The road to Vancouver Island AA high school boys basketball supremacy runs through Ladysmith this weekend.
The top eight teams on the Island face off at Ladysmith Secondary School starting Thursday afternoon when Highland of Comox meets Lambrick Park of Saanich.
The other three opening-round matchups pit Mill Bay’s Brentwood College — the South Island’s number one seed — against Timberline of Campbell River, Kwalikum versus St. Michael’s of Saanich, and the headline match of the day at 7:15 p.m., where the North Island top-seed host squad will be pitted against North Saanich’s Parkland.
The South Island comes in as the favourites, with St. Mike’s, Brentwood and Lambrick ranked 8, 9 and 10, respectively, in the province by the BC High School Basketball Association.
The top three teams qualify for the provincials.
Juniors make rare trip to BCs
Meanwhile, the LSS junior boys squad has already qualified for the provincials with a third-place finish in the Island tournament Feb, 14 to 16 at Dover Bay.
Eric Gueldenstern was player of the game as the junior 49ers edged Belmont 54-51 in triple OT in the bronze match. This is only the third time Ladysmith has made the provincials, a tall task because in juniors there is no separation based on school size.
The team had advanced to the final by defeating Dover Bay 57-44, and Brentwood 59-56. Edumiyas Semolina and Ryan Bastian were players of the game in those matches.
Gueldenstern was also player of the game as the team opened the tourney with a 60-50 loss against St. Michael’s.
— Black Press