A fourth-place finish at last year鈥檚 sa国际传媒 quad-A boys basketball championship left a sour taste in the mouths of the Oak Bay Bays.
So they plan on doing something about it, this time around.
Oak Bay returns nine players from the squad that lost a heartbreaker to Kelowna Secondary in last year鈥檚 provincial semifinal, and they鈥檙e eager to get back to the Langley Events Centre for some revenge.
But first things first, and that鈥檚 a quarter-final matchup today against Spectrum on Day 1 of the Island championship. Oak Bay will play host to today鈥檚 game, which features the No. 1 seed against the South No. 5-ranked Thunder.
The remaining games of the tournament, including today鈥檚 other three quarter-finals, will be held at Cowichan Secondary as the teams battle for the Island鈥檚 two berths to the sa国际传媒 championship, which goes March 7-10 at the LEC.
鈥淲e definitely didn鈥檛 like how last year ended and the boys look forward to trying to get back there again,鈥� said Oak Bay head coach Chris Franklin, whose club rolled off four tournament victories this season.
Franklin鈥檚 team, ranked No. 1 in the province, faces a bit of an unknown in today鈥檚 opener.
鈥淲e didn鈥檛 face Spectrum this season so we鈥檙e not quite sure what to expect 鈥� other than they鈥檙e big and I鈥檓 sure will be at their best.鈥�
The other quarter-finals have host Cowichan taking on Claremont at 2:15 p.m., North top seed Nanaimo District going up against Mount Douglas at 4 p.m. and South second seed Belmont playing Dover Bay at 5:45 p.m. The Bulldogs grabbed the other provincial berth from the Island last season.
The quarter-final winners advance to Friday鈥檚 semifinals at 5:45 and 7:30 p.m. The final is slated for Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
The triple-A Islands also start today at Carihi. The hosts are joined by Mark Isfeld, Royal Bay, G.P. Vanier, Stelly鈥檚, Wellington, Reynolds and Vic High. The final goes at 8 p.m. on Saturday. The top three teams advance to the triple-A provincials, also March 7-10 at the LEC.
At the double-A Islands starting today at St. Michaels University School, top-ranked Brentwood College is the favourite and opens today at 3:45 p.m. against Pacific Christian. The other quarter-finals feature the hosts against Highland at 2 p.m., Ladysmith taking on Lambrick Park at 5:30 p.m. and Shawnigan Lake playing Brooks at 7:15 p.m. The final goes Saturday at 7:15 p.m, with 2 1脷2 berths awarded for the provincial tournament, which also goes March 7-10 at the LEC.
