The middle of December in Victoria can only mean one thing for local basketball fans 鈥� the Gary Taylor Classic.
The annual high school hoops fest gets underway at 1:15 p.m. today at Oak Bay as the sa国际传媒 quadruple-A No. 9-ranked host Bays face Wellington, the No. 3-rated triple-A team on the Island in senior boys.
Cowichan meets St. Michaels University School at 3 p.m., while Lambrick Park tackles Sir Winston Churchill of Calgary at 4:45 p.m. before opening day play wraps up with Belmont playing Vancouver College at 6:30 p.m.
Semifinals take place Friday at 5:45 and 7:30 p.m. and the championship game is slated for Saturday at 6 p.m.
The SMUS Blue Jags are seeded both No. 1 on the Island and province in double-A play, while local rivals, Lambrick Park, are No. 3 on the Island and No. 5 in the province behind Brentwood College, which is not competing in this event after defeating G.W. Graham 94-85 in its tournament final on the Mainland last weekend. Cowichan is ranked No. 2 on the Island in quadruple-A, just ahead of No. 3 Belmont.
Oak Bay is coming off a 79-73 tournament victory over host Vancouver College at the Emerald Classic last weekend and also defeated Belmont 76-68 in league play on Tuesday. SMUS finished third at that Van College tournament.
鈥淭he boys always look forward to the Gary Taylor and it鈥檚 always a nice event for the community,鈥� said Bays coach Chris Franklin, whose team defeated Sir Winston Churchill by one point in last year鈥檚 thrilling tournament final.
The Bays will also honour former coach Don Horwood on Friday.
鈥淥ur expectations, as always, are high. I think the Island is pretty competitive this year and with Belmont hosting Islands, they will be strong with Dontae [Bull] and a couple of strong guards,鈥� said Franklin, who watched his team pull off a 12-0 run in the third quarter against Belmont on Tuesday.
That stretch broke a 42-42 tie and led to the 76-68 win, but the Bulldogs are scrappy and went on a 12-3 run of its own to keep it close.
鈥淭hey gave us some fits and they sat in their zone and once Dontae is in full form they will be a handful,鈥� Franklin said of the Bulldogs, who were led by Nathan Zaragoza with 24 points, with Bull adding 21. Caelan Scott had 19 for the Bays, while Isaiah Romanow and Jack Mulcahy added 15 and 12, respectively.
Oak Bay has plenty of depth and tends to wear teams down, led by Jaden Touchie, who has already committed to the UVic Vikes for next season. Touchie was in foul trouble Tuesday against Belmont and did foul out with 2:29 to go.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a great tournament,鈥� Bulldogs coach Kevin Brown said of the Gary Taylor, where the Belmont will face Vancouver College today. 鈥淵ou want to play those best teams to see where you鈥檙e at. I鈥檇 rather play them first than play a local team [which you know already], so we like the draw.鈥�
Brown wants to see his team develop through the season, which will soon break for Christmas.
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