Two spots to the sa国际传媒 triple-A senior girls basketball championship are on the line when action begins today at the Island championship at Claremont.
The host and South No. 2 Spartans would love a shot at redemption after losing by six to No. 1 Oak Bay at last week鈥檚 city championship at Belmont.
Belmont, Mount Douglas and Stelly鈥檚 round out the South representation, while Dover Bay, G.P. Vanier and Alberni are the top three seeds from the North, respectively. Stelly鈥檚 secures the extra South spot as Carihi did not field a team for a challenge game.
鈥淲e鈥檝e seen Dover and Vanier at a tournament in Nanaimo and both are good teams,鈥� said Claremont assistant coach Darren Reisig. 鈥淭hey are definitely more competitive this year than they have been the last couple of years.鈥�
Oak Bay remains the favourite to get through as the Breakers feature tremendous height and depth.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 our hope, to get a chance to try and beat them, but we have to get there first. Hopefully, it鈥檚 third time lucky,鈥� Reisig said of an opportunity to down Oak Bay. The Breakers won the regular-season clash and then the city final on Saturday.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e the previous [Island] champs and the current city champs. They鈥檙e a good squad and have to be the favourite going in, but the field is more competitive than in year鈥檚 past,鈥� added Reisig.
The tournament begins with the Spartans tipping it off today against Alberni at 2 p.m., followed by Dover Bay versus Mount Douglas at 3:45 p.m., Belmont against Vanier at 5:30 p.m. and Oak Bay facing Stelly鈥檚 at 7:15 p.m.
Winners of those matchups meet in semifinals on Friday at 5:30 p.m. and 7:15 p.m., and the championship game is set for 6 p.m. on Saturday following the 4 p.m. third-place matchup. The third-place finisher will have an opportunity to challenge its way into provincials.
Meanwhile, at the double-A championship at Wellington, play begins today with Pacific Christian taking on the host team at 2 p.m., followed by Mark Isfeld versus Gulf Islands at 3:45 p.m. St. Michaels University School takes on Kwalikum at 5:30 p.m. and Lambrick Park plays Ballenas at 7:15 p.m.
Semifinals are slated for 5:30 and 7:15 p.m. on Friday. The championship game goes Saturday at 6 p.m. following the third-place game at 4:15 p.m. Top two teams advance to provincials in Langley and the third-place finisher can challenge for a wild-card berth.
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