The 75th anniversary of the provincial final tonight at the LEC could be a doozy, with teams who have combined for four B.C. titles at different levels over the past three years
It’s a hometown team versus the reigning titleholders in the main event of championship Saturday for the B.C. high school girls basketball provincials at the Langley Events Centre.
The No. 4 seeded Brookswood Bobcats of Langley face the No. 2 Seaquam Seahawks of North Delta for the Quad A banner at 7:45 p.m. on the LEC arena bowl floor to wrap up a four-finals day.
The provincials are celebrating its 75th anniversary and as part of that organizers have moved the title games this year from the LEC’s centre court (capacity: 2,200) to the arena (capacity: 6,000 plus).
Seaquam beat Port Coquitlam’s Riverside Rapids 79-73 in last year’s Quad A championship at centre court. As it happens, Brookswood won the Triple A title game there that preceded it, scoring a 69-63 overtime triumph over Victoria’s St. Michaels University School Blue Jags,
The Bobcats were bumped up to Quad A for this season because of population changes at their school.
This year’s Triple A finale goes today at 5:30 p.m. and features the No. 1 MEI Eagles (Abbotsford) and the No. 2 Sa-Hali Sabres (Kamloops). In the Double A title tilt at 3:15 p.m., it’s the No. 1 Holy Cross Crusaders (Surrey) against No. 2 St. Michaels University School. Championship Saturday begins at 1 p.m., with the Single A matchup between the No. 1 Pacific Christian Pacers (Victoria) and the No. 2 Sir Alexander Mackenzie Grizzlies (Hagensborg).
Seaquam is trying to become the first team since the 2019-20 Semiahmoo Thunderbirds (Surrey) to win Quad A twice in a row. The Seahawks beat No. 3 seeded Riverside 73-61 Friday in the semifinals at south court, keeping the Rapids from a fourth straight final.
Riverside lost 77-75 to their crosstown Terry Fox Ravens rivals in the 2022 championship game, and then beat Langley’s Walnut Grove Gators 70-52 in 2023 to capture the banner. Riverside Grade 12 guard Jorja Hart, who had 33 points and nine rebounds on Friday, played on all three of previous Riverside teams as well.
Grade 12 centre Sydney Roufosse finished with 25 points and 10 rebounds for Seaquam. She’s just one of four Grade 12s on Seaquam’s 13-player roster.
Brookswood has a mere five Grade 12s among its 13 players, and they’re led by Grade 10 guard Jordyn Nohr, who went for 32 points in a 67-58 win over the No. 1 Argyle Pipers Friday to advance
Brookswood went on a 17-0 run to start the second half, turning a taut 28-27 lead into a comfortable 45-27 one. They survived Nohr being on the bench with four fouls for about six minutes of the second half as well.
The core of this Brookswood team is looking for a third straight title. They captured the junior girls provincial crown at the LEC in 2023. Seaquam’s core group won the junior girls there in 2022.
MEI beat the No. 4 Vernon Panthers 64-55 Friday to advance, while Sa-Hali downed the No. 3 Duchess Park Condors (Prince George) 55-52 in a game that featured 10 lead changes.
Holy Cross outlasted the No. 4 St. Thomas More Knights (Burnaby) 81-73. STM cut a 32-point deficit in the fourth quarter to a five-point one, but couldn’t get any closer. SMUS joined Holy Cross in Saturday’s game by virtue of a 55-22 win over the No. 6 Britannia Bruins (Vancouver).
In Single A, Pacific Christian beat the No. 4 Unity Christian Flames (Chilliwack) 50-23 in a rematch of last year’s final. Unity Christian won that 83-75. Sir Alexander Mackenzie advanced with a 62-59 win over the Credo Christian Kodiaks (Langley).
@SteveEwen