G.W. Graham guard Jaya Bannerman and her Chilliwack-based Grizzlies will get the best competition of their season Thursday through Saturday at the LEC for TBI 2017. (Varsity Letters photo by Howard Tsumura)
Feature High School Girls Basketball

TBI 2017: Latest B.C. girls basketball rankings shows best-of-the-best squads headed to the LEC this week

LANGLEY — The senior varsity girls take centre this weekend at the Langley Events Centre as the 2017 Tsumura Basketball Invitational tips off a three-day run Thursday.Keep the latest provincial top 10 rankings nearby for handy reference.The TBI will feature eight of the current Top 10 AAA teams, plus three of its five honourable mention […]

Walnut Grove senior forward Natalie Rathler (right) soars to the basket against Saturday against the Handsworth Royals, helping lead her Gators to the title at the No Regrets Classic tournament. (Photo by Blair Shier, www.blair.photo)
Feature High School Girls Basketball

TBI 2017: Walnut Grove’s Rathler brings the noise and the poise, Gators’ forward preps for B.C. title run, future with UFV Cascades

LANGLEY — Natalie Rathler has discovered that in order to stand at your true height, you first need to raise the height of your confidence. And with that said and done, it’s why the senior forward with Langley’s Walnut Grove Gators has been a player impossible to miss, especially if you’re one of those who loves […]

Oak Bay's Diego Maffia was the picture of focus Saturday in the Bays win over Holy Cross in the 2017 TBI final at the Langley Events Centre. (Wilson Wong/UBC athletics photo not to be used with out granted permission)
Holy Cross Crusaders' guard Gabe Takeawoa was at his best Friday, leading the Surrey school past Abby's SW.J. Mouat Hawks in the semifinals of the 2017 TBI. (Wilson Wong/UBC athletics photo not to be used without granted permission)
Feature High School Boys Basketball

From B.C. Final Four last March to Tsumura Basketball’s title-tilt on Saturday, all hail Holy Cross vs. Oak Bay at the LEC!

LANGLEY — When last we left Surrey’s Holy Cross Crusaders and the Oak Bay Bays of Victoria, we were right here at the Langley Events Centre. It was mid-March and the Crusaders were topping the Bays for third-place at the Telus B.C. AAAA championship tournament.

Walnut Grove's Alisdair Coyle (left) contends with the athletic defence of Byrne Creeks' Martin Djunga on Thursday in the opening round of the TBI at the LEC. (Varsity Letters photo by Howard Tsumura)
Feature High School Boys Basketball

Day 1 at the 2017 Boys TBI: Quad A powers survive Sweet 16 to set up Top 10-filled quarterfinals

What a terrific round of games to open TBI 2017 at the Langley Events Centre. Here’s reports from all of today’s eight games as well as a full schedule of tomorrow’s games:

North Delta Huskies head coach Jesse Hundal places equal importance on the team's on-court work ethic and its off-court appreciation of program history. (Varsity letters photo by Howard Tsumura)
Feature High School Boys Basketball

TBI 2017: Future bright but history also key for North Delta’s tradition-honouring basketball Huskies

NORTH DELTA — It’s easy to have a soft spot for a classic era of B.C. boys high school basketball, that span during the early-to-mid 1970s when the growth in the popularity of the game was out of control, and the single-tiered championship final was a mass spectacle played in venues as large as the […]

Abbotsford's Marin Lenz (left) and Breanne Homeniuk of Surrey's Lord Tweedsmuir Panthers are both back to take part in TBI 2017 at the Langley Events Centre. (Varsity Letters photo by Howard Tsumura)
Feature High School Girls Basketball

The 2017 girls Tsumura Basketball Invitational at LEC, here’s the full draw!

LANGLEY — Last week we presented the boys draw, now it’s time to debut the girls draw for the 2017 Tsumura Basketball Invitational 16-team tournament, set to run Dec. 14-16 at the Langley Events Centre.

Walnut Grove guard James Woods, the reigning BC boys AAAA tourney MVP, will be back at the LEC next month for the 2017 TBI. (Wilson Wong, UBC athletics)
Feature High School Boys Basketball

FULL DRAW! The 2017 boys Tsumura Basketball Invitational at LEC

LANGLEY — If you are a high school basketball purist and you enjoy, as much as I certainly do, watching all of the varied styles and personalities of this great game, then the 16-team 2017 boys Tsumura Basketball Invitational is sure to please.

South Kamloops Titans' guard Nick Sarai is one-half of the Titans' one-two provincial team back-court punch. (Photo -- Wilson Wong/UBC athletics)
Feature High School Boys Basketball

TBI 2017: South Kam Titans return to LEC hungrier than ever after BC AAA title-game loss

Just under a decade ago, the South Kamloops Titans set the standard for imposing teams within their senior boys basketball program. Kelly Olynyk, Josh Wolfram and David Wagner up front along with guard John Bantock, and all on the same team?