S. tradition continues!

LANGLEY TOWNSHIP — The players on B.C.’s No. 1-ranked senior boys Quad-A basketball team likely aren’t aware of it, but when South Surrey’s Semiamoo Thunderbirds take to the court later next month at the Langley Events Centre, they’ll be paying a bit of a tribute to one of this province’s pioneering programs: The 1980’s-era Richmond […]

Holy Cross senior Ose Ehizode (with ball) pictured at last March's 2022 B.C. Quad A provincials against Abbotsford's Justin Manning, leads his Crusaders into a TBI 2022 opening-round clash against Victoria's Oak Bay Bays. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of Varsity Letters 2022. All Rights Reserved)
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BOYS Tsumura Basketball Invitational 2022: This season, the TBI enters its second decade with a 32-team field in three separate brackets!

LANGLEY TOWNSHIP — Welcome to the countdown to the 2022 Tsumura Basketball Invitationals!We’re back bigger than ever as we start our second decade at the home of B.C. High School Basketball: The Langley Events Centre.The dates to mark on your hoops calendar?The boys tournament gets us underway with four days of the competition from Dec. […]

UBC Thunderbirds' fourth-year guard James Woods (left) turns a corner on UNLV's Elijah Parquet en route to a 33-point performance and 'Birds win in the team's season opener in mid August. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of Varsity Letters 2022. All Rights Reserved)
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Buchanan Cup 2022: For UBC’s James Woods, a career defined by beating the odds makes ‘Boy Wonder’ a well-earned nickname!

VANCOUVER — Deep down in his basketball soul, James Woods has always been Boy Wonder.It’s the nickname he picked up before he was old enough to shave, before he even started to play high school basketball for Langley’s Walnut Grove Gators.And on Friday night (7:30 p.m.), when he pulls on his No. 11 UBC jersey […]

Sure to be a pair of shining stars at TBI 2022 this December are Caden Karrion of B.C. Triple-A No. 1 St. Patrick's, and Kiera Pemberton of B.C. Quad-A No. 2 Walnut Grove. (Photos by Wilson Wong 2022. All Rights Reserved)
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Tsumura Basketball Invitational 2022: The TBI has grown to 64 teams! Check out the new format as we unveil December’s boys and girls fields!

LANGLEY — The 2021-22 B.C. high school basketball season may be but a month in the rearview mirror, yet the journey to a new campaign’s tip-off is already well underway.While Varsity Letters is currently on an extended sabbatical, the one piece of news we did promise last month was unveiling the boys and girls entrants […]

While he did most of his damage shooting the ball, Okanagan Mission's Wil Zylyk kept everybody honest with dribble-drive game during the B.C. senior boys Triple-A championships at the LEC. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of Varsity Letters 2022. All Rights Reserved)
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Howie’s High School Hoops Hamper 2021-22 finale: Random thoughts as the off-season beckons!

LANGLEY — Some random thoughts and remembrances as I pack the 2021-22 B.C. high school boys and girls basketball season into my over-stuffed memory banks and look ahead to the game’s off-season hibernation:BREAKINGTo those who pay attention to our early pre-season polls, I have taken great pride in not only producing the Quad-A poll the […]

Cole Bekkering of the Semiahmoo Thunderbirds is part of a class of rising Grade 11 and 12 players with the South Surrey program which lost in last weekend's championship final to Burnaby South. (Photo by Vancouver Sports Pictures 2022. All Rights Reserved)
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2022-23 B.C. Boys Top 10 pre-preseason hoops rankings! 4A Semiahmoo, 3A St. Patrick’s, 2A St. Thomas Aquinas, 1A Glenlyon Norfolk top the polls!

LANGLEY — Fans of B.C. boys high school basketball were treated to an absolute gem of a provincial tournament for four days last week at the Langley Events Centre.Stirring games in all four rounds, and the largest crowd to witness a B.C. final this century, and perhaps even a lot further back than that… we […]

Prince George Polars senior boys basketball head coach Tyler Burbee, who took in last week's B.C. championships at the LEC, was happy to spread the word about the program's unique Bear Claw Classic invitational set for next season. (Photo by Wilson Wong 2022. All Rights Reserved)
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The Bear Claw Classic: Varsity Letters’ high school sports nickname story sparks new and unique boys basketball tourney for Prince George Polars!

LANGLEY — Do a quick web search with the words ‘bear’ and ‘B.C.’ and in a split second, you get information like ‘Most of B.C. is considered bear country.’Bears, of course, are so much a part of our provincial heritage that they have logically been absorbed into our lexicon of sports team nicknames.Last spring, Prince […]

Staying within himself and making his final high school game his greatest, Burnaby South's Karan Aujla (right) made Marcus Floares and the Semiahmoo Thunderbirds think twice about everything they did during the B.C. Quad-A senior boys basketball championship final Saturday at the Langley Events Centre. (Photo by Blair Shier property of Vancouver Sports Pictures 2022. All Rights Reserved)
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A Sunday Read: A pivot’s night of perfection! As Karan Aujla defies odds to play a perfect game, Burnaby South joins B.C.’s ultra-elite after 4A title win over Semiahmoo!

LANGLEY — Scour the basketball world and we’re pretty sure you’ll be able to find the analytical formulas which attempt to best define excellence on the court.Yet if you happened to be among the 6,000-plus delirious fans who set a new single-event attendance record late Saturday night at the Langley Events Centre for the B.C. […]

With mere seconds remaining and a provincial title on the line, Westsyde's Jagger de la Gorgendiere asks the basketball gods to preserve his team's victory over the Lambrick Park Lions during the B.C. senior boys Triple-A basketball championship final Saturday at the Langley Events Centre. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of Varsity Letters 2022. All Rights Reserved)
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B.C. 2A Final: Will Whundas ever cease? Kamloops’ hoops wonders from Westsyde top No. 1 Lambrick Park for school’s first-ever B.C. boys title!

LANGLEY — They’ve always been known for having one of the truly great nicknames in all of B.C. high school sports.Now, Kamloops’ Westsyde Whundas can be known for something else as well: B.C. senior boys basketball champions.Caleb Ezedebego drained the three-pointer of his life from the baseline corner with 26.5 seconds remaining to put the […]