A study in focus, Walnut Grove's Jessica Wisotzki has emerged as a blue-chip recruit of the Simon Fraser Clan.First, she makes her high school farewell Thursday in PoCo. (Photo by Paul Yates property of Vancouver Sports Pictures 2019. All Rights Reserved)
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Simon Fraser’s Jessica Wisotzki: After a high school all-star game farewell, huge future awaits as WGSS star set to don Clan colours

BURNABY — Basketball has continued to evolve into more and more of a position-less sport, one in which the standard line between guards and forwards has increasingly blurred and ultimately lost much of its relevance when weighed against the virtues of the dynamic hybrid athlete.

Semiahmoo's Izzy Forsyth strains to take a loose ball away from Walnut Grove's Jessica Wisotzki (rear).
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Semi-tough! Totems shake early jitters on big stage, rally to top Gators for BC Quad-A crown; says coach “…their comeback was epic”

LANGLEY — For all of accolades and all of the recognition they receive, the vast majority of Surrey’s Semiahmoo Totems are still over two full years away from donning cap and gown at their high school commencement ceremonies.

Walnut Grove's Tavia Rowell heads into the B.C. championships on Wednesday as a repeat winner of the BCSSGBA's Player of the Year award. (Photo by Wilson Wong 2019. All Rights Reserved)
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Walnut Grove’s Tavia Rowell: Coaches, trainers, rivals all applaud B.C.’s Player of the Year repeat winner for her passion and her integrity

LANGLEY — The first girls high school basketball story ever covered under the Varsity Letters masthead? It came on the very first day of our launch (January 31, 2017) and it was all about an amazing Grade 10 basketball player with Langley’s Walnut Grove Gators named Tavia Rowell.

Holy Cross' Uyi Ologhola scored 32 points and was the clear choice as Fraser Valley 4A tourney MVP. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2019. All Rights Reserved)
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Holy Cross hoopsters are Crusaders for the the ages! Fraser Valley tourney’ swan song 4A final a blow-out win over No. 1 Terry Fox

LANGLEY — Prior to the start of the 2017-18 B.C. high school basketball season, coaches around this province were near-unanimous in their feeling that Surrey’s Holy Cross Crusaders should start the campaign as the province’s preseason Quad-A No. 1 team.

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)
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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.

Walnut Grove's Nolan Premack was a heart-and-soul factor on Thursday for the walnut Grove Gators, who topped teh Heritage Woods Kodiaks to earn a return trip to the B.C. Quad A championships next month at the LEC. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2019. All Rights Reserved)
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Winning the Walnut way: Grove’s Gators transition from James to Jarrett as Langley powers top Kodiaks to punch B.C. tourney tickets

LANGLEY — From Ty Rowell to James Woods to Jarrett Jacobs. Game-changing guards with a thirst for the provincial tournament don’t grow on trees, but in a place called Walnut Grove, they remain the face of one of the province’s most durable Sweet 16 B.C. tourney qualifiers.

Tavia Rowell of No. 2 Walnut Grove stares ahead at the challenge of Tara Wallack and the rest of the No. 1 Semiahmoo Totems. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2019. All Rights Reserved)
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01.22.19 B.C. senior girls Top 10 AAA basketball rankings: Totems work hard to keep No. 1, Gators moved back to No. 2

LANGLEY — Surrey’s No 1 Semiahmoo Totems got a real push in the championship final of Saturday’s Centennial Top 10 Shoot-Out, but managed to come away 75-71 winners over Langley’s Walnut Grove Gators.

When Semiahmoo's Deja Lee (left) and Walnut Grove's Sophia Wisotzki clashed Saturday in the Top 10 Shoot-Out final, it was a battle of two of B.C.'s best 10th graders. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2019. All Rights Reserved)
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Deja Wow! Youthful Semiahmoo Totems, led by MVP point guard Lee, top Gators to win 2019 Top 10 Shoot-Out

COQUITLAM — It was precisely the kind of late-game stretch that youthful teams are not supposed to survive. Pressure. The yips. The domino effect. You know the drill.

Heritage Woods' Maddy Counsell (left) wins a loose ball as she hits the deck along with South Kam's Kendra Kaczur during Saturday action at the 2019 Top 10 Shoot-Out at Coquitlam's Centennial Secondary. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2019. All Rights Reserved)
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Centennial’s Top 10 Shoot-Out 2019: Live reports from Super Saturday’s placing games

COQUITLAM — We’re here at Centennial Secondary’s 2019 Top 10 Shoot-Out. Keep checking back on this posting for updates throughout the day from placing games leading up to today’s championship final (5:45 p.m.) between AAA powers Semiahmoo and Walnut Grove.

Semiahmoo's Deja Lee (left) helped her No. 1 Totems past Brookswood on Friday in the Top 10 Shoot-Out semifinals, setting up a clash against Jess Wisotzki and the No. 3-ranked Walnut Grove Gators in the title game on Saturday. Here, the talented pair are pictured in action at the 2017 Tsumura Basketball Invitational. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2019. All Rights Reserved)