There were three upsets on opening day of the BC 4A boys provincial basketball championships, including both the third and fourth seeds being eliminated at the Langley Events Centre.
And one of those three higher seeds who advanced to the elite eight are the defending champion Walnut Grove Gators.
The No. 10 seed knocked off the No. 7 St. George’s Saints 89-76 setting up a quarter-final clash with the No. 2 Tamanawis Wildcats. The ‘Cats defeated No. 15 North Peace 83-48 on Wednesday.
The two biggest upsets of the day were both the No. 3 Handsworth Royals and No. 4 W.J. Mouat Hawks suffering earlier-than expected losses.
The Royals fell 82-80 to the No. 14 Holy Cross Crusaders in the closest game of the day.
The other upset saw the No. 13 Belmont Bulldogs ground the No. 4 Hawks 70-60.
Belmont next plays the No. 5 Vancouver College Fighting Irish after the No. 5 seed defeated No. 12 Terry Fox 79-63.
The Crusaders face the No. 6 Semiahmoo Totems after Semi beat the No. 11 Rutland Voodoo 95-74.
The other quarter-final game will be No. 1 Oak Bay against No. 8 Burnaby South.
Burnaby South beat No. 9 Lord Tweedsmuir 80-60 while the tournament’s top seed was an 89-36 winner of No. 16 Mount Baker.
The quarter-final action begins at 3:30 today (Thursday, March 8) with all of the games in the LEC’s arena bowl.
3A draw
There will be a new 3A provincial champion after the Rick Hansen Hurricanes suffered a day one loss.
The ‘Canes were seeded No. 10 but fell in round one to No. 7 Duchess Park 88-65.
Duchess Park now gets the No. 2 South Kamloops Titans — who lost in last year’s championship game to Rick Hansen — after the Titans held off No. 15 Carihi 58-51.
There was one upset in the 3A draw as No. 14 Richmond shocked No. 3 Argyle 81-80.
Richmond now faces No. 6 Pitt Meadows after the Marauders beat the No. 11 Mark Isfeld Ice 69-59 in round one.
The top half of the draw went as planned.
No. 1 Byrne Creek was a 77-47 winner over No. 16 Caledonia and No. 8 Sir Charles Tupper defeated No. 9 Clayton Heights 90-70. The two winners now meet in the next round.
The other quarter-final clash will see No. 4 North Delta face No. 5 R.A. McMath.
North Delta was a 67-42 winner over No. 13 G.P. Vanier while McMath edged No. 12 MEI 97-92.
The quarter-finals begins at 3:30 today (Thursday, March 8) with all of the games on the LEC’s centre court.
2A draw
The 2A defending champions — and top seed — are still alive in their quest for a second straight title.
Brentwood College was an easy 94-30 winner over No. 16 Grand Forks.
Next up for the team is an elite eight match-up against No. 8 Shawnigan Lake, which beat No. 9 Pacific Academy 71-65.
The No. 4 Charles Hays Rainmakers beat No. 13 R.C. Palmer 63-49 and next face No. 5 Seycove, which beat No. 12 D.P. Todd 72-66.
The bottom half of the draw had one upset as No. 10 Clarence Fulton won 59-50 over No. 7 Collingwood.
Fulton next draws No. 2 Westsyde, which beat No. 15 Southridge 55-37.
And the final quarter-final match-up is No. 3 King George — which beat No. 14 Sa-Hali 93-43 — and No. 6 Britannia, which took down No. 11 Langley Christian 78-60.
The quarter-final round tips off at 3:30 p.m. with the games on the LEC’s south court.
1A draw
Seven of the eight higher seeds were victorious on day one with only the No. 7 — and defending champs — failing to advance.
The BC Christian Academy Panthers lost 83-67 to King David as the Panthers became the third of four No. 7 seeds to lose on Wednesday.
King David now plays No. 2 Similkameen, who beat No. 5 Fraser Lake 115-54.
The other quarter-final game on the bottom half of the draw will be No. 3 Kelowna Christian, who beat No. 14 Pemberton 113-33, and No. 6 Bulkley Valley, which beat No. 11 St. Andrew’s 99-34.
The top half of the draw features the No. 1 ranked Credo Christian Kodiaks, who beat No. 16 Gold River 99-36.
The Kodiaks draw No. Glenlyon Norfolk after they beat No. 9 Northside Christian 77-68.
The other quarter-final will feature No. 4 Heritage Christian and No. 5 Khalsa Lions.
The Lions beat No. 12 Fort St. James 79-42 while Heritage Christian won 91-37 over No. 13 Golden.
The quarter-final round tips off at 3:30 p.m. with the games in the LEC’s fieldhouse.
For more scores from the tournament, click here.
