Langley – The Langley Christian Lightning, Abbotsford Panthers and Semiahmoo Totems are the top teams for their respective tiers at next month’s BC Secondary School Girls Basketball Championships.
All three tiers (2A, 3A and 4A) will be played at Langley Events Centre February 26 to 29 with the championship finals set for 12:30 p.m. (2A), 2:45 p.m. (3A) and 5 p.m. (4A).
The Totems are the defending champions for their tier while the Terry Fox Ravens (Port Coquitlam) earned the No. 2 seed. The Ravens are largely a junior-aged squad and won the BC Junior Girls Provincial Invitational in 2019 as Grade 9s before moving up to the senior level for this season.
The Riverside Rapids (Port Coquitlam) are the third seed while the Walnut Grove Gators (Langley) are the No. 4 seed. Walnut Grove finished second to Semiahmoo in 2019.
The rest of the field for the 4A tournament includes (in alphabetical order): Burnaby South, Claremont (Victoria), Cowichan (Duncan), Earl Marriott (Surrey), Handsworth (North Vancouver), Heritage Woods (Port Moody), John Oliver (Vancouver), Kelowna, Lord Tweedsmuir (Surrey), Mt. Baker (Cranbrook), Prince George and Yale (Abbotsford).
The 3A tournament is a newly-formed tier at the senior girls level (the history of the previous 3A tournament transitions to 4A) and joining the Panthers as the top four seeds are the Okanagan Mission Huskies (Kelowna), R.A. McMath Wildcats (Richmond) and Argyle Secondary (North Vancouver).
The remaining teams (in alphabetical order) are: Ballenas (Parksville), Charles Hays (Prince Rupert), Delta, Duchess Park (Prince George), G.W. Graham (Chilliwack), Magee (Vancouver), Mark Isfeld (Courtenay), M.E.I. (Abbotsford), Pitt Meadows, South Kamloops, Valleyview (Kamloops) and Vernon.
The 2A tournament will have a new champion (and finalist) as both last year’s gold and silver medal teams are at the 3A level. South Kamloops was the two-time 2A defending champion, defeating G.W. Graham in both the 2018 and 2019 championship game.
The Langley Christian Lightning won bronze in 2019 and enter as the No. 1 seed. The Britannia Bruins (Vancouver), St. Thomas More Collegiate Knights (Burnaby) and Pacific Christian Pacers (Victoria) round out the top four seeds.
Also competing in the 2A tournament are (in alphabetical order): Caledonia (Terrace), Holy Cross (Surrey), Lambrick Park (Victoria), Nechako Valley (Vanderhoof), Notre Dame (Vancouver), Prince Charles (Creston), Seycove (North Vancouver), Southridge (Surrey), St. John Brebeuf (Abbotsford), St. Thomas Aquinas (North Vancouver), Summerland and York House (Vancouver).
For the full draws click on the link for the 2A, 3A or 4A tournaments
