St. Thomas More's Bella Gaspar (left) gets off a shot while defended by Brookswood's Quinn Jasper during Sweet 16 round of 2019 TBI on Thursday at the LEC. (Photo by Larry Lawson property of Portland State athletics 2019. All Rights Reserved) (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Girls Basketball

FINAL EDITION: Utter madness hits TBI 2019 Sweet 16! Three Double-A schools crash Friday’s Elite 8 quarterfinals

LANGLEY —What a Thursday of upsets here at TBI.The Sweet 16 for 2019 will be remembered for the way that Double A teams sent the bracket into disarray.Hands up if you had Double A’s Langley Christian, Britannia and St. Thomas More knocking off, respectively, Quad A’s Terry Fox, Riverside and Brookswood?Utter madness!We’ve got all eight […]

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 […]

Semiahmoo's Deja Lee (left) will lead her Semiahmoo Totems into the 2019-20 season as the clear favourites in B.C. senior girls Quad-A hoops. Always lurking will be Sophia Wisotzki and the rest of Langley's Walnut Grove Gators. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Girls Basketball

B.C. Girls AAAA Basketball Top 10 Rankings: Cache of new contenders includes JV champ Fox, yet Semiahmoo’s Totems a rock-solid No. 1

LANGLEY — Down one returning starter but another year older and another season wiser, Surrey’s Semiahmoo Totems are, to no one’s surprise, an overwhelming favourite to repeat as B.C.’s top-tiered champs, this time at the brand-new Quad-A level.

Claremont's Ben Manns (left) plays a little unintentional suffocating defence on Burnaby South's Jimmy Zaborniak on Sunday at the LEC. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Boys Basketball

B.C. Junior Boys 2019: Our look at how No. 1 Burnaby South & No. 4 St.Pat’s arrived at Monday’s ‘guards galore’ Final 4 showdown

LANGLEY — How many great guards on the floor is too many? That’s a silly question because the more the merrier, and for fans of uptempo basketball that is going to be the case Monday in one of two semifinals here at the 2019 B.C. junior boys basketball championships.

Stef Young (8) and the rest of Kelowna's OKM Huskies have advanced to the B.C. AAA championships next week at the LEC. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Girls Basketball

Road to the LEC 2019: Despite heavy grad toll and a move to AAA, OKM’s amazing Huskies punch wild-card tickets to B.C.’s

MERRITT — It was supposed to be a re-building year, especially because the Okanagan Mission Huskies were not only replacing a talented core of seniors, but because they were moving up tier to Triple A this season.

Point guard Arun Atker is among a gaggle of rising seniors that have the North Delta Huskies as the team to beat heading into the 2018-19 AAA season. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of Varsity Letters)
Feature High School Boys Basketball

03.18.18 AAA Pre-Preseason rankings tab North Delta Huskies to win first B.C. title in 29 years, Tupper and McMath among top trio

LANGLEY — Five of the eight quarterfinalists from the recent B.C. boys senior boys AAA championships are back as part of the Pre-Preseason rankings. All of that adds up to growing rivalries and the continued competitive excellence within the province’s newest tier.

Britannia's Surprise Munie (centre) and fellow Grade 10 guard Shemaiah Abatayo were a bog load for Emilia Durfeld (left) and the rest of the Vernon Panthers on Thursday in Elite 8 AA action at the LEC. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca)
Feature High School Girls Basketball

B.C. AA senior girls B.C. Final Four now set! How the Bruins, Grizz, Titans and Saints punched March dance cards

Here’s our look at all four games played Thursday in the Elite 8 quarterfinal round at the B.C. senior girls Double A basketball championships.

G.W. Graham's Sydney Owens and the rest of her Chilliwack-based Grizzlies are the Fraser Valley's highest ranked AA girls senior varsity team, checking in at No 4 provincially this week. (Varsity Letters photo by Howard Tsumura)
Feature High School Girls Basketball

01.24.18: Gators, Titans strengthen grips on No. 1 , Kodiaks and OKM Huskies make elite climbs in B.C. girls Big 10 rankings

LANGLEY — So ably led by its trio of Tavia Rowell, Jess Wisotzki and Natalie Rathler, the Walnut Grove Gators stormed to first place at last weekend’s Top 10 Shoot-Out at Centennial Secondary, a performance which solidifies its hold on the No. 1 spot in this week’s Triple A poll.

UBC Thunderbirds' John Gay (front) will run on three continents this summer. (Richard Lam/UBC athletics)
Feature University Track and Field

TSUMURA: UBC steeplechaser John Gay on the gold standard of a race that almost didn’t count

VANCOUVER — The best race of John Gay’s life almost didn’t count. Yet when you listen the UBC Thunderbirds’ third-year middle-distance sensation talk about what it meant just to get to the starting line against some of the best steeplechasers in the world at the USA Track and Field Distance Classic last month in Los Angeles, […]