Ken Shields and five members of the 1979-80 Victoria Vikes pose among the native splendour of the provincial capital. Pictured clockwise left to right: Ted Anderson, Gerald Kazanowski, Rene Dolcetti, Billy Turney-Loos, Ian Hyde-Lay. (Photo property of Victoria Vikes athletics 2025. All Rights Reserved)
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‘Twas the night before B.C.’s, and our greatest coach ever offers his best winning wisdom!

By HOWARD TSUMURA(Varsity Letters)(Quick links to all four championship draw included below)LANGLEY — On the night before the start of the 79th annual B.C. senior boys basketball tournament, as 64 teams spread out over four tiers take their championship dreams to bed for one more sleep, we thought we’d go straight to the source for […]

Unity Christian got a big push from King's Christian but the defending champs won and have advanced to Final Four Friday at the LEC's Centre Court. (Photo by 250226--Gordon Kalisch, Fasttracksportsphotography 2025. All Rights Reserved)
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FINAL: 02.27.25 Day 2 reports from the 2025 B.C. senior girls SINGLE-A Final Eight round!

BY GARY AHUJA(Courtesy Langley Events Centre)1A TournamentUnity Christian Flames 42 King’s Christian Thunder 37Back and forth for the first three quarters – the game was tied on eight separate occasions with neither team ahead by more than four – the defending champion Unity Christian Flames scored six straight points to open the final period, defeating […]

The LEC officially kicks off high school basketball championship season the B.C. junior boys tournament opens a four-day run Saturday. The B.C. senior girls tournament follows beginning Wednesday. (Photo property Varsity Letters 2025. All Rights Reserved)
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B.C. tourney time! Your schedules for B.C. junior boys, B.C. senior girls at the LEC!

By Howard TsumuraVarsityLetters.caLANGLEY — It’s eight straight days of B.C. high school basketball championship action beginning Saturday morning at the Langley Events Centre, and we’ve got the provincial tournament draws for all five events right here!~First, the B.C. Junior Boys 32-team championship draw gets underway Saturday through Tuesday.Here’s the complete tournament draw:2025JrBoysDrawThat will be followed […]

Terry Fox's Jayson Imani and the rest of Port Coquitlam's Ravens bring a young core to the fore this season under veteran head coach Rich Chambers in the Super 16 draw at the 2024 Tsumura Basketball Invitational Dec. 4-7 at the LEC. No. 10-seeded Fox faces No. 7 Kelowna in its opening-round clash. (Photo by Garrett James property of Vancouver Sports Pictures 2024. All Rights Reserved)
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TBI Boys 2024: Who’s playing who in both 16-team draws at Tsumura Basketball Invitational? We’ve got the full draws right here for the LEC’s preseason spectacular!

LANGLEY — It’s time to start the official countdown to the tip-off at the 2024 boys and girls Tsumura Basketball Invitationals, once again set to run front and centre over the first two weeks of December at the Langley Events Centre.Today, we will present the draws for the boys TBI (Dec. 4-7) which includes both […]

Miah Schuurman drives past Credo Christian during Day 3 Final Four play at the 2024 B.C. senior girls basketball championships March 1, 2024 at the Langley Events Centre. (Photo by Mark Steffens property of Vancouver Sports Pictures 2024. All Rights Reserved)
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SINGLE-A B.C. girls Final Four 2024: Miah Schuurman catches fire for Flames, pours home 36 points as blue-collar Unity Christian pulls upset for BC finals berth!

No. 8 Unity Christian Flames 49 No.5 Credo Christian Kodiaks 37LANGLEY — The Unity Christian Flames are not about the glitz, glam, or fashion.The Flames play gritty, tough basketball and head coach Kyle Smiens fully embraces his team’s mentality.“We’ve been grinding out games all year,” he said following his No. 8-seeded team’s 49-37 upset win […]

Lord Byng point guard Eli Mullin (left) drives past Brookswood's Logan Stewart on Day 1 at the 2022 Tsumura Basketball Invitational Dec. 7 at the Langley Events Centre. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2022 All Rights Reserved)
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B.C. Boys Basketball Top 10 Ranks 01.11.23 edition: The rise of the Oak Bay Bays & Brookswood Bobcats, plus Tammy’s ‘Cats surge to JV No. 1!

BURNABY — The first set of Top 10 rankings for B.C. senior boys high school basketball have arrived for 2023, and Surrey schools have surged in the largest Quad-A tier.Here’s the lastest from our B.C. pollsters at all four tiers for Jan 11, 2023:BASKETBALLTOP 10 RANKINGSB.C. SENIOR BOYSQUAD A1 Semiahmoo Thunderbirds (Surrey) (SF) (LW -1)2 […]

Lord Byng point guard Eli Mullin (left) drives past Brookswood's Logan Stewart at the 2022 Tsumura Basketball Invitational Wednesday at the Langley Events Centre. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2022 All Rights Reserved)
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12.7.22 edition: B.C. senior boys basketball’s latest Top 10 rankings from Quaud-A to Single-A are right here!

The latest Top 10 rankings for B.C. senior boys high school basketball have arrived for Dec. 7, 2022:BASKETBALLTOP 10 RANKINGSB.C. SENIOR BOYSQUAD A1 Semiahmoo Thunderbirds (Surrey) (SF) (LW -1)2 Vancouver College Fighting Irish (VSS) (2)3 Burnaby South Rebels (FN) (3)4 St. George’s Saints (Vancouver) (VSS) (4)5 Abbotsford Panthers (EV) (5)6 Oak Bay Bays (Victoria) (VI) […]

We've got the latest updates to boys and girls schedules for TBI 2022 at the Langley Events Centre. (Photo by Wilson Wong 2021. All Rights Reserved)
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TBI 2022: Burnaby Central boys, Pitt Meadows girls draw into the fold after late cancellations, latest draws now available

LANGLEY TOWNSHIP – There have been a pair of late changes to both boys and girls Tsumura Basketball Invitational eight-team draws, prompting us to re-publish those affected brackets.In the boys TBI, Langley Secondary has dropped out of the Langley-Surrey region eight-team draw. Taking their place will be the Burnaby Central Wildcats, who will now oppose […]

Your author, presenting with pride, the MVP trophy at the 2015 Tsumura Basketball Invitational, to McMath Wildcats' Jessica Jones. (Photo by Wilson Wong 2015 All Rights Reserved)
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A message from Howard: After 40 years, I’ll bring a new writing direction to Varsity Letters for the 2022-23 high school and university sports season!

NORTH DELTA –  Heartfelt greetings to all of you, my loyal, longtime readers.It’s been five months since I decided to take a break from my writing life.As was the goal from the very start, my decision to take sabbatical after 40 years of daily practice — first from my typewriter, and of course later, in […]

Centennial's K.C. Ibekwe caps off his 43-point night with this dunk off a baseline spin-o-rama move as the Centaurs topped Terry Fox to win the 2022 AAAA Fraser North title Sunday night at the Langley Events Centre. (Photo by Wilson Wong 2022. All Rights Reserved)
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No stage fright for K.C. Ibekwe! Centennial’s big man revels in the cheers and jeers as his 43 points vs. Fox lift Centaurs to Fraser North Quad-A title!

LANGLEY — K.C. Ibekwe heard it from the crowd Sunday night at the Langley Events Centre.From one side of the Centre Court complex, the Centennial Centaurs’ 6-foot-10 centre lined up to shoot free throws while supporters of the arch-rival Terry Fox Ravens broke into unrepentant chants of ‘Over-rated’.Yet when the unflappable Ibekwe was able to […]