4A SEMI-FINALS SET AS REBELS BATTLE FIGHTING IRISH AND OWLS CLASH WITH ROYALS

Two recent champions go up against a pair of schools looking to end lengthy title droughts as it is down to the final four at the BC High School 4A Basketball Championships at Langley Events Centre.

Burnaby South (2018) and Kelowna (2016) each have titles in the past four years while Handsworth looks for the ultimate prize for the first time since 2006 and Vancouver College (which is tied for the most 4A titles in Tournament history with five) looks to break a drought stretching back to 1967.

The semi-final round will see No. 3 Kelowna battle No. 7 Handsworth (7:00 p.m.) and No. 1 Burnaby South face No. 4 Vancouver College (8:45 p.m.).

Kelowna and Burnaby South came second and third, respectively, in 2019 while Vancouver College last medallied in 2011 when they earned silver and Handsworth’s last podium finish was when they won it all in 2006.

Vancouver College Fighting Irish 101 Abbotsford Panthers 87

The Abbotsford Panthers had no answer for Hunter Cruz-Dumont as the Vancouver College Fighting Irish star went off for 40 points in his team’s 101-87 quarter-final victory on Thursday. Cruz-Dumont was 17-for-27 from the field (including two-for-three from beyond the arc) while scoring on four of his six free throw attempts. He added six rebounds and four assists as well. Jacob Holt finished with 21 points, 11 rebounds, four assists and four blocked shots giving the No. 4 Irish a great inside-outside combination.

The fifth-seed Panthers were led by Karndeep Brar’s 18 points and 14 from Jesse Davis. Keyan De Vries, Brandt Lenz and Sahilveer Sidhu had 13 points apiece.

Burnaby South Rebels 89 Oak Bay Bays 49

Five players reached double digits for the top-seed Burnaby South Rebels as they rolled to an impressive 89-49 win over the No. 8 Oak Bay Bays. Justin Sunga was the top scorer for the Rebels, finishing with 18 points, as well as five rebounds, five assists, and three steals. Lucas Maffia was the lone Oak Bay player to reach double digits with 20 points, including four of nine from beyond the arc.

Handsworth Royals 70 Centennial Centaurs 67

The seventh-ranked Handsworth Royals pulled off the biggest upset among any of the tiers, shocking the No. 2 Centennial Centaurs 70-67. The Centaurs led by a dozen points in the first quarter, but the lead was down to two at the half and one point after three quarters before Handsworth outscored them 24-20 in the fourth. Marko Stojsavljevic led the Royals with 16 points and Robert Lutman and Zackary Watters each had 13. Dominic Parolin scored a whopping 41 points and grabbed 16 rebounds for the Centaurs.

Kelowna Owls 94 Claremont Spartans 82

A 39-point first quarter set the tone early as the No. 3 Kelowna Owls defeated the No. 11 Claremont Spartans 94-82. The Owls were up 39-16 after 10 minutes and while the Spartans outscored Kelowna 66-55 over the final 30 minutes but the damage had already been done.

Jayden Lalonde paced the Owls attack with 33 point and 11 rebounds while Claremont was led by Ben Manns’ 20 points.