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)
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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 […]

The Province's 2017 Head of the Class debits today. (Richard Lam, PNG photos)
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Proud to present my picks for The Province’s 2017 Head of the Class

VANCOUVER — Yes, it was hard to leave The Province after 26 years this past January. It was easy, however, to say ‘Yes’ when asked by my old employer to continue steering and guiding what I feel has become the benchmark in terms of high school sports journalism in our country.

Uyi Ologhola and the No. 1-ranked Quad A Holy Cross Crusaders will headline the 2017 Tsumura Basketball Invitational Dec. 7-9 at the Langley Events Centre. (Wilson Wong for VarsityLetters.ca)
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Tsumura Basketball boys 2017 invitational to feature cream of next season’s 4A/3A crop

NORTH DELTA — Only 212 more days!The 2017 boys Tsumura Basketball Invitational doesn’t tip off its three-day run at the Langley Events Centre until Dec. 7.But that doesn’t mean we can’t unveil the 16-team field now.

Ty Rowell, Walnut Grove's star senior guard, was one half an epic clash at the LEC against Kelowna. (Wilson Wong, UBC athletics for VarsityLetters.ca)
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Quad A: Gators, Owls clash reminds us all why we care so much about our high school game

LANGLEY — Sometimes, on those nights when the basketball gods deem it time, the things that allow a most beautiful game to achieve a heightened state of existence unfold before our eyes and remind us why we care so much.

The Holy Cross Crusaders gave chase to Ty Rowell and the Walnut Grove Gators on Friday at the LEC. (Wilson Wong, UBC athletics for VarsityLetters.ca)
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Quad A: Grove v. Kelowna, Ty v. Mace, a final that looks like “…a treat, a basketball treat”

LANGLEY — In their senior seasons, on the province’s two best teams, and now, facing each other in the final game of their respective high school basketball careers.Go on, say it: Today is the day for Ty Rowell vs. Mason Bourcier.

Panorama Ridge guard Simrat Dosanjh and the rest of the Thunder are Final Four-bound on Friday. (Varsity Letters photo by Howard Tsumura)
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A Dhaliwal delight: Thunder’s ‘Super Sav’ leads Panorama past Grove, into Final Four

LANGLEY — Surrey’s Panorama Ridge Thunder had a sneaky feeling that bringing an ultra-aggressive mindset and leading with their physicality would help them sweeten the aftertaste of an ugly batch of numbers and help them snap a losing streak against their foes.