Ice pull off upset, lone non-Top 8 seed to make quarter-final round

The St. Thomas More Collegiate Knights were winners over the Grandview Grizzlies on day 1 of the BC School Sports 3A Boys Basketball Provincial Championships at Langley Events Centre. Ryan Molag photo

Seven of the top eight seeds all advanced on the opening day of the BC School Sports 3A Boys Basketball Provincial Championships at Langley Events Centre.

It sets up day 2’s quarter-final round (March 7) with all of the games on Centre Court at Langley Events Centre. The first of the four games tips off at 3:30pm between No. 2 Dover Bay and No. 7 St. Thomas More Collegiate. It is followed by No. 3 Lord Byng against No. 11 Mark R. Isfeld (5:15pm), No. 4 North Delta vs. No. 5 M.E.I. (7:00pm) and wraps up with No. 1 St. Patrick playing No. 8 A.R. MacNeill.

A 29-5 run bridging the first and second quarters helped the Dover Bay Dolphins to an 82-40 win over Gladstone Gladiators. Tarman Sandhu scored 20 points – all of which came in the middle two quarters. Venedick Madrid and Andrei Todio each scored seven points for Gladstone.

The Dolphins now face the St. Thomas More Collegiate Knights after the seventh-seed overcame a quick start from the Grandview Heights Grizzlies. The Surrey school was making its first-ever appearance at provincials and jumped out to the 15-5 lead before the Knights regained control, winning 75-63. Zeru Abera’s 29 points were tops for the Knights with Xavier Riddler-Brown scoring 17 for Grandview Heights.

The Lord Byng Grey Ghosts clamped down defensively, holding the College Heights Cougars to 31 points in a decisive 77-31 victory. Dylan King had 16 points, while Hart Kreter and Marco Radic chipped in 15 and 13 points, respectively. Tolu Bankole had 11 points for College Heights.

The only upset of the day saw the No. 11 Mark R. Isfeld Ice upset the No. 6 Maple Ridge Ramblers 76-68. It was a two-point game at the half before the Ice used a 25-14 third quarter to pull away from the Ramblers. Parker Guile had 23 while Bryson Gailloux-Milina added 19. Moe Mouwia and Dwayne Tabang scored 15 for Maple Ridge.

The M.E.I. Eagles held the Windsor Wolves to 17 points in the second half, turning a close game into a 74-53 opening-round win. Isaac Skeels nailed six 3-pointers, finishing with 18 points, while Carter Giesbrecht had 19 for the Eagles. Oscar Rouillard led the Wolves with 15.

Twenty-eight points from Harvir Hothi and another 17 courtesy of Amarpreet Lalli led the North Delta Huskies to a 66-45 victory over the Wellington Wildcats. Grayson Ritzand had 18 for the Wildcats.

Chad Gammad scored 36 while Joaquin Bautista added 22 points as the A.R. MacNeill Ravens opened their tournament with a 70-58 win over the South Kamloops Titans. Charlie McKay (14 points) and Noah Henson (12) were the leading scorers for the Titans.

The Ravens’ next opponent is the two-time defending champion and top-seed St. Patrick Celtics. The Celtics crushed the Caledonia Kermodes 107-37 to close out day 1. Riley Santa Juana was tops for St. Patrick with 17 points and Ethan Santa Juana was right behind with 16. Brome Hansen had nine for Mount Baker.