LANGLEY — Gold, silver, bronze and the future beyond?
That’s the theme moving forward as the countdown begins for the senior girls 2018 Tsumura Basketball Invitational, set to tip-off a three-day engagement Dec. 13-15 at the Langley Events Centre.
The top three ranked preseason teams at the province’s top two tiers — AAA and AA — heading into the 2018-29 campaign comprise six of our 16-team event’s blue-chip headliners.
We’re speaking, of course, about AAA’s defending B.C. champion and No. 1-ranked Kelowna Owls, the No. 2-ranked Walnut Grove Gators of Langley and No. 3-ranked Riverside Rapids of Port Coquitlam.
And at AA, the defending B.C. champion and preseason No. 1-ranked South Kamloops Titans will represent a group that also includes preseason No. 2 St. Thomas Aquinas of North Vancouver, and No. 3 G.W. Graham of Chilliwack.
There’s also the unique aspect of players who represented their schools in last season’s B.C. junior varsity championship final taking to the floor at TBI 2018.
Many of the Walnut Grove girls who led their school to the provincial JV title will move up to join the ranks of the seniors, and as well, we’ve invited the JV runners-up from Surrey’s Fraser Heights Secondary, as the Firehawks move up into the Triple A senior ranks this season.
Here’s a look at the complete 16-team list of invited schools.
We’ll be presenting the draw for both the TBI boys and girls tournaments over the coming weeks.
Triple-A teams invited to TBI 2018 with their preseason ranking in parenthesis:
Kelowna Owls (1)
Walnut Grove Gators (Langley) (2)
Riverside Rapids (Port Coquitlam) (3)
Brookswood Bobcats (Langley) (5)
Heritage Woods Kodiaks (Port Moody) (6)
Abbotsford Panthers (8)
Centennial Centaurs (Coquitlam) (10)
R.A. McMath Wildcats (Richmond) (HM)
Fraser Heights Firehawks (Surrey) (NR)
(click here for a AAA preseason poll refresher)
DOUBLE-A teams invited to TBI 2018 with their preseason ranking in parenthesis:
South Kamloops Titans (1)
St. Thomas Aquinas Fighting Saints (North Vancouver) (2)
G.W. Graham Grizzlies (Chilliwack) (3)
Langley Christian Lightning (6)
Whistler Storm (7)
Britannia Bruins (9) (Vancouver)
Valleyview Vikings (Kamloops) (10)
(click here for a AA preseason poll refresher)
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