Last season, the B.C. High School Boys AAA Basketball Championships moved from its storied decades-long home at the PNE Agrodome in Vancouver to a more modern facility in Langley. At the time, many local high school basketball aficionados had many reservations about the loss of tradition, the dreaded commute to the suburbs, and, most importantly, what impact this might have on the local high school basketball scene. Couple this loss with paranoia that teacher job action might cut our basketball season short and city hoops fans have cause for concern. Given the numerous tournaments and high-profile exhibitions games being played in a jam-packed high school basketball season, high school hoops nuts will be well-fed. Not a week goes by without several great games and tournaments being offered up for Vancouver high school hoops consumption. City hoops is alive and well.
. The Gladstone Tipoff Tournament (Nov. 28-30) started the season off with an eight-team tournament. In a rematch of last year's final, the King George Dragons scorched the Archbishop Carney Stars 71-49 with tournament Most Valuable Player Bilal Naqshanbandy stealthily guiding an otherwise vociferous and athletic Dragon attack. In the third place game, the Windermere Warriors fought off Richmond's McRoberts Strikers 8067. Joining Naqshanbandy on the AllTournament Team were teammates George Maji and Kristian Hildebrand as well as Ibrahim Ibrahim (Britannia), Harpreet Basra (Windermere), Elvin Owusu-Ansah (Van Tech), and Gary Hui (Gladstone). Notably, after briefly quitting basketball to pursue boxing, former Provincial Team player Ibrahim Ibrahim scored 47 points including 12 three-pointers and a game-winning floater at the end of regulation to defeat Sutherland 69-67. So much for rival Vancouver coaches' declared strategy to make the adept slasher a shooter.
. The Michael F. Keenlyside Point Grey Classic (Dec. 1-3) featured several of the top Vancouver public schools including Sir Charles Tupper, Sir Winston Churchill, Point Grey and David Thompson. The Keenlyside Final featured a battle of the two Sirs with heavyweights Tupper and Churchill squaring off. While the dominant play of Tupper seven-foot forward Cameron Smythe staked his squad to an early sizable lead, Grade 10 phenom Mindy Binhas shot Churchill back into the game before bowing to the Champions 79-72. Cameron Smythe earned MVP and All Defensive Team honours while others receiving All-Star recognition included Mindy Binhas, Bojan Severn (Churchill), Gabriel Corpuz (Tupper), Daniel Kim (Tupper), and Andrew Mavety (Point Grey).
. The John Oliver Joker Classic (Dec. 7-9) included two of this season's top-ranked AA teams. King George Dragons (AA Honourable Mention) dominated the Delview Raiders (No. 7 AA) with a 30 point victory in the Semi-Finals before jostling the host John Oliver Jokers 75-19 in the Final. King George's Bilal Naqshanbandy received his second MVP of the season while teammate Miguel Suarez returned from a year of rehabilitating a leg injury to rediscover his form and All-Star recognition. JO's Shaun Nguyen also received All Star distinction.
. The Telus Basketball Classic (Dec. 7-10) featured several of the preseason top-ranked AAA teams in B.C. including Vancouver College (No. 2), Kitsilano (No. 6), St. George's (No. 9), Sir Charles Tupper (No. 10), and Sir Winston Churchill (HM). While two Vancouver schools making the Final might have drawn a larger crowd, the Kelowna Owls and Vancouver College Fighting Irish showed those in attendance why they deserve their preseason No. 1 and No. 2 rankings. While Vancouver College fought for an early lead with hot shooting from their dynamic guard trio of Erickson Evangelista, Isaiah Solomon, and Cole Penman, Kelowna's Braxton Bunce banged the boards and paint, while his teammates Mitch Goodwin and Buster Truss provided the shooting and slashing required of a well-deserved 88-80 Kelowna victory. While the curse of the Fighting Irish's Provincial Championship drought might soon come to an end, it will only happen this year with improved play from their front-line. In the third-place game Pitt Meadows defeated St. George's 62-52. Vancouver players receiving All Star recognition included Isaiah Solomon, Erickson Evangelista, Milan Mitrovic (St. George's), and Cameron Smythe (Sir Charles Tupper) who also received the prestigious Quinn Keast Scholarship for Best All-Around Player. The Randy Sung Memorial Award Most Sportsmanlike team recipients were the Sir Charles Tupper Tigers. Sir Winston Churchill's head coach Rick Lopez received the Tom Tagami Coach Award for leadership and coaching excellence.
Coming up is the McDonald's VPD Winter Tournament (Dec. 13-15) cohosted by Gladstone and Windermere secondary schools. It brings together an ensemble of 16 Vancouver public and independent schools of various size classifications (A, AA, and AAA). Top seeds in the tournament are King George, Windermere, St.Patrick's, and Point Grey. Two of the top preseasonranked A teams, West Point Grey Academy (No. 2) and St. John's (No. 10), are both coming off successful Provincial Championship qualifying seasons and will eagerly size up the larger schools. Sir Charles Tupper has ambitiously scheduled several Friday night duets featuring provincially ranked teams with the event series dubbed "East Side Story." Other tournaments to look forward to in January include: Bulldog Classic, Britannia Bruins, Eric Hamber Midtown Showdown, Killarney Cougar Classic, St. John's and Vancouver College Emerald.
For information on tournaments in Vancouver, visit bcboysbasketball.com.
Due to the efforts of numerous dedicated coaches, players and non-profit organizations, such as Vancouver Girls Basketball Association, girls hoops in Vancouver is highly competitive. After winning several AA Provincial Championship in recent years, York House Tigers have moved up to AAA where they are preseason ranked No. 3 in the Province. Coming off a season in which they won the Senior Girls City Championship, AA Lower Mainland Championship and finished runner-up to York House Tigers in the AA Provincial Championship Game, the Britannia Bruins are the preseason No. 1 ranked AA team in the province. These two heavyweights recently squared off at the Telus Basketball Classic where the Tigers clawed past the Bruins 71-57. Britannia's Becky Fernanandez and York House's Alisha Lynn Roberts were named tournament All Stars. Alisha Lynn Roberts also received the prestigious and potentially lucrative university scholarship in which she may receive four years paid tuition to one of the four participating B.C. universities: however, Roberts may prefer the warm environs of NCAA Division 1 Pepperdine who has also courted her. York House's Winston Brown was also recognized with the Tom Tagami Coaching Award for his years of excellent service.
In the new year, there is the annual Telus Vancouver Challenge (Jan. 19-21), which features eight of the top public and private schools competing at Langara College. For further information on high school girls basketball, go to bcssgba.ca. Notably the girls AAA Provincial Championships are moving from the Capilano Sports Complex to the Langley Event Centre.
To follow Vancouver public schools, visit vancouverschoolsports.ca.
