By Howard TsumuraVarsity LettersTOWNSHIP OF LANGLEY — No one less than Michael Jordan once said “…talent wins games, but intelligence and teamwork win championships.”The Burnaby South Rebels, along with every other teams still in title contention here at the 2026 B.C. junior boys basketball championships, could surely use a Grade 10 version of MJ to […]
Tag: Howard Tsumura
BC Jr. Boys Quarters: For Irish ‘vets’ Koen Li, Ren Hethrington, what a difference a year can make! No. 1 VC’s only returnees help Finnegan reach the Final Four!
By Howard TsumuraVarsity Letters(Varsity Letters will attempt to produce separate stories on all four quarterfinals at Sunday’s BC Junior Boys Basketball Championships. Check back throughout the evening. We’ll start here!)TOWNSHIP OF LANGLEY — Last season, Vancouver College junior boys basketball head coach Siamak Salehi was quite content to roll with a roster comprised exclusively of […]
Brookswood Bobcats' head coach Randy Nohr chats with his team during a fourth-quarter timeout in opening round action from Day 1 of the 2026 B.C. junior boys basketball championships at the Langley Events Centre. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of Varsity Letters 2026. All Rights Reserved)
Day 1 at the 2026 Junior Boys tourney: Why opening day in B.C. high school hoops keeps coaches up at night like this one. We explain!
(Updated at 10:50 p..m. with full Saturday scoreboard and Sunday’s quarterfinals schedule)(Updated at 3:10 p.m.)(A note from Howard Tsumura: Welcome to Day 1 at the 2026 B.C. junior boys basketball championships. We’ll update this story later tonight with the full package of scores from the opening two rounds of the 56th annual gathering.)LANGLEY — Welcome […]
Let the Big Dance Begin! All four draws released for 2026 B.C. senior girls basketball championships at the LEC, the home of high school hoops! Study hall begins now!
BY HOWARD TSUMURAVarsityLetters.caLANGLEY — Welcome to the unveiling of the road map to B.C. senior girls high school basketball glory, all set to kick off Feb. 25 at the Langley Events Centre.Click on the links below to plan your four days at the tournament and join us Feb. 25-28 for our filings from the heart […]
02.18.26 B.C. senior boys Top 10 basketball rankings: Unranked Earl Marriott Mariners use upset win to pull within one victory of B.C. Quad-A tournament berth at South Fraser quarterfinals!
LANGLEY — With two weeks to go until the start of the B.C. senior boys basketball championships at the Langley Events Centre, all four provincial Top 10’s experienced barely a ripple on its collective lakefront.The lone exception, last week’s Quad-A poll saw Surrey’s Grandview Heights Grizzlies ranked at No. 3. On Tuesday, following a 77-73 […]
B.C. Junior Boys Basketball Championships 2026: Are No. 1 Van College, No. 2 Burnaby South on a collision course à la 2022? A drama-packed 32-team field hit the LEC court running on Saturday !
By Howard TsumuraVarsityLetters.caLANGLEY — Last season’s pre-tournament rankings were better than any mystic’s crystal ball pronouncements.The Argyle Pipers of North Vancouver and the St. Patricks Celtics of Vancouver were respective No. 1 and 2 seeds heading into the 2025 B.C. junior boys championships, and in the end, it was the Celts topping the Pipers 88-73 […]
Tupper’s time arrives! After 46 years, East Van’s Sir Charles Tupper punch 11th-hour Big Dance tickets! UVic-bound Denira Dundas leads way to last-chance qualifier win over Robert Bateman!
By Howard TsumuraVarsityLetters.caSURREY — In your entire high school life, is there any course in the classroom you could take that would teach you the true meaning of sacrifice and perseverance in the quest of your cause better than playing a win-or-go home basketball game for a berth to the B.C. championships?Better still, how about […]
Varsity Letters bulletin: Coaches and players, please be patient as we finalize our dates for Dec. 2026 Tsumura Basketball Invitationals for girls and boys at the Langley Events Centre!
By Howard TsumuraVarsityLetters.caTOWNSHIP OF LANGLEY — Hello to our community of senior girls and boys high school basketball coaches around the province of B.C.Howard Tsumura here today with a message to everyone wondering about the dates for the 2026 Tsumura Basketball Invitational which has traditionally been played over the first two weeks of December.Due to […]
02.16.26 BC Basketball Metrics edition: Where are the best boys provincial berth battles! Too many to choose, but how about 4A South Fraser, Okanagan, plus 3A Van Isle and 1A East Valley!
By Howard TsumuraVarsity LettersLANGLEY —Interesting how much intrigue the wildcard factor is ramping up the chatter around the province as we get to that stage of the season where it’s win-or-go-home in the chase for B.C. boys tournament berths.Through our weekly B.C. Basketball Metrics peeks, the plot lines have clearly been sketched, but like any […]
A Sunday Read: It’s a new high for No. 3 Grandview Heights, and for Grizzlies head coach Drew Gallacher, the chance to inspire seems a role he was born to play! Just ask the Fighting Finnegan himself!
By Howard TsumuraVarsityLetters.caSURREY — Did you happen to see the current week’s B.C. senior boys high school basketball rankings for the Quad-A tier when they were published on these pages Wednesday afternoon?There they were, South Surrey’s Grandview Heights Grizzlies perched all the way at No. 3!You could say ‘Who?’ and you wouldn’t be wrong, yet […]