AAA High-School Basketball Provincials Preview

With the Telus BC Boys' AAA Championships starting March 10th at the PNE Agrodome and the AAA Girls Provincial Tournament kicking off on March 11th at Capilano College, "March Madness" BC style is definitely in full swing.

On the boys' side, the number one ranked South Kamloops Titans are favoured to win it all and a big reason for that is Kelly Olynyk. "Kelly is six-foot-ten and plays like a guard. He has a skill set that in this province is once a decade,," comments Howard Tsumura, sports writer for The Province. In his senior year, Kelly has been unstoppable, averaging over 30 points per game. However, South Kamloops is a much deeper team than just one player. The Titans have a great supporting cast, which includes post David Wagner and senior John Bantock. "South Kamloops has gone from struggling with its No. 1 ranking to embracing it, and now they look like the kind of team that can win the whole thing. But there are five to six others that could win and it would not be an upset," says Tsumura.

One of these other teams is Richmond's R.C. Palmer Griffins. Ranked fifth in the province, the bulk of the Griffins' senior players have made an appearance at the provincials every year since grade 9 so experience is definitely on their side. Other top teams to look out for are White Rock Christian Academy, St. George's, Vancouver College and, defending champs, Yale from Abbotsford. And for those of you who like rooting for the underdog, Tsumura believes the Byrne Creek Bulldogs could raise some eyebrows come tournament time. "Byrne Creek is very good and scary. Just based on the way they press, and the belief they have in it, they could make noise."

On the girls' side, one of the most touted players is Handsworth Royals' point guard Diana Lee. In grade 11, Lee has been starting on the senior team since grade 9, and this season, has been averaging nearly 20 points a game. "Diana is one of the best point guards I have seen in many, many years," comments Tsumura.

The Royals will have to deal with the likes of last year's tournament-toppers, the Elgin Park Orcas, whose grade 12 post Kendra Asleson is one of the province's strongest.

Also in the running is Riverside from Coquitlam. "Because Handsworth and Elgin are so strong, people might figure Riverside can't do it. But if they get into a one game situation for everything, they have enough returning talent that knows what a battle it is to try and win a BC title,"explains Tsumura.

This year's provincial tournaments are sure to showcase the talent of BC's top high-school ball players, so be sure to check it out!