Kelowna's Jarred Taylor (23) pays the price for guarding Centennial's Dom Parolin during Saturday's Tsumura Basketball Invitational championship final at the Langley Events Centre. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Boys Basketball

TBI Boys 2019 Final: Parolin unparalleled! Centennial superstar pours home 41, stuffs stat sheet in title win over Kelowna Owls

LANGLEY — At one point pretty early on in Saturday’s Tsumura Basketball Invitational championship final, it became pretty clear that the Dom Parolin who was patrolling the court at the Langley Events Centre for Coquitlam’s No. 3-ranked Centennial Centaurs had stepped onto the hardcourt straight off the pages of a super-hero comic book.

It's crash-and-bang time in the paint for Kelowna's Jayden Lalonde who is met in the post by Burnaby South's Karan Aujla on Friday at the LEC. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Boys Basketball

Tsumura Basketball 2019: Super-powers trade thunder bolts before No. 2 Kelowna tops No. 1 Burnaby South to earn its TBI title shot

LANGLEY — No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchups in high school basketball should never go quietly into the night.Thankfully, the figurative basketball spirits left to inhabit Centre Court tonight at the Langley Events Centre following just such a contest in the semifinal round of the 2019 Tsumura Basketball Invitational must surely still be kicking up […]

Duchess Park guard Tanner Cruz (right) does his best to shake Holy Cross' Tee Anim during dramatic TBI quarterfinal clash Friday morning at the LEC. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Boys Basketball

Tsumura Basketball 2019 Day 3: Elite 8 clashes complete! Get set for No. 1 Bby South vs. No. 2 Kelowna & Centennial vs. Duchess Park

LANGLEY — We’ve punched our Final Four dance card.Following quarterfinal-round action today, the Quad A No. 3 Centennial Centaurs of Coquitlam will face the Triple A No. 3 Duchess Park Condors of Prince George at 6:45 p.m., followed by the all-Quad-A No. 1 Burnaby South Rebels against the No. 2 Kelowna Owls.KELOWNA 101 TERRY FOX […]

Centennial's Dominic Parolin make an emphatic first-half statement for Coquitlam's Centennial Centaurs in its clash against the R.A. McMath Wildcats of Richmond during the Sweet 16 round of TBI 2019 on Thursday at the Langley Events Centre. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Boys Basketball

FINAL EDITION: Tsumura Basketball Boys 2019 Day 2 Sweet 16! All the game reports from the Langley Events Centre

LANGLEY —We’re going final from Day 2 here at the 2019 TBI.Full game reports are below, but first, a reminder that Friday’s quarterfinal games kick off at 9 a.m., while the semifinals tip off at 6:45 p.m.All championship round games are being played on Centre Court, so if you wanted to get your fill of […]

Kelowna's Avery Chalmers and the rest of the Owls remain at No. 2 in first B.C. Quad-A basketball poll of the new season. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Girls Basketball

B.C. senior girls basketball 12.04.19 rankings: Totems, Owls still rule Quad-A roost, but Terry Fox Ravens jump up to No. 3

LANGLEY — The Semiahmoo Totems and Kelowna Owls maintained their position atop the B.C. senior girls Quad-A basketball Top 10 rankings this week,Meanwhile, Port Coquitlam’s Terry Fox Ravens parlayed a 77-72 win over Langley’s Walnut Grove Gators in the championship final of The Big Ticket tournament last Friday in Abbotsford to jump three spots to […]

To the victor go the spoils! Surrey's Earl Marriott Mariners repeated as B.C. senior boys Triple A volleyball champions after spending all season at No. 1 in the rankings. (Photo by Paul Yates property of Vancouver Sports Pictures 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Boys Volleyball

B.C. Boys Triple-A volleyball finals: Once, twice, three times the champions! Mariners’ magical mojo carries EMS past Kelowna in title match

By Gary AhujaLangley Events CentreLANGLEY — An epic three-year run for the Earl Marriott Mariners was capped with yet another championship.The core of the senior boys’ volleyball team won the junior provincial title (with a perfect season) in 2017 and claimed the senior title last year.And on Saturday night, the Mariners added yet another trophy […]

The Kelowna Owls show their elation after rallying past Victoria's Claremont Spartans for a four-set win in one of two semifinals contested Friday at the B.C. senior boys AAA volleyball championships. (Photo by Jon Hayduk property of Vancouver Sports Pictures 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Boys Volleyball

B.C. Boys AAA Volleyball – Will Earl Marriott complete golden three-year run, or will Kelowna end 66-year title drought? Answer comes Saturday!

By Gary AhujaLangley Events CentreLANGLEY — All that is standing in the way of the Kelowna Owls’ first AAA provincial volleyball championship in 66 years is an Earl Marriott Mariners program on a dominant three-year run.In 2017, Surrey’s Mariners were 38-0 and captured the junior boys provincial title.After graduating to the senior ranks, the core […]

Vancouver College running back Daesaun Johnson was at his best on Saturday in a Subway Bowl quarterfinal win over Kelowna. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Football

Subway Bowl 2019 AAA Final 8: Irish defence continues to gain legend! Vancouver College throws blanket over KSS Owls’ offence

VANCOUVER — The moniker ‘Steel Curtain’ has already been taken.Too bad, because there is no better way to describe the epic manner in which the Vancouver College Fighting Irish has kept teams off the scoreboard this season.At some point down the second-half stretch drive of Saturday’s Subway Bowl quarterfinal game between the No. 2-ranked Fighting […]

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Varsity Letters PODCAST 11.14.19: Allison McNeill on women’s hoops, Chris Cartwright on Subway Bowl football, Ryan Clark on NCAA signing day

We’re one day late due to the Remembrance Day long weekend, so thanks for your patience and your loyalty to Canada’s only podcast dedicated solely to provincial university and high school sports coverage. Joining us on the show today: *Kelowna Owls head coach Chris Cartwright explores all of the great things that happen over the […]

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Varsity Letters PODCAST returns to talk BCHS rugby at the World Cup, big high school football wins and the start of a new hoops season!

LANGLEY — Varsity Letters — The Podcast returns for another week, this time touching on football, basketball and rugby. Off the top, we visit with Canadian Under-20 men’s rugby coach Adam Roberts, the longtime head coach at Surrey’s Earl Marriott Secondary. Roberts and host Howard Tsumura talk about the inherent pride that comes with taking […]