G.W. Graham guard Jaya Bannerman and her Chilliwack-based Grizzlies will get the best competition of their season Thursday through Saturday at the LEC for TBI 2017. (Varsity Letters photo by Howard Tsumura)
Feature High School Girls Basketball

TBI 2017: Latest B.C. girls basketball rankings shows best-of-the-best squads headed to the LEC this week

LANGLEY — The senior varsity girls take centre this weekend at the Langley Events Centre as the 2017 Tsumura Basketball Invitational tips off a three-day run Thursday.Keep the latest provincial top 10 rankings nearby for handy reference.The TBI will feature eight of the current Top 10 AAA teams, plus three of its five honourable mention […]

Walnut Grove senior forward Natalie Rathler (right) soars to the basket against Saturday against the Handsworth Royals, helping lead her Gators to the title at the No Regrets Classic tournament. (Photo by Blair Shier, www.blair.photo)
Feature High School Girls Basketball

TBI 2017: Walnut Grove’s Rathler brings the noise and the poise, Gators’ forward preps for B.C. title run, future with UFV Cascades

LANGLEY — Natalie Rathler has discovered that in order to stand at your true height, you first need to raise the height of your confidence. And with that said and done, it’s why the senior forward with Langley’s Walnut Grove Gators has been a player impossible to miss, especially if you’re one of those who loves […]

Brookswood guard Jenna Dick is back for her Grade 11 season with the preseason AAA No. 4 Bobcats. (VarsityLetters.ca photo by Howard Tsumura)
Feature High School Girls Basketball

11.26.17: The B.C. senior girls AAA, AA and A preseason Top 10 basketball rankings

The 2017-18 B.C. high school basketball season opens Monday, and to get fans ready for the start of the new campaign, we open with the provincial Top 10 rankings for senior girls varsity. Abbotsford, South Kamloops and Langley’s Credo Christian top the three tiers.

Abbotsford's Kelsey Roufosse is not yet a senior, but still has a lengthy resume of learning at the senior varsity level with the Panthers. (Varsity Letters photo by Howard Tsumura)
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No. 1 is all grown up! Abby’s Panthers still young, but championship finals heartbreak makes its Fab 4 Four wise beyond their years

ABBOTSFORD — There were moments in the opening half of last season’s B.C. senior girls AAA championship final when you questioned what you were watching.Had we reached an age where a team with two Grade 11s, a Grade 10 and a Grade 9 at the forefront of a postseason-shortened player rotation could actually lead their […]

Abbotsford's Marin Lenz (left) and Breanne Homeniuk of Surrey's Lord Tweedsmuir Panthers are both back to take part in TBI 2017 at the Langley Events Centre. (Varsity Letters photo by Howard Tsumura)
Feature High School Girls Basketball

The 2017 girls Tsumura Basketball Invitational at LEC, here’s the full draw!

LANGLEY — Last week we presented the boys draw, now it’s time to debut the girls draw for the 2017 Tsumura Basketball Invitational 16-team tournament, set to run Dec. 14-16 at the Langley Events Centre.

Simon Fraser's trio of incoming high school recruits for 2017-18 are, clockwise from top left: Sierra Schefer, Juliana Babic and Kendal Sands. (Photos: VK Basketball, courtesy Juliana Babic and SFU athletics, Howard Tsumura-Varsity Letters)
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Clan’s Sweet 16 hoops roster opens, gives Class of ’17 recruits faster NCAA futures

BURNABY — The Simon Clan women’s basketball team, which honoured just a pair of graduating players on its Seniors Night in late February, is going to be a lot younger team than originally anticipated this coming season.

New Westminster Hyacks' Sarah Forgie (left) dives to the floor to snare a loose ball in front of Walnut's Grove's Jessica Wisotzki during Mainland-Valley girls all-star game Wednesday in Port Coquitlam. (Varsity Letters photo by Howard Tsumura)
Feature High School Girls Basketball

Tsumura’s Take: Why the future of B.C. girls high school hoops is so bright

PORT COQUITLAM — On the last day of the 2016-17 high school basketball season, dire predictions about the state of the girls game in our province seemed to be the last thing on anyone’s mind.A new concept, which pitted age-class competition in an all-star game format between the Fraser Valley and Lower Mainland zones on […]

Oak Bay Breakers' guard Fiona Headen will represent the South as they take on the North Saturday. Boys and girls all-star games for Vancouver Island will go over the weekend at the University of Victoria. (Howard Tsumura/Varsity Letters photo)
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Vancouver Island high school all-star Saturday: Full boys and girls rosters

VICTORIA — The 30th annual Vancouver Island Senior Classic all-star games take place Saturday at the University of Victoria’s CARSA High-Performance Gym.