Simon Fraser's five 2018-19 freshmen strike a serious pose. They are (left to right) Sienna Lenz, Justina Chan, Sophie Klassen, Emma Kramer and Georgia Swant. (Photo property SFU Athletics. All rights reserved 2019)
Feature University Women's Basketball

A Freshmen Five for the Future: SFU’s rookie class helps Clan to register its second largest margin of victory all-time in GNAC play

BURNABY — It’s hard to know with exact certainty, yet there was a chance on Thursday that Simon Fraser Clan head women’s basketball coach Bruce Langford put a group of five players on the floor together which represented the youngest of his entire 18-year university coaching career.

Liam McChensey (right) is off to an NCAA Div. 1 basketball career next season at Utah State. Before he gets there, however, he'd like to lead the Charles Hays Rainmakers to the B.C. Double A high school basketball title. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Boys Basketball

Talking hoops with Prince Rupert’s old-school Rainmakers! Says star McChesney: “…we have the best chemistry in the province”

If you’re a B.C. high school boys basketball fan who slips into a nostalgic stupor upon simply hearing the name ‘Rainmakers’ then we’ve got good news for you.

They're a great eight. Yale's 2018-19 roster includes (left to right) Kyleigh Boldt, Brooklyn White, Tana Pankratz, Neelam Rai, Karishma Rai, Jessica Daley, Lily Borseth and Emmy Curtis. (Photo property of Yale Secondary athletics 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Girls Basketball

Yale’s Pride of Lions! New head coach Bobby Braich’s five-year plan gives girls program a reason to roar

ABBOTSFORD — Like the vast majority of his contemporaries, high school basketball coaching isn’t a paying proposition for Bobby Braich.

Last season, head coach Guy da Silva carried Saints to the B.C. junior varsity basketball title at the LEC. The latest polls have St. George's right back in the hunt at No. 3. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Boys Basketball

01.30.19 B.C. JV boys basketball Big 10 rankings: No. 1 Burnaby South carries No. 1 into the February Frenzy!

LANGLEY — The Burnaby South Rebels continue to hold on to the No. 1 spot in the B.C. junior varsity boys basketball rankings.

Vernon's Liam Reid (right) guards Lord Tweedsmuir's Jackson Corneil during B.C. JV quarterfinal OT classic last season at the Langley Events Centre. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Boys Basketball High School Football

Vernon’s ‘Cats in the Cradle’ growing up fast! Young, talented Panthers take No. 2 rank into Bateman’s T-Wolves Classic

ABBOTSFORD — It’s happened precisely twice. That’s how many times over the first 73 years in which the B.C. senior boys basketball championships have been staged that a school won both senior varsity football and basketball championships in the same academic year.

Arun Atker and the North Delta Huskies get every team's best shot, and on Tuesday night at Clayton Heights Secondary, the host Nightriders were able to deliver one of 2018-19's signature upsets. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2018. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Boys Basketball

01.30.19 Big 10 boys rankings: In topsy-turvy times, take a bow Kitsilano, Clayton Heights and Charles Hays

LANGLEY — Looking for some plot lines to savour in the world of B.C. boys high school basketball? If so, you’ve come to the perfect place.

Abbotsford Panthers' senior Kelsey Roufosse (left) contests a shot by Kelowna's Jaeli Ibbetson during second-day action at the 2018 TBI at the Langley Evernts Centre in mid-December. This week, the Panthers and four other city teams give the eastern Fraser Valley hotbed perhaps its greatest provincial ranking representation yet. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Simon Fraser's Kendal Sands (15, third from left) is all smiles after hitting the winning shot Saturday as the Clan stunned nationally-No. 1-ranked and unbeaten Northwest Nazarene at the West Gym. (Photo by Brad McLeod property of SFU Athletics 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Women's Basketball

A Sunday read: In topping No. 1-ranked Nazarene, Simon Fraser Clan women’s basketball notches a win for the ages

BURNABY — In the midst of flipping the script against the No. 1-ranked team in all of NCAA Div. 2 basketball on Saturday night, one thought kept running through Jessica Jones’ mind.

Simon Fraser freshman guard Wilfried Balata has been a huge building-block addition to the 2018-19 Clan. (Photo by Paul Yates property of Vancouver Sports Pictures 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Women's Basketball

A Sunday read: At GNAC’s midway mark, Clan men crush Alaska Nanooks to sit one victory shy of matching 2017-18 win total

BURNABY — Five double-figure scorers. Just six turnovers in 200 total player minutes. And how about a 52-point second half courtesy of 67 per cent shooting from the field?

UBC's fifth-year senior Patrick Simon scored a season-high 20 points Friday as his 'Birds topped UNBC 94-75 for the team's 15th straight win. (Photo by Richard Lam property of UBC athletics 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Men's Basketball

The long journey of UBC’s Patrick Simon: Says ‘Birds coach Hanson “…now he’s a fifth-year man-child”

VANCOUVER — If the talent evaluators were never fully sure how to project what kind of talent Patrick Simon was going to become coming out of PoCo’s tiny Archbishop Carney back in the spring of 2013, the answer was pretty evident Friday night at War Memorial Gymnasium.“You’re seeing him out there in his fifth year […]