The draw for the AAA Lower Mainland senior boys high school basketball tournament was not announced Sunday as expected because St. Georges continues to dispute the fairness of the regions berthing rules and is fighting to gain entry after being eliminated in playoffs last week.
The association that runs the 12-team tournament, which was slated to begin this week at Kitsilano and Churchill secondary schools, issued a one-sentence release, saying it is at present unable to produce a playoff draw for our AAA tournament due to potential legal action from one of our member schools, St. Georges.
Calls to Richard Cohee, St. Georges athletic director, and basketball coach Guy daSilva were not returned by deadline Tuesday morning.
According to a source, furious negotiations continued Monday and Tuesday with a recourse expected by yesterday afternoon.
The citys two AAA independent schools, St. Georges and Vancouver College, play for one berth to the regional basketball tournament, a qualifier for the provincial championship, although across B.C. private and public schools play in the same league. St. Georges Saints appealed to the Lower Mainland executive for a second berth to the regional tournament before having lost to VC last week in a three-game playoff. Their request was denied and their appeal was denied by the B.C. executive. However, their appeal was upheld in a 5-0 vote by the B.C. High School Boys Basketball Associations board of governors.
In a letter following the boards decision, daSilva addressed the B.C. executive. Last year the Independent League didnt challenge the creation of the backdoor tournament, even though we felt it was unfair, because of the political climate and the potential of arbitration between the Lower Mainland and the [B.C. high school boys basketball association]. This year the Independent League will use all of our means to make sure that St. Georges receive a fair opportunity to qualify at whatever seed they might earn through their full participation in the Lower Mainland Zone Tournament.
Public and private school supporters have levied accusations at each other since I started covering high school hoops last year. Both sides say they are doing whats best for kids.
Twitter: @MHStewart
