Argyle's Nathalie Francis (centre, 22) scored a game-high 24 points, yet Seaquam's Amar Thiara and the rest of Seahawks (pictured here in Dec. 15 game at TBI) rallied to earn a last-ditch berth to the provincials on Tuesday at Port Coquitlam's Riverside Secondary. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of Varsity Letters 2022. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Girls Basketball

Seaquam girls end three decades of Big Dance silence! Comeback win over Argyle in last-chance clash sends Seahawks, along with Yale Lions, into B.C. Quad-A championships!

PORT COQUITLAM — They hadn’t punched their tickets to the Big Dance in so long that even the school’s historians were having a hard time trying to figure out when the last time the senior girls basketball team from Seaquam Secondary last qualified for the B.C. championships.One thing was certain, however, as the fourth-quarter clock […]

Fleetwood Park's Inder Deol (left), and Sir Winston Churchill's Paolo Murphy (21) and Kai O'Donnell have their respective teams pointed towards earning B.C. Quad-A championship berths this weekend. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of Varsity Letters 2021. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Boys Basketball

B.C. boys high school basketball rankings 02.22.22 edition: No. 1’s all hold ground while AAA McMath and AA Windsor take biggest jumps ahead of zone championship week!

LANGLEY — The bookends of Quad- and Single-A remained calm, yet the waters were far from serene within B.C.’s two middle tiers as the senior boys basketball world turned towards, what will be for the most part, its final week of pre-B.C. tournament action.Richmond’s R.A. McMath Wildcats jumped from the honourable mention to No. 7 […]

Grade 10 point guard Ashley Chio has played beyond her years in helping West Vancouver punch its ticket to March Madness. (Photo by Blair Shier property of Blair.photo 2022. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Girls Basketball

The Power of Plaid: In lending a hand to All My Relations indigenous women’s team, Big Dance-bound West Van Highlanders tap a collective vein to their own gritty hearts!

WEST VANCOUVER — A return to the Big Dance for the first time in a quarter century is turning out to be the ultimate win-win for the senior girls basketball team from West Vancouver Secondary School.After all, what head coach doesn’t want their team dialled in with 100 per cent focus, ready to sacrifice for […]

Marah Dykstra has averaged just north of a 20-10 double-double this season for Vancouver's Sir Winston Churchill Bulldogs. (Photo by Blair Shier property of Blair.photo 2021. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Girls Basketball

Sir Winston’s Churchill’s Marah Dykstra: With D1 career at Montana State awaiting, star senior guard leads Bulldogs back to the Big Dance for first time in five seasons!

VANCOUVER — Ask Marah Dykstra about some of the very best things happening in her life these days, and without taking her eyes off the prize for even a second, she lets you know she’s determined to savour every last moment of her high school basketball career.Of course, following Thursday’s 62-29 victory over the West […]

Simon Fraser rookie forward Gemma Cutler has held her own on the offensive glass with the elite of the GNAC this season. Here, she battles with Central Washington's fifth-year senior standout Kassidy Malcolm. (Photo by Paul Yates property of SFU athletics 2022. All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Women's Basketball

Simon Fraser forward Gemma Cutler does it by the book, but the 6-foot-2 rookie from North Vancouver also writing her own chapters atop Burnaby Mountain!

BURNABY — When it comes to being a voracious student of the sport of basketball, you could say that Gemma Cutler wrote the book.Or perhaps, in the case of Simon Fraser’s ultra-inquisitive rookie forward, it’s more accurate to say she digested it in its entirety.That’s the idea you get when you ask SFU head coach […]

Prior to officiating a senior boys basketball between host Byrne Creek and St. Patrick's on Feb. 3, 2022, veteran officials Dindo Cobarrubias (left) and Karn Dhillon take a moment to remind everyone of the Pink Whistle Campaign. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of Varsity Letters 2022. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Girls Basketball

In tough times, BCBOA’s Pink Whistle Campaign hits its all-time high! “Little by little, one whistle at a time, one donation at a time, we’re all making a difference…” says founder Karn Dhillon!

LANGLEY — In the B.C. basketball community, pink whistles attached to the ends of pink lanyards have become the ties that bind… even in the toughest of times.And if you ask Karn Dhillon, the longtime, respected basketball referee, about the Pink Whistle/Call A Foul on Cancer campaign that he launched as an annual February initiative […]

While B.C. senior girls basketball teams, like the Yale Lions and its star guard Maggy Curtis begin their journey to the B.C. championships, the Langley Events Centre is looking to find volunteers to help make the 2022 event a big success. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of Varsity Letters 2022. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Girls Basketball

B.C. senior girls 2021-22 basketball championship tournaments look to fill key volunteer roles, including tournament director!

LANGLEY —  The Langley Events Centre is accepting submissions of interest from individuals interested in volunteering at the 2022 B.C. School Sports Girls Basketball Provincial Championships.LEC is hosting the 2A, 3A, and 4A Tournaments from March 2-5, 2022, and the LEC Tournament Committee is responsible for working with LEC staff towards the planning and execution […]

Just in time for the post-season, Kyle Christofferson (left) and the rest of Richmond's R.A. McMath Wildcats make an appearance as part of the Triple-A poll this week. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of Varsity Letters 2021. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Boys Basketball

B.C. boys high school basketball rankings 02.15.22 edition: Kelowna, The Grove, P-Marg’s Lions, Credo Kodiaks all make big Top 10 moves!

LANGLEY — Just in case you thought it was a given who the top teams at each tier were heading into playoffs, the grind of the season and the overall depth of play reminded us that there is still so much more to be told.Six honourable mention teams from a week ago moved into Top […]

Brookswood head coach Chris Veale and his Bobcats moved up to No. 2 at Triple-A. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2021. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Girls Basketball

B.C. Girls Basketball Rankings 02.14.22 edition: Riverside, Burnaby Central, Langley Christian maintain holds on No. 1, Seaquam takes over top spot at junior!

LANGLEY — Moving into the Top 10 was tough sledding this past.In the latest B.C. senior girls basketball rankings for Tiers Quad, Triple, Double and Single-A, there was some minimal jockeying but no new teams did enough to crack the Top 10.With all that said, Riverside of Port Coquitlam, Burnaby Central and Langley Christian stayed […]

Kelowna's Sebastien Manuel (right) was a unanimous selection as B.C.'s top boys senior high school volleyball player in Varsity Letters' 13th annual coaches poll. (Photo courtesy KSS Athletics 2021. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Boys Volleyball University Men's Volleyball

Our 13th annual edition: Who are B.C.’s Top 15 Grade 12 boys volleyball players? Check out our 2021-22 Dream Team!

LANGLEY — Welcome to the 2021-22 edition of Varsity Letters annual B.C. Boys Top 15, our look at the top Grade 12 players in the province as voted on by our committee representing the five head coaches (UBC, TWU, UFV, UBC Okanagan, Thompson Rivers) of U Sports men’s volleyball programs in our province.A special thanks […]