The joint will definitely be jumping when the annual Gary Taylor Classic basketball tournament tips off this afternoon at Oak Bay.
The host Bays will face Cowichan at 2:15 p.m., followed by the St. Michaels University School Blue Jags vs. St. Thomas More at 4 p.m. The Lambrick Park Lions meet Vancouver College at 5:45 p.m. before the battle of the Bulldogs hits the floor with Belmont tackling Sir Winston Churchill of Calgary at 7:30 p.m.
Sir Winston Churchill edged the Bays in last year鈥檚 Classic championship game after Oak Bay did the same the year previous.
Winners will compete in the semifinals at 5:45 and 7:30 p.m. on Friday and the 2017 championship matchup is slated for Saturday at 6 p.m.
鈥淵ou always look forward to the Gary Taylor, seeing a lot of the alumni pop their heads back in to see how things are. I think the kids really look forward to it, too, playing in front of their friends and all,鈥� said Bays coach Chris Franklin, whose team is coming off a tournament win last weekend at the Tsumura Basketball Invitational, winning all four games at the Langley Events Centre.
The No. 3-ranked Bays defeated the No. 6 Holy Cross Crusaders of Surrey 86-68 in the final in which Grade 11 point guard Diego Maffia pumped in 27 points in the final as he earned tournament most valuable player honours.
The talented, well-rounded athlete is coming off an MVP performance at the Island volleyball championships and was the second-leading scorer during the provincial soccer championship.
鈥淗e鈥檚 had himself a year, doing well in a few sports,鈥� Franklin said of Maffia, who along with Calen Scott run the show for the hardwood Bays. Scott had 24 points in the championship final. 鈥淗e and Calen run the guard positions. It鈥檚 been a good start. We鈥檙e pretty senior-laden so these guys have been through the rigors before.鈥�
At the tournament, the Bays also downed No. 4 North Delta 94-48, crushed Walnut Grove 82-57 and soundly defeated Terry Fox 99-50. Maffia averaged more than 23 points a game in the four outings and the Bays proved they have a lot of athletic ability and depth.
Meanwhile, the Mount Douglas Rams will be entertaining their own tournament at the Santa Slam, starting at 1:30 p.m. today with the host Rams playing Reynolds followed by Mark Isfeld vs. Nanaimo District at 3:15 p.m.
Wellington and Carihi clash at 5 p.m., with G.P. Vanier and Royal Bay concluding the opening day at 6:45 p.m. before the tournament continues with semifinals at 6:30 and 8:15 p.m. starts. The championship game tips off at 3:15 p.m. on Saturday.
