They have really put the Taylor in the Gary Taylor Classic boys’ high school basketball tournament this year.
The tournament is named after the Oak Bay Bays coaching legend Gary Taylor. On the host Bays team will be his grandson, Grade 11 guard Heath Taylor, while Gary’s son Graham Taylor is co-coach of the Bays along with Chris Franklin.
“It’s a real family affair,” quipped Franklin.
Not only is Heath Taylor dribbling the ball in a tournament named after his grandfather but also on a court named after him. Heath’s sister, the graduated former Oak Bay girls’ player Lynden Taylor, also did the same during her high school basketball career.
The floor in the main Oak Bay gym is named Gary Taylor Court in honour of the man who led the Bays to high school greatness in the late 1950s and the 1960s with six Island championships and four sa国际传媒 championship-game appearances, including two provincial titles, before becoming head coach of the University of Victoria Vikes. Son Graham Taylor played at Oak Bay before winning three national championships with Ken Shields’ UVic Vikes dynasty teams.
This season’s Oak Bay team, ranked No. 2 in sa国际传媒 in Quad-A behind only the Semiahmoo Thunderbirds of White Rock, is carrying on the Bays tradition in fine style.
“We have good defence, strong rebounding and we take care of the ball,” said Franklin, in his 12th year at the Bays helm.
“On offence, these kids share the ball.”
The Bays are 8-0 after winning the Tsumura Basketball Invitational last week at the Langley Events Centre.
“It’s early in the season and our provincial ranking is just background noise at this point,” said Franklin.
“The kids know it eventually all comes down to winning three games in the Island championship and four in the sa国际传媒 tournament come spring.”
The Bays look well equipped to do that. Grade 12 star Griffin Arnatt, MVP of the Tsumura Invitational, is being heavily recruited by U Sports teams and fellow-guard Matthew Magnan also seems well positioned to continue his career at the next level. Six-foot-seven Grade 11 Owen Lewis is a handful in the key but can also stretch the floor in the modern-forward fashion. Heath Taylor, meanwhile is proudly carrying on the family tradition with strong backcourt play.
The host Bays open today at 2:15 p.m. against the Yale Lions of Abbotsford with other games running through 7:15. Also in the Taylor Classic are the Lambrick Park Lions and St. Michaels University School Blue Jags. The Lions and Blue Jags are ranked No. 3 and No. 5, respectively, in the sa国际传媒 Double-A poll behind top-ranked Brentwood College. Another team of note in the tournament is the Fleetwood Park Dragons of Surrey, who are ranked No. 9 in the sa国际传媒 Quad-A poll just ahead of the No. 10 Claremont Spartans, the latter who are not in the Taylor Classic. Rounding out the Taylor Classic field are the Belmont Bulldogs, Heritage Woods Kodiaks of Port Moody and Enver Creek Cougars of Surrey. Games run all day Friday, and Saturday, through to the final at 6 p.m. There is also a junior high portion of the tournament.
TIP-OFFS: Other familial echoes of high school seasons past abound this season. Emerging Spectrum Grade 10 standout Justin Hinrichsen is the son of former Carihi star, UVic Vikes national champion and 2000 Sydney Olympian Eric Hinrichsen. … Kelowna Owls star Nash Semeniuk told Howard Tsumura of Varsity Letters he was named after former St. Michaels University School great, Olympian and two-time NBA MVP Steve Nash. Semeniuk even wears the No. 13.
