Pinetree's Solomon Anim (left) and the rest of Coquitlam's Timberwolves fell to Michael Risi and the Holy Cross Crusaders in the Fraser Valley's sudden-elimination seventh-place game Feb. 25 at the Langley Events Centre. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca)
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Holy Cross: Not your average No. 14 seed, Surrey’s preseason No. 1 Crusaders prep for North Van’s No. 3 Handsworth Royals

LANGLEY — If you determined your viewing schedule for the opening day of the 2018 B.C. senior boys AAAA basketball championships by seed number, then you might just gloss over the 3:30 p.m. game being played at the Langley Events Centre’s showcase Arena Bowl.

Duchess Park's Colburn Pearce is a player to watch at the B.C. senior boys basketball championships beginning Wednesday at the LEC. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca)
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BC Boys Basketball Championships: A first look at all four draws, plus my ‘Game of the Day’ picks

LANGLEY — The draws are now official and that means it’s time to start figuring out your schedule for the 32-game opening-round schedule at the 2018 B.C. senior boys basketball championships which begin Wednesday at the Langley Events Centre.

The Tamanawis Wildcats and W.J. Mouat Hawks met in a thrilling Fraser Valley Quad-A final last Sunday at the LEC. I've seeded Tammy No. 2 and Mouat No. 4 in my 16-team senior boys bracket. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca)
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Howie’s look: A day in advance, how I would construct the B.C. senior boys AAAA Championship draw

LANGLEY — The real experts will have their work cut out for them on Sunday morning when they gather here to assemble the draws for all four of the tiered B.C. senior boys basketball championships which tip off four-day runs this coming Wednesday at the LEC.

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02.27.18: Final senior boys varsity basketball rankings for Triple-, Double- and Single-A tiers

LANGLEY — With the draws for B.C. championships at all four tiers set to be released this Sunday, here’s a look at three of the tiers.Due to time constraints, the Quad A rankings for this week are not currently available. They will follow later this week.TRIPLE A1 Byrne Creek Bulldogs (Burnaby) (LW-1) (PS-3)2 South Kamloops […]

St. George's Saints players celebrate their B.C. junior boys basketball title win over Lord Tweedsmuir on Tuesday at the LEC. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca)
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When the going gets late, the Saints get going as St. George’s pivotal run topples Tweedy in B.C. junior boys finale

LANGLEY — In the game of basketball, not all game-ending runs are created equally. Some come in the midst of blow-outs, while others are a part of rallies that come up short. Put one together that comes over the final 3:30 of a game in which a provincial title hangs in the balance, however,  and you’ve got […]

While Mouat's Harvir Garcha (right) gives chase to Tamanawis' Miguel Tomley on Sunday night in Langley, a capacity LEC crowd looks on from the centre court stands. (Varsity Letters photo by Howard Tsumura)
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Mighty Miguel drops 49, leads Tammy to epic overtime win over Mouat as big, bad Fraser Valley firms up its B.C.-bound field

LANGLEY — While it would take an exhaustive case study to call it the greatest top-tiered Fraser Valley senior boys high school basketball championship game ever, the 2,000-plus in attendance Sunday evening at the Langley Events Centre would all tell you that it needs to be in the running.

Vancouver College's Levi Dvorak, blocking out against South Kam's 6-10 Ripley Martin earlier this season, was a difference maker Friday as the Fighting Irish repeated as Lower Mainland AAA champs with a win over St. George's at the Richmond Oval. (Varsity Letters file photo by Howard Tsumura)
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Van College’s Levi Dvorak: Irish senior conducts a symphony in rebounding en route to 4A Mainland title win over Saints

RICHMOND — Levi Dvorak shares a surname with one of classical music’s giants of symphonic composition. And while Vancouver College’s Dvorak, at 6-foot-3, may not have been gifted as a giant to do the kind of work he does in the trenches for the Fighting Irish, there is no doubt that the senior lifted the art […]

Byrne Creek's Martin Djunga (right) and McMath's Bryce Mason met earlier this season at the Tsumura Basketball Invitational. (Varsity Letters photo by Howard Tsumura)
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Byrne baby, Byrne… Byrne Creek’s Bulldogs showcase true team depth to top McMath, repeat at Mainland AAA champs

RICHMOND — The game’s stretch drive took the stretch out Burnaby’s Byrne Creek Bulldogs, yet even without the enviable length and wing-span provided by two if its most dynamic players, B.C.’s No. 1-ranked senior boys Triple A basketball team found a way to repeat as Lower Mainland AAA champs Friday at the Richmond Olympic Oval.

Byrne Creek Bulldogs' senior Majok Deng brings a cerebral aura to the court for B.C.'s No. 1-ranked AAA boys basketball team. (Varsity Letters photo by Howard Tsumura)
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Just say ‘Rock, chalk, Majok’ and Byrne Creek’s Bulldog nation salutes its professorial senior Majok Deng

BURNABY — His first name is Majok, but you’re excused if you say Magic. “He is just a really engaging kid, an intellectual at heart,” begins head coach Bal Dhillon when asked to describe the essence of the 6-foot-8 senior guard/forward with Burnaby’s Triple A No. 1-ranked Byrne Creek Bulldogs.

Suraj Gahir (left) of the 3A North Delta Huskies, as well as both Valdi Alarie-Hill (middle) and Ewan MacKenzie of the 4A Oak Bay Bays both have their teams in the top four of their respective tiers this week. (Varsity Letters photo by Howard Tsumura)
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02.21.18 B.C. senior boys Big 10 basketball rankings: Tweedsmuir, Mouat the big 4A climbers

LANGLEY — With just one more set of rankings will follow after the completion of zone championships, it’s that time of year that even ranked teams face: Sudden elimination.