The words say it all. Former Yale basketball star Bradley Braich is shooting for new goals these days, including ending all of the stigmas surrounding mental illness. (Photo by Luke Ouellette property of Bigger Than Basketball 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Boys Basketball

A Sunday Read: Why Bradley Braich counts his blessings and still celebrates the game through ‘Bigger Than Basketball’

ABBOTSFORD — It hasn’t even been 15 months since Bradley Braich delivered one of the most profoundly impactful messages I’ve received in almost 40 years as a reporter.Despite being just 17 years of age at the time, the direct message he sent me via Twitter was so heartfelt, a part of it which read: “Hey […]

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.

A smiling Marissa Rodde (left) and the rest of the Yale junior Lions gave one of the gutsiest performances in the history of B.C. high school basketball on Thursday at the provincial championships. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2019. All Rights Reserved)
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With just three players left, gutsy Yale Lions JV girls force double OT in BC Elite 8! Here’s how they did it!

LANGLEY — Their dreams of a provincial championship had ended, yet wasn’t that a smile on Marissa Rodde’s face? “It’s still a win in my books,” the talented 5-foot-11 Grade 10 forward with the Yale Lions said. “To go to two overtimes with just three players… I am really proud of my teammates.”

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.

They're a great eight. Yale's 2018-19 roster includes (left to right) Kyleigh Boldt, Brooklyn White, Tana Pankratz, Neelam Rai, Karishma Rai, Jessica Daley, Lily Borseth and Emmy Curtis. (Photo property of Yale Secondary athletics 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Girls Basketball

Yale’s Pride of Lions! New head coach Bobby Braich’s five-year plan gives girls program a reason to roar

ABBOTSFORD — Like the vast majority of his contemporaries, high school basketball coaching isn’t a paying proposition for Bobby Braich.

Jenna Griffin is back and healthy, and that is good news for Port Moody's Heritage Woods Kodiaks, who this week take part in the Centennial Top 10 Shoot-Out. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Girls Basketball

TOP 10 SHOOT-OUT 2019: Battered, bruised but buoyant, No. 7 Heritage Woods Kodiaks finding “…value in the journey”

PORT MOODY — If they wanted to, the senior girls basketball team from Port Moody’s Heritage Woods Secondary could probably start a pretty mean bonfire by just collecting all the crutches, braces and bandages they’ve used to help them limp through the first seven weeks of the high school season.Yet the same team, which counts […]

The engine of the 2018-19 Kelowna Owls, Jaeli Ibbetson (left) and Kennedy Dickie embraced earlier this months in the seconds before their team won the B.C. AAA title at the LEC. Kelowna will open next season at No 1. (Photo by Garrett James property of Langley Events Centre)
Fania Taylor of the Walnut Grove Gators splits the defence of theCrabrook's Mt. Baker Wild on Friday at the Langley Events Centre. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of Varsity Letters)
Feature High School Girls Basketball

Cinderella Fraser Heights Firehawks, No. 1 Walnut Grove Gators set for B.C. junior girls title clash today

LANGLEY — Surrey’s Fraser Heights Firehawks started life at the 2018 B.C. junior girls basketball championships as enough of a long shot that they had win a game early Wednesday’s on the opening day of competition just to become a part of the event’s  main field of 16 teams.