The No. 7 seed among the four tiers at the 2022 BC School Sports Boys Basketball Provincial Championships did not fare well on the opening day Wednesday at Langley Events Centre.
Three of the four No. 7 seeds lost in their respective games against the No. 10 seed, with two No. 6’s, two No. 8’s and a No. 5 going down as well.
All four top seeds in each tournament advanced to the quarter-final round.
1A Tournament
The quarter-final round gets underway at 3:30pm with all four games in Fieldhouse.
The No. 11 Aberdeen Hall Gryphons (Kelowna) look for a second-straight upset victory as they take on the No. 3 Cedars Christian Eagles. The Gryphons won 80-76 over No. 6 King David Lions (Vancouver) while Cedars Christian topped Surrey’s Khalsa School Lions 90-44.
The Barriere Cougars were also upset winners as the No. 10 seed scored a dramatic 68-66 victory, hitting a three-pointer with less than four seconds to play for the final margin of victory over the No. 7 Meadowridge Gryphons. The Cougars next task is another Gryphons squad, this time No. 2 Glenylon Norfolk of Victoria. Glenlyon Norfolk cruised to a 92-32 win over the Northside Christian Northstars.
The top-seed and 2020 champion Unity Christian Flames (Chilliwack) are set to face the No. 8 Bulkley Valley Royals (Smithers). The Flames won 85-45 over Victoria’s Brookes Westshore Gryphons. The Royals won 89-65 over the Nanaimo Christian Trail Blazers.
And the final quarter-final game features the No. 4 Fernie Falcons and the No. 5 Kelowna Christian Warriors. The Warriors defeated the Fort St. James Falcons 68-51 and the Falcons soared past the Pemberton Red Devils 93-45.
2A Tournament
The 2A Tournament featured a pair of upsets as both the No. 7 and No. 8 seeds lost their opening round games.
The first of those upsets was the No. 9 West Point Grey Academy Wolves (Vancouver) winning 66-51 over the No. 8 Langley Christian Lightning. The victory sets up a quarter-final game against the top-seed King George Dragons (Vancouver) after the Dragons defeated Maple Ridge’s Samuel Robertson Technical Titans 68-31.
The No. 10 Windsor Dukes (North Vancouver) had the second upset in the tier as they knocked out the two-time defending champion Charles Hays Rainmakers (Prince Rupert) 66-53. Next up for the Dukes will be the No. 2 seed Lambrick Park Lions after the Victoria school defeated Oliver’s Southern Okanagan Hornets 102-43.
Another quarter-final will see No. 4 Westsyde Whundas (Kamloops) and the No. 5 Southridge Storm (Surrey). The Storm won 65-41 over the Summerland Rockets while the Whundas won 76-34 over Trail’s J.L. Crowe Hawks.
No. 3 Brentwood College (Mill Bay) squares off against the No. 6 Pacific Academy Breakers (Surrey). Brentwood College was a 90-49 winner over Richmond’s Hugh Boyd Trojans while Pacific Academy won 82-54 over the Nechako Valley Vikings (Vanderhoof).
The quarter-final round gets underway at 3:30pm with all four games on South Court.
3A Tournament
Abbotsford’s M.E.I. Eagles were the lowest seed at No. 12 among all four tiers to win their way into the championship round after a 75-64 win over No. Okanagan Mission Huskies of Kelowna. The Eagles next opponent will be the No. 4 A.R. MacNeill Ravens (Richmond) after the Ravens needed overtime to top Vancouver’s Sir Charles Tupper Tigers 90-83.
The top-ranked St. Patrick Celtics were 103-49 winners over L.V. Rogers Bombers (Nelson), setting up a quarter-final clash with the No. 9 Princess Margaret Lions (Surrey). The Lions knocked out the 2020 champion G.W. Graham Grizzlies (Chilliwack) 63-60.
Both the Duchess Park Condors (Prince George) and Burnaby’s Byrne Creek Bulldogs were day one winners with the No. 3 Condors knocking off the No. 14 St. Michaels University Blue Jags 65-47. The No. 6 Bulldogs defeated the Gladstone Gladiators 69-56. Th
And Wednesday’s final two games in the 3A Tournament saw the tenth-seed St. Thomas
Collegiate Knights (Burnaby) defeat Courtenay’s Mark R. Isfeld Ice 92-74 while their next opponent, the No. 2 Elgin Park Orcas (Surrey) won 92-71 over Campbell River’s Timberline Wolves.
The quarter-final games will be played on Centre Court and begin at 3:30pm.
4A Tournament
Surrey’s Fleetwood Park Dragons were the lone non-top eight team to advance to Thursday’s quarter- final round after they edged the Abbotsford Senior Panthers 76-71. The victory earns them a date with the No. 3 Vancouver College Fighting Irish after they were 96-57 winners over the Holy Cross Crusaders (Surrey).
The other side of that draw features No. 2 Centennial Centaurs (Coquitlam) and the No. 7 Semiahmoo Thunderbirds (Surrey). Semiahmoo held off Victoria’s Oak Bay Bays 80-65 while Centennial was a 95-54 winner over the Fort St. John’s North Peace Grizzlies.
The top half of the draw will see No. 1 St. George’s School Saints (Vancouver) vs. Langley’s Walnut Grove Gators, the eight seed. The Gators edged Port Coquitlam’s Terry Fox Ravens 74-72 while the Saints cruised past Burnaby Mountain Lions 75-43.
And the other quarter-final will pit the No. 4 Kelowna Owls against the No. 5 Burnaby South Rebels. The Rebels defeated the Claremont Spartans (Victoria) 94-62 while Kelowna was a 70-54 winner over Surrey’s Enver Creek Cougars.
All four quarter-finals will be played in the Arena Bowl, beginning at 3:30pm.
For full tournament schedule, daily results and score sheets, visit www.bchighschoolbasketballchampionships.com