And then there were four.
A quartet of senior boys hoops teams – including two from Surrey – remain in contention for a Fraser Valley 4A basketball title this week, after winning their way through the opening rounds of the zone tournament.
The Semiahmoo Totems – seeded third at the outset of the tournament – and the No. 2 Holy Cross Crusaders are the lone Surrey squads left, along with Abbotsford’s W.J. Mouat Redhawks, the fifth seed, and the powerhouse Walnut Grove Gators, who are the number one-ranked team in the province.
By virtue of advancing to semifinals – which will be played at the Langley Events Centre (LEC) tonight (Thursday), all four teams have punched their respective tickets for provincials, which begin March 8, also in Langley.
Surrey is guaranteed to be represented in Sunday’s Fraser Valley final, as Semiahmoo will square off against Holy Cross in one semifinal while Mouat played Walnut Grove in the other.
Two other Surrey teams are still in the mix for a spot at the B.C. championships.
The Tamanawis Wildcats and Lord Tweedsmuir Panthers began to work their way through the losers’ bracket with victories Wednesday at Fleetwood Park Secondary, leaving each team with two chances to win one more game to secure one of the seven berths from the Fraser Valley zone.
Tamanawis, the number-four seed for the Fraser Valley tournament, defeated the Centennial Centaurs yesterday 81-69. The Panthers, the tournament’s seventh-seed, topped the Frank Hurt Hornets 94-77.
The Wildcats will tip-off this afternoon against the sixth-seed Yale Lions of Abboptford at 4:45 p.m. at the LEC, immediately after Lord Tweedsmuir’s game at 3 p.m. against the Pinetree Timberwolves of Coquitlam. Winners of the two games are assured of playing at the provincial tournament and will play for fifth/sixth place Sunday evening at 6 p.m. The losing teams also play at 6 p.m. Sunday for seventh place and the final berth to the B.C. tournament.
– The Pacific Academy Breakers were a game away from qualifying for the Senior Boys 2A provincial championship tournament after they won their quarterfinal game Tuesday night at the Fraser Valley tournament in Chilliwack.
The second-seed Breakers topped Samuel Robertson Technical 77-56. The Breakers will play the third-seed Abbotsford Christian Knights tonight (Thursday) in a semifinal match. Pacific Academy was given an honorable mention in the B.C. Boys Basketball Association provincial top 10 rankings. Abbotsford Christian was ranked 10th.
The top three teams at the 2A tournament qualify for the provincials. A loss tonight would leave the Breakers needing to win two consecutive games to qualify.
Panthers, Thunder girls teams qualify
Two Surrey teams finished among the top five at the Fraser Valley Senior 3A Girls High School Basketball Championships in Langley.
The Panorama Ridge Thunder lost 71-62 to the Walnut Grove Gators in a third/fourth playoff game Saturday afternoon. Savannah Dhaliwal of the Thunder scored 31 points, and was named to the tournament all-star team.
The Lord Tweedsmuir Panthers placed fifth after their 90-65 victory over the Heritage Woods Kodiaks. Maryn Budimann paced the Panthers with 41 points.
Both the Thunder and Panthers will play at the provincial championship tournament March 1-4 at the Langley Events Centre (LEC).
At the Senior 2A Fraser Valley tournament hosted by Southridge Secondary, the host Southridge Storm defeated the Holy Cross Crusaders 50-37 in the third/fourth place game.
The Storm placed Hannah Morrison on the tournament all-star team.
– with files from Rick Kupchuk
