Burnaby is out, New West is out, Richmond is out and all six Vancouver teams are vying for one of five spots to the Telus senior boys AAA basketball championships March 11 to 17 at the Langley Events Centre.
The game of high school hoops takes centre court again for the next two weeks as the political, personal and near litigious game that played out before the zone tournament is momentarily pushed aside. The tournament's unusual 13-team draw is a temporary "compromise," and the B.C. boys basketball association must address the Lower Mainland berthing conflict at the AGM later this month.
Basketball was the point Wednesday at Vancouver College, one of two host schools for the AAA Lower Mainland championship.
In two semifinal match-ups, Kitsilano and St. George's downed their opponents and claimed decisive, double-digit wins. They meet at 7: 30 p.m. Saturday at St. George's for the championship final.
The Kitsilano Blue Demons, Vancouver's public school city champions this year after falling twice to the Tupper Tigers in 2011 and '10, beat their East Side rival 85-59.
The St. George's Saints cracked the case that is the Vancouver College Fighting Irish to win 85-59. The Irish were missing key contributing player Erickson Evangelista.
The Churchill Bulldogs and Point Grey Greyhounds both lost in the first round of action and both kept their hopes alive with a win Wednesday.
The Bulldogs pulled out a gutwrenching overtime win thanks to a clutch three-point bucket from the corner by Nick Atwal and eliminated Burnaby's Byrne Creek 64-63.
The Bulldogs play Vancouver College 6 p.m. Friday at St. George's. The winner is guaranteed a spot at provincials, and the loser must win its next game to claim the fifth and final seed.
Point Grey beat Steveston-London 73-55. The Greyhounds meet Tupper 4: 30 p.m. Friday at St. George's. The winner moves on and the loser faces a must-win meeting against the loser of the BulldogsCollege game, which is set for Saturday 4: 30 at St. George's.
