The Nanaimo District Islanders and Royal Bay Ravens will need to bust more than a few brackets to make an impact in the 2019 sa国际传媒 girls鈥� Triple-A high school basketball championship, which begins today in the Langley Events Centre.
The Vancouver Island representatives 鈥� Nanaimo District is ranked No. 13 provincially after winning their first Island title in 29 years, and Royal Bay, ranked No. 14 鈥斅燼re among the 16-team field.
Nanaimo District shaded Royal Bay, a school which opened in 2015, by a 62-61 count in the Island championship game this month.
There is no doubt where the power schools are from this season with the top-four seeds all coming from the Fraser Valley 鈥� Semiahmoo Totems, Walnut Grove Gators, Riverside Rapids and Yale Lions. The first non-Valley team ranked is Kelowna Secondary with the Owls at No. 5.
Top-ranked Semiahmoo, led by six-foot-four NCAA Div. 1 Florida Gators-bound Faith Dut, is undefeated as it looks to track down its first girls鈥� sa国际传媒 basketball title in 66 years.
The core of the Ravens team has been together since success in junior high. Royal Bay gets the early-bird special today in the Round of 16 with the first game, an 8:45 a.m. start, against No. 3 Riverside of Port Coquitlam.
Nanaimo District, led by Island tournament MVP Sessaly Buck, meets No. 4 Yale of Abbotsford, at 4:45 p.m. The Yale team is of interest to fans of the University of Victoria with two Grade 12 Lions players headed to the Island as Vikes recruits 鈥� six-foot-two Tana Pankratz and six-one Brooklyn White.
The highly regarded Pankratz is considered a coup and one of the most dynamic high school players in the province.
鈥淭ana is one of the top players coming out of sa国际传媒 high schools and is a big part of the future for us, and someone we can build the next generation around,鈥� said UVic head coach Dani Sinlair.
鈥淪he was highly recruited and was No. 1 on our list.鈥�
White, also a rugby star, is a 鈥渄ifferent type of player who brings physicality,鈥� added Sinclair.
Six-five centre Karsen Look of the No. 6 Brookswood Bobcats of Langley is another Vikes recruit playing in the sa国际传媒 high school tournament this week.
鈥淚 have known that I wanted to play for the Vikes from the moment I stepped into CARSA for the first time,鈥� said Look.
Meanwhile, the defending-champion South Kamloops Titans headline the sa国际传媒 girls鈥� high school Double-A hoops championship, also starting today with the Sweet 16 at the LEC.
The Island-champion Lambrick Park Lions are ranked No. 9 and Island second-seed G.P. Vanier Towhees of Courtenay No. 13. The Lions open this morning at 10:15 against the No. 8 Seycove Seyhawks of North Vancouver, while the Towhees meet the No. 4 Britannia Bruins of Vancouver at noon.
The quarter-finals in both Triple-A and Double-A are Thursday, semifinals Friday and final on Saturday, all at the LEC.
