Irish end lengthy title drought, prevail in 4A final

A chaotic Championship Saturday saw three underdogs — including a No. 10 seed — pull off upset victories to close out the BC School Sports Boys Basketball Provincial Championships.

The day capped four days of basketball at Langley Events Centre, featuring 64 teams and 128 games across four tiers.

The No. 10 Similkameen Sparks stunned the top-seeded St. John’s School Eagles to win the 1A title, while a pair of No. 2 seeds — the Collingwood Cavaliers (2A) and Vancouver College Fighting Irish (4A) — also claimed championships with victories over No. 1 seeds Notre Dame Jugglers and Dover Bay Dolphins, respectively.

The only top seed to capture its tier was the St. Patrick Celtics, who defeated the No. 2 L.A. Matheson Mustangs in the 3A final.

Results, box scores and news can also be found at www.bchighschoolbasketballchampionships.com.

1A Tournament

Third in their zone, but first in the province — that’s the story of the Similkameen Sparks.

The No. 10 seed completed a remarkable Cinderella run on Saturday afternoon, winning their fourth straight upset to defeat the top-seeded and defending champion St. John’s School Eagles 75–63 on Ken Winslade Court inside the Arena Bowl at Langley Events Centre.

The teams were meeting in the gold medal game of the BC School Sports 1A Boys Basketball Provincial Championship.

Similkameen — tied with Sparwood and Glenlyon Norfolk for the most 1A tournament appearances — captured the fourth provincial title in program history, defeating the top three seeds and the No. 7 seed on their road to the title. It marked the Keremeos school’s first championship since 2001.

Despite the final score, St. John’s held the advantage for 21:26 of the 40 minutes in a tightly contested matchup that featured eight ties and 14 lead changes.

The Sparks were led by tournament Most Valuable Player Balkaran Lidhar, who finished with 27 points and 14 rebounds. Jasdeep Dhaliwal added 23 points, including nine of 10 from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter.

Lucas Pawlowski paced the Eagles with 16 points and 20 rebounds.

In the bronze medal game, the Immaculata Mustangs defeated the Vernon Christian Royals 61–57 in overtime in an all Thompson-Okanagan matchup. Kai Oliveria led the Mustangs with 20 points, while JD Vass had a game-high 27 for the Royals.

Tournament Awards & Honours

• MVP: Balkaran Lidhar, Similkameen

• Best Defensive Player: Lucas Pawlowski, St. John’s School

• Championship Players of the Game: Krishon Terbasket, Similkameen; Remi Francois-Anderson, St. John’s School

• Most Sportsmanlike Team: Ebenezer Timbers

• School Spirit Award: Credo Christian Kodiaks

• Most Inspirational Team: Nisga'a Chiefs

• Most Inspirational Player: Naden Brown, Daaxigaan Sḵadáa Née

All-Stars

• First Team: Oliver Gingras (Vernon Christian), J.D. Vass (Vernon Christian), Jasdeep Dhaliwal (Similkameen), Remi Anderson-Francois (St. John’s School), Kian Afshar (St. John’s School)

• Second Team: Trace Swain (Daaxigaan Sḵadáa Née), Mateo Rizzo (Immaculata), Brayden McLaughlin, Kirn Dulohan (Similkameen), Douglas Cassidy (St. John’s School)

2A Tournament

They knew it wouldn’t come easy.

The Collingwood Cavaliers had already faced the Notre Dame Jugglers four times this season — winning the first meeting before dropping the next three, including last month’s Vancouver Sea-to-Sky zone championship game.

So when the No. 1-seeded Jugglers met the No. 2 Cavaliers on Saturday afternoon on Ken Winslade Court inside the Arena Bowl at Langley Events Centre, with the BC School Sports 2A Boys Basketball Provincial Championship on the line, another tight battle was expected.

Collingwood briefly trailed in the opening quarter before a 22–10 second quarter gave the Cavaliers a lead they carried into the final frame. But the Jugglers — the tournament’s top seed — rallied late and pulled ahead 63–61 with just minutes remaining.

Undeterred, the Cavaliers answered back, regaining the lead and sealing the 78–72 victory with clutch free-throw shooting down the stretch.

The championship marks Collingwood’s third provincial title in program history and their second in the past three years. The Cavaliers also captured bronze in 2025.

Collingwood was powered by the duo of Elliot McNeil and Harry Bell. McNeil finished with 30 points, six rebounds and six steals, while Bell added 21 points and seven rebounds. Jake McAdam chipped in with 13 rebounds and six assists while anchoring the defence, earning the tournament’s Best Defensive Player award. McNeil was named the Most Valuable Player.

Caleb Parrotta led the Jugglers with 32 points, 11 rebounds and five steals.

The silver medal marks the best provincial finish in Notre Dame program history, surpassing last year’s fifth-place result.

The bronze medal game saw the Kalamalka Lakers (Coldstream) win 73-60 over Vancouver’s King George Dragons. Mason Clerke’s 27 points were tops on the Lakers while Abud Shawwa powered the Dragons attack with 22.

Tournament Awards & Honours

• MVP: Elliot McNeill, Collingwood

• Best Defensive Player: Jake McAdam, Collingwood

• Championship Players of the Game: Harry Bell, Collingwood; Caleb Parotta, Notre Dame

• Most Sportsmanlike Team: Surrey Christian Falcons

• School Spirit Award: Collingwood Cavaliers

• Most Inspirational Team: Summerland Rockets

• Most Inspirational Player: Nathan Roye, Notre Dame

All-Stars

• First Team: Mateo Duchek (Summerland), Caleb Parotta (Notre Dame), Connor Mabel (Notre Dame), Tylen Lewis (Kalamalka), Harry Bell (Collingwood)

• Second Team: Jacob McKearney (Westsyde), Mason Clerke (Kalamalka), Rei Ikeda (King George), Abud Shawwa (King George), Jaren Porter (Westsyde)

3A Tournament

It was a fitting finish to a dominant season.

The St. Patrick Celtics’ high-powered offence was on full display throughout the four days of the BC School Sports 3A Boys Basketball Provincial Tournament, averaging nearly 106 points per game. They capped it off by capturing the championship banner with a convincing 94–67 victory over Surrey’s L.A. Matheson

Mustangs on Ken Winslade Court inside the Arena Bowl at Langley Events Centre.

The win completed a remarkable 34–1 season for the Vancouver school and secured its third 3A provincial title in the past five years, following back-to-back championships in 2022 and 2023.

Top-seeded St. Patrick faced the No. 2-ranked Mustangs, who were making their first appearance at the tournament. Matheson pushed the favourites early, leading for nearly nine minutes across the first and second quarters before the Celtics began to pull away.

The duo of Riley Santa Juana and Dhyne Cotin powered St. Patrick’s offence. Santa Juana finished with 29 points, 10 assists, seven rebounds and five steals, while Cotin added 27 points and eight rebounds. Santa Juana was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player for his performance over the four days.

Joven Sanghera led the Mustangs with 23 points and eight rebounds.

In the bronze medal game, Victoria’s Lambrick Park Lions edged Surrey’s Enver Creek Cougars 95–90 behind a 39-point performance from Blake Pye. Avi Khanni paced the Cougars with 21 points.

Tournament Awards & Honours

• MVP: Riley Santa Juana, St. Patrick

• Best Defensive Player: Dhyne Cotin, St. Patrick

• Championship Players of the Game: Jaiden Quan, St. Patrick; Joven Sanghera, L.A. Matheson

• Inspiring Bandit Scholarship: Riley Santa Juana, St. Patrick

• Most Sportsmanlike Team: Mount Baker Wild

• School Spirit Award: L.A. Matheson Mustangs

• Most Inspirational Team: College Heights Cougars

• Most Inspirational Player: Sameer Sandhar, Enver Creek

All-Stars

• First Team: Avi Khanna (Enver Creek), Damien Onokpite (L.A. Matheson), Jemuel Castro (St. Patrick), Dhyne Cotin (St. Patrick), Blake Pye (Lambrick Park)

• Second Team: Sahaj Hans (Enver Creek), Illia Maydan (Argyle), Jaxen Lust (Brentwood College), Joven Sanghera (L.A. Matheson), Mercer Thiessen (M.E.I.)

4A Tournament

Nearly 60 years after their last championship victory, the Vancouver College Fighting Irish are back on top of the basketball world.

The Irish won their first BC School Sports 4A Boys Basketball Provincial Tournament on Saturday night on Ken Winslade Court in front of a packed crowd in the Arena Bowl at Langley Events Centre. Vancouver College – the second seed – overcame an early 9-0 deficit to defeat the No. 1 Dover Bay Dolphins 94-67.

Vancouver College last won the title in 1967 and this marks the program’s sixth all-time, marking the most by any school at the 4A level.

The Irish nearly weren’t even in the final, needing to score the final 12 points the night before in a comeback semi-final victory, 70-69, over the Oak Bay Bays, just to make Saturday’s game.

The championship final saw the Irish’s Ashton Wong score 37 points to go alongside his 12 rebounds. Micah Mayott added 16 while Ethan Chau and Lucas Tan-Ngo each scored 13.

Dane Schmidt led the Dolphins with 25 points while Joe Linder added 23.

The third-place game saw the Kelowna Owls 73-68 with Finn Stewart scoring 17 to lead the Owls. Simon Wiwcharuk-Burr was tops for Kelowna with 22.

Tournament Awards & Honours

• MVP: Ashton Wong, Vancouver College

• Best Defensive Player: Micah Mayott, Vancouver College

• Quinn Keast Foundation Championship Player of the Game: Micah Mayott, Vancouver College

• Braich Foundation Most Inspirational Player: Willem Urban, St. George's School

• Inspiring Bandit Scholarship: Taige Roberts, Yale; Avery Neilsen, Kitsilano

• Primetime Sports Scholarship: Jack Snead, Semiahmoo

• Most Inspirational Team: Panorama Ridge Thunder

• Wink Willox Most Sportsmanlike Team: North Peace Grizzlies• School Spirit Award: Vancouver College Fighting Irish

All-Stars

• First Team: Alex Birsan (Centennial), Dane Schmidt (Dover Bay), Joe Linder (Dover Bay), Lucas Tan-Ngo (Vancouver College), Simon Wiwcharuk-Burr (Oak Bay)

• Second Team: Roman Simmons (St. George's School), Jack Snead (Semiahmoo), Luka Guzina (Tamanawis), Wells Grundy (Kelowna), Nathan Chen (Vancouver College)

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