The Vanier Towhees senior boys basketball team plays Reynolds Secondary of Victoria in the Island championship final tonight at John Barsby in Nanaimo. Regardless of the outcome, both teams advance to the triple-A provincial tournament.
After defeating Vic. High Thursday, Vanier beat Carihi 72-52 on Friday.
The Comox Valley could have two teams qualify for the B.C. championships as the Isfeld Ice are still in the hunt for the third spot. The Ice beat Royal Bay in their Thursday opener, but lost 61-58 to Reynolds on Friday. They play Esquimalt today at 10 a.m. If Isfeld wins, they play the winner of Carihi’s clash with Barsby. That game goes at 6 p.m. tonight, followed by the championship final at 7:45 p.m.
The provincial tournament is March 6-9 in Langley. The top-ranked 3A team in B.C. is Charles Tupper of Vancouver. Vanier is ranked number nine while Isfeld — which had been ranked in the top 10 for most of the season — is an honourable mention.
“Ranking means very little to me,” Vanier coach Larry Street said. “Just somebody’s opinion after each week’s games. Some teams have great records yet play a soft schedule — play very few, if any, top 10 teams. That affects seeding and ranking as well. I’m just proud that Isfeld and Vanier are both in the top 12-15, and the ranking helps when they seed for the provincials. Coming first means a lot with the ranking, and therefore seeding for the tournament.”
At the double-A Island tournament in Ladysmith, the Highland Raiders of Comox lost their opener but rebouned Friday with an 84-64 win over Timberline of Campbell River. Luke Yeo was named player of the game for Highland.
The Raiders lost 85-62 to Parkland in today’s game.
The top three at Islands move on to the double-A provincial tourney, which also runs March 6-9 at the Langley Sports Centre.