Quarter-final matchups all set

The 14th-seed R.E. Mountain Eagles nearly pulled off a huge upset, leading into the fourth quarter before falling to the No. 3 West Vancouver Highlanders. Ryan Molag photo

The top eight seeds all advanced on the opening day of the BC School Sports 4A Boys Basketball Provincial Championships at Langley Events Centre.

The quarter-final round – which will all be played in the Arena Bowl – gets underway at 3:30pm with No. 2 Spectrum facing No. 7 Burnaby South. The rest of the matchups are No. 3 West Vancouver against No. 6 Semiahmoo (5:15pm), No. 4 Tamanawis vs. No. 5 Vancouver College, and No. 1 Oak Bay facing No. 8 Yale (8:45pm).

The No. 2 Spectrum Thunder shook off a slow start – they trailed 18-16 after 10 minutes – to defeat the Prince George Polars 89-56. J Elijah Helman’s 29 points led the Thunder as he was one of five Spectrum players to reach double digits. Jules Tersago and Harsh Cheema had 13 points apiece for the Polars.

Next up for Spectrum is the seventh-seed Burnaby South Rebels, who were 86-73 winners over the Lord Tweedsmuir Panthers. Lordrikk Gutierrez finished with 30 points for Burnaby South with Keoni Sacco adding 21. Munroop Gill was tops for Tweedsmuir with 23 points.

A fourth-quarter rally helped the No. 3 West Vancouver Highlanders avoid the upset, as they held off the No. 14 R.E. Mountain Eagles 67-59. The Eagles led by eight points early in the fourth quarter but were outscored 19-3 the rest of the way. Calvin Kuzyk’s 19 points led West Vancouver while the trio of Jeremy Liston, Kaizer Nystrom and Soy Ryu each scored 16 points for the Eagles.

Down four at the half, the Semiahmoo Thunderbirds rallied for the 73-64 win over the Kelowna Owls. Jack Clayton and Jack Snead scored 28 and 21 points, respectively, for the Thunderbirds. Nash Semeniuk’s 29 points led the Owls.

The Vancouver College Fighting Irish overpowered the Sullivan Heights Stars in the second half of a 74-51 victory. The Irish were up five at the break before dominating the second half, using a balanced scoring attack. Aidan Lear led the team with 13 while Vince Velasquez had 11. Ethan Hugall’s 17 points led the Stars.

Vancouver College next faces the Tamanawis Wildcats after the Surrey school was a 95-52 winner over the Heritage Woods Kodiaks. Michael Adariwah-Nti had 15 of his team-leading 19 points in the first half. Joseph Thompson scored 24 for the Kodiaks.

The closest game of the day in the 4A tournament saw the No. 8 Yale Lions hold off the No. 9 St. George’s School Saints 100-97. Grade 10 Taige Roberts led the Lions with 31 points while Nylan Roberts and Aaron Adams each scored 26. Dorian Glogovac had 37 points for the Saints.

Yale next matches up against the top-seed Oak Bay Bays after the Victoria school won 97-47 over the Mount Baker Wild. Owen Lewis and Diem Orser scored 14 points apiece to lead the Bays while Inman Vito and Ty Gauthier had 11 points each for the Wild.