The Snowball Classic championship match-up is set, and it’s going to be a battle of the Lions.
To the surprise of absolutely no one, the Fairfax Lions of Los Angeles advanced to the gold medal game, cruising past the St. George’s Saints, B.C.’s No. 7-ranked AAA squad, 116-71 in the late semifinal on Friday.
They’ll face Abbotsford’s own Yale Lions, who knocked off the Kelowna Owls in a battle of provincially ranked teams in the earlier semi. The Lions, No. 2 in AAA, beat the No. 6 Owls 78-68.
The final tips off at 8 p.m. on Saturday at Abbotsford Senior, and it promises to be a fascinating contrast in styles. Fairfax boasts great size, most notably 6’6″ senior stars Chaunce Hill and Reggie Theus Jr., while the smaller Lions like to wear teams down with their lightning-quick fast break.
Both programs know what it takes to win the venerable high school boys basketball tournament, which has been hosted by Abby Senior for 53 years. Yale won back-to-back Snowball titles in 2009 and 2010, while Fairfax was the tourney champ in 2011.
