LANGLEY — Welcome to Day 2 of the girls 2025 Tsumura Basketball Invitational Select 16 bracket.
We’ve gone final with all four game reports from our quarterfinal round contests.
SELECT 16
TOP SIDE DRAW
FERNIE 45 SIR CHARLES TUPPER 29
By IAN FRENCH
(Special for Varsity Letters)
LANGLEY — There’s the calm before the storm, but what happens after? Well, for the Fernie Falcon, what follows is a heated matchup with the Sir Charles Tupper Tigers.
After yesterday’s travel plans included narrowly making their flight, let alone making it in the air through a thick blizzard, the fact that the Falcon are here at all is a miracle within itself. Now, after yesterday’s win over the Earl Marriott Mariners, they chased another and delivered — winning 45-29 to advance to Friday Final Four in their first appearance at the Tsumura Basketball Invitational.
“I just told them, one game at a time. Just worry about the game you have to play that day, and we’ll go from there,” began Falcon head coach Jen Kennedy. “That wasn’t our prettiest game, but we persevered.”
For the Tigers, the stakes were just as high. This was their first appearance in this tournament, and after coming up just short by one win for provincials in each of the last two seasons, Tupper hoped to utilize the star power of 6-foot-1, B.C. provincial select Denira Dundas, to make some noise.
It was a gritty matchup between two teams that had everything on the line. It was a fast-paced start that saw each side trade makes in the opening minutes, including a pair of deep threes from Fernie’s Grade 9 guard Billie Kennedy and senior forward Desiree French — only for defence to take over for the rest of the half, heading into halftime with the Falcons up 18-13.
The Falcons came out soaring to start the second half, Kennedy opened the third with a side-step three, for her 10th point of the low-scoring contest, while teammate French couldn’t be stopped. Her efficiency was off the charts, scoring eight of her 13 total points in the frame via smooth, catch-and-shoot jumpers — inside and outside the arc — to cap off her team’s 10-2 run to start the third. However, Dundas put a stop to that with a contested, nothing-but-net, three to keep the threat alive for the Tigers.
The double-teams on Dundas continued, and the Falcons were able to inflate their lead by smothering their opponents on the defensive end. Leaning on help defence and switching when they needed to to stifle the competition, while getting to the hoop quickly in transition. As the lead hovered around double digits for the Falcons in the final few minutes, the Tigers were forced to find looks for threes but couldn’t knock them down, leading to a 45-29 win for the Fernie Falcon.
“We try to pride ourselves on the defensive end,” said coach Kennedy. “Defence first, and just let the offence come to us. But we have to dig on every defensive possession.”
By the end of the game, player-of-the-game Desiree French and Billie Kennedy led all the Falcons with 13 points each, while Jacey Anderson chipped in with seven points, all of which were scored in the fourth. For the Tigers, Isabel Daley led her squad with 12 points while Dundas followed with eight points
VALLEYVIEW 41 HERITAGE WOODS 31
By IAN FRENCH
(Special for Varstiy Letters)
LANGLEY — It was a low-scoring, but high-pressure game from start to finish between the Heritage Woods Kodiaks and the Valleyview Vikes. Grit was evident on every play as each squad looked to secure their spot in Friday’s Final Four of the Tsumura Basketball Invitational.
The pressure was on, and despite having only six players dressed, the Vikes delivered, surging in the latter half of this one to eventually edge out the Kodiaks for a 41-31 win.
“They’re just doing a really good job. They know they’re going to have to suck it up because they ask for a sub, it’s probably not happening,” chuckled Vikes head coach Karen Horsman about her depleted bench. “I’m really proud of them.”
A driving force for the Vikes was junior guard Claire McLoughlin. Through outside scoring, while also getting to the line after timely drives to the paint, she managed to rack up 14 points by the final buzzer – earning her player of the game honours.
“Claire brings a lot, she brings a lot offensively and defensively,” mused coach Horsman. “She can drive, she can shoot. She’s very strong physically, so when she drives, she can get the rebound. She’s an all-around player. She has put tremendous time into her game, and has improved a lot; it’s shown, and it’s helping our team.”
Kicking off this one, the Kodiaks clearly addressed their slow start yesterday as they started strong, looking confident by knocking down deep mid-range jump shots with ease for an early lead, while defensively, hauling in numerous offensive rebounds for second-chance opportunities. However, as the game progressed, the Valleyview Vikes fought hard defensively, turning stops in one end into scores on the other to turn the tide.
Even though she was held off the score sheet in the opening frame, yesterday’s player-of-the-game, Sameera Gill, still managed to contribute with pristine ball movement for the Vikes. The freshman guard found her teammates at opportune times with a tremendous display of vision, but she heated up with her scoring touch as the quarter went on. With just over five minutes gone in the frame, Gill knocked down a three-pointer in transition and followed that up with another two points on the next possession to hand her side the lead.
The Vikes continued to apply pressure in the third and, with the clock winding down, Gill stepped up. As a Vike shot bounced off the rim in the dying seconds, Gill was there to snag the rebound and lay in the putback — beating the buzzer while giving her team their biggest lead of the day.
This, however, was short-lived. The Kodiaks chipped away and tied it up in the fourth, but the Vikes powered back as McLoughlin drained a high-arcing three-pointer to retake their lead. This is where their confidence reached its highest. After tacking on a few more points, junior guard Ava Porlier found space and nailed a deep catch-and-shoot three to extend her team’s lead to nine and sealed the eventual win.
The win sends the dark horse Vikes into the Friday Final Four where they will face the Fewrnie Falcons in a 3 p.m. South Court tip.
BOTTOM HALF DRAW
CENTENNIAL 53 BROOKSWOOD 27
By IAN FRENCH
(Special for Varsity Letters)
LANGLEY — Coming off a physical clash yesterday, the Centennial Centaurs finished strong against the Mount Baker Wild, and that late scoring momentum clearly carried over to today. Facing off against a Brookswood Bobcats team that had had only three practices to this point and just three bench players available on Thursday, the Centaurs took advantage and continuously played at a high pace to dictate the game early before eventually walking away with a commanding 53-27 win.
“Yesterday, things just weren’t clicking, so we really focused on kind of setting a tone within the first three minutes, and I thought the girls did that,” stated Centaurs head coach Darcy Grant. “We played our game the way that we’re capable of, we shot the ball, we weren’t tentative, we weren’t hesitating. It was just nice to see the girls come out and play the way that they know they can.”
The Centaurs made an appearance in the Tsumura Basketball Invitational last year but faced a first-round knockout. Despite boasting a young roster, the stakes have never been higher as they advance to the Final Four on Friday.
“We’re a very young team, we’re learning how to play as a team,” said coach Grant on the weight of advancing this deep into the tournament. “This helps the team, this helps what we’re trying to preach to our athletes. It’s been a joy to coach them and be a part of this.”
Physicality was what fueled the Centaurs’ offence early.
Following a dominant paint performance in yesterday’s matchup, a combo of Kendra Perry and Sapphira Lupin took control down low and fought their way to a plethora of rebounds throughout.
Amalia Griffiths anchored their guard game by leading all scorers with 20 by the final buzzer — earning player of the game honours in the process. The junior was all over the stat sheet today for Centennial, from timely passes on offence to disrupting the lanes on defence, she seemed determined to be everywhere on the court all at once — and that was evident near the end of the second quarter.
Giffiths created space from a defender with a step back three before firing it off the glass and through the hoop. But it wasn’t just her scoring touch; her vision was superb. On the following possession, she waited for the offence to settle before finding a teammate in the corner for a wide-open corner three. Just a few plays later, her eyes darted around the half-court before finding a teammate for yet another deep ball for the Centuars, extending their lead to over 20 points heading into halftime.
“She was all over the place. She’s a great athlete and incredibly competitive. She has a very high motor, which are all the things you want,” mused coach Grant. “She’s learning the game of basketball, and every year, she gets better and better. I think she was a bit frustrated yesterday just with how things were falling, but [today] she was great, the energy was great, and it was just nice to see it come together today.”
The Centaurs continued to apply pressure in the second half, but the Bobcats weren’t just going to roll over. Already tallying the majority of their points from the three-point line, they continued to find success with the deep ball in the third when Brookswood senior Georgia Hunt found open space in the corner before knocking it down cleanly.
As the game went on, the Bobcats continued to build and found their footing, especially on the defensive end. Throughout the third quarter, they held the Centaurs to just eight points, and they came out of the fourth quarter regaining control of the game. Midway through the fourth, they racked up a 9-2 run, but they couldn’t overcome the deficit by the final buzzer.
PITT MEADOWS 60 NOTRE DAME 53
By IAN FRENCH
(Special for Varsity Letters)
LANGLEY — In the final game of Day 2 of the Tsumura Basketball Invitational, the Pitt Meadows Marauders squared up with the Notre Dame Jugglers to determine the last spot of the Final Four on Friday.
After a fast-paced start, both sides settled in defensively, making each bucket a battle. As the game progressed, the Marauders’ size aided in fighting hard on the boards to create second chances, leading to an early advantage.
But that flipped in the fourth quarter.
As the Double-A No. 3 Jugglers appeared to be down and out, they went nuclear. Finishing on a 19-6 run but couldn’t complete the comeback, falling 60-53 to the Triple-A No. 7 Marauders.
“Basketball is a game of runs. We made big runs at the start, and they were eventually going to make one of their own. We tried to get three stops in a row, whether that ever happened in the fourth, I’m not sure,” laughed Marauders head coach Jason Boyes following the game’s wild finish. “I just told them not to panic.
We put ourselves in the position to have that lead. We’re in command, and the girls did a great job.”
After winning player of the game yesterday, Jocelyn Boyes picked up where she left in this one, finishing with 16 points and countless assists. While senior guard Evelyn Perler was on a mission from deep, totalling 14 points with four three-pointers, including an electrifying, buzzer-beater at halftime.
“Perler hit that shot, and I said, ‘There you go, you’ve broken the curse!’ Because you could tell she was really down the last few days. And that’s part of learning. That’s part of what we need,” reflected coach Boyes. “She was taking good shots. As long as she’s taking good shots, we’re good.”
Both teams were scoring at lightning speed throughout the first quarter, only for defence to take over in the second. As the Pitt Meadows lead grew, so did the confidence of its players. In the second frame, Joyce missed a three but followed up and snagged the rebound at top speed. It appeared she was going for the putback layup, but, as she leaped, she dumped it off to a wide-open teammate for the easy two points in the paint. This was a common theme for her unselfish playstyle. Countless times, Boyes would start the offensive possession with the ball, work her way down to draw defenders in and always seemed to find an open teammate for the score.
The unselfish play fed into the game plan for the rest of the team, and the ball movement was seamless. One example was that emphatic play to finish the half from Perler. As the clock ticked down ahead of the halftime break, Pitt Meadows swung the ball around endlessly before it found its way into the hands of the senior guard. She didn’t hesitate and pulled up from deep. The auditorium collectively held its breath as the ball was in the air, and as it careened into the mesh just after the buzzer sounded, an emphatic cheer rippled through as the Marauders added to their sizable lead, heading into halftime up 35-18.
Notre Dame came out strong to start the second half, physically working their way through the defence to get an open layup on one end, then drawing a charge in the other. Momentum seemed to be swinging in favour of the Jugglers until Boyce, just after entering the zone, whipped a pass to the corner for Perler, who nailed her third three of the game, and the buckets started flowing from there for the Mauraders. By the end of the frame, the Marauders were up by 20.
Pitt Meadows continued to control the rebounding game with their size in the fourth. However, Notre Dame was not finished. They upped the defensive pressure and found moments on offence to execute. A mix of inside and outside shooting led to a wild 19-6 run to slowly chip away at the Marauders’ lead. Once trailing by as much as 24 points, the Jugglers made it a six-point game with under a minute remaining.
“Like I said, these are all pieces of learning. So, we’re learning to win a close game yesterday. Today, we’re learning to win a game where you’re up by quite a bit and a team’s making a big run at the end,” said coach Boyes. “Hopefully, these will all stitch together and help us out down the road.”
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