Fleetwood Park Grade 10 guard Inder Deol can feel the defensive presence of Sir Winston Churchill's Paolo Murphy (21) and Kai O'Donnell during the 3rd-4th game on Saturday at Tsumura Basketball Invitational. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of Varsity Letters 2021. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Boys Basketball

Tsumura Basketball 2021: Surrey’s surprising Fleetwood Park Dragons take third, while Churchill, Abby, MacNeill, Claremont and STM complete the rest of our boys Great 8!

LANGLEY — Here’s a look at the three games which determined third to eighth at this season’s Tsumura Basketball Invitational which wrapped up Saturday at the Langley Events Centre.THIRD-FOURTHFLEETWOOD PARK 78 SIR WINSTON CHURCHILL 66LANGLEY — Surrey’s unranked Fleetwood Park Dragons, nursing a 54-53 lead after three quarters against Vancouver’s No. 5-ranked Sir Winston Churchill […]

Former Semiahmoo star Adam Paige has risen above the pack with the Alberta Golden Bears. This past summer, the Surrey native will play professionally for the Fraser Valley Bandits. (Photo property University of Alberta athletics 2021. All Rights Reserved)
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Fraser Valley Bandits launching B.C. high school basketball Player of the Week for girls and boys

By GARY AHUJALANGLEY — Know any basketball players excelling both on and off the court? Then the Fraser Valley Bandits want to hear from you.With basketball season now underway, the Bandits are launching the BC Player of the Week to recognize student-athletes who are excelling as role models in the classroom, in the community and […]

St. Thomas More Knights senior boys basketball coach Aaron Mitchell. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2020. All Rights Reserved)
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Tip-off Wednesday: B.C. high school basketball is back, and minutes after news breaks, we catch up with six of our veteran coaches!

B.C. high school basketball coaches could barely contain their excitement Tuesday evening as they spoke with Varsity Letters just minutes after the official decision came down that B.C. high school basketball’s delayed opening was over, and that tip-off around the province would take place on Wednesday.“They have been waiting to go now for weeks,” said […]

Sir Charles Tupper head coach Jeff Gourley (with grandson Elliott) said a heartfelt good-bye to his players as the impact of COVID on his family business has forced a sabbatical from the coaching front. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2020. All Rights Reserved)
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Longtime Charles Tupper hoops coach Jeff Gourley takes leave of his Tigers in 2021-22: In a changing world, here’s his heartfelt good-bye!

(Jeff Gourley has given heart and soul to breathe life and community into the East Vancouver basketball world. On Thursday, he announced his reasons for stepping away this season from the boys program at Sir Charles Tupper where the Tigers have been his extended family for most the last quarter century… the team, to be […]

Today, Varsity Letters celebrates the B.C. senior girls cross-country champion Sentinel Spartans, plus the recently-completed 2018-19 season's 72 other B.C. high school senior varsity team champions! (Photo property of Sentinel athletics 2019. All rights reserved)
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A Sunday Photo Album: We celebrate all 73 B.C. high school senior varsity team champions from 2018-19

LANGLEY — Welcome to a Varsity Letters first! As part of our season-ending tribute to the student-athletes and coaches who make the B.C. high school sports world such a special fraternity, we started out with a simple idea: Publishing the photographs of every senior varsity team to win a B.C. high school championship over the course […]

Kelowna's Maddyson Greggor fades from the basket as she takes a shot against Surrey's Fleetwood Park Dragons in Elite 8 girls JV provincials Friday at the LEC. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Girls Basketball

FINAL EDITION: B.C. Junior Girls Basketball 2019: Varsity Letters’ Day 2 reports as Fox, MEI, Riverside, Kelowna all punch Final 4 tickets

LANGLEY — Thanks for your patience. The Final Four is set for the 2019 B.C. junior girls basketball championships with semifinals set for 6:30 p.m.and 8 p.m. tip offs Friday.

Holy Cross' Uyi Ologhola (right) drives on Vancouver College's Jack Cruz-Dumont during 2017 B.C. championships. On Sept. 1, Cruz-Dumont's family will present the third annual John Dumont Classic as a fund-raiser for Ologhola following the recent passing of his mother Edna to cancer. (File photo by Wilson Wong property of UBC athletics)
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John Dumont Classic: Tourney’s third edition pays it forward by helping lift the heavy heart of Surrey hoops star

BURNABY — When Jack Dumont thinks about the past two years, the rising UBC Thunderbirds freshman can’t help but reflect on the help and support which was extended to himself, his mom Trixie and his younger brothers Hunter and Cole through the outstretched arms of B.C.’s tight-knit basketball community.

Parker Simson is enjoying his first basketball-only off-season and that's good news for his new team, the Douglas College Royals. (Photo by Wilson Wong property of UBC athletics)
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After CCAA national title-game appearance, Douglas men’s hoops looks to build new Royal family with UBC as first test

NEW WESTMINSTER — The Douglas College Royals may only be six months removed from their journey to the CCAA national men’s basketball championship final, yet the sport’s insuppressible nature of seasonal renewal is helping head coach Joe Enevoldson keep things very real.

Caelan Scott and the Oak Bay Bays carry a Vancouver Island title and a 25-1 record into Sunday's BC live draw selection show from the LEC. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca)
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03.01.18: March is here, so is the madness! Our final Big 10 senior boys AAAA varsity basketball rankings

LANGLEY — Our final B.C. senior boys AAAA Big 10 rankings are now final. In keeping with the theme of rankings, it’s important to remember that as we wind our way to the release of provincial draws on Sunday, that these are not pre-tournament seedings.

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.