Knights, Eagles, Rapids and Seahawks last four teams standing at TBI

M.E.I. Eagles' Ella Tatlock helped her team rally in the fourth quarter as they defeated the Holy Cross Crusaders 67-56 in semi-final action in the Select 16 Bracket at the Tsumura Basketball Invitational Girls Tournament on Dec. 15 at Langley Events Centre. Gary Ahuja photo

The St. Thomas More Collegiate Knights and the M.E.I. Eagles are set to battle for the Select 16 crown while in the Super 16 bracket, it will be the Seaquam Seahawks against the Riverside Rapids.

The four teams were all winners in their respective semi-final games at the 2023 Tsumura Basketball Invitational Girls Tournament on Friday at Langley Events Centre.

The Knights (Burnaby) and Eagles (Abbotsford) will take the court on Saturday at 3:00pm with the Select 16 championship on the line, while the Seahawks and Rapids follow at 4:45pm. Both games are set for South Court.

The 32-team TBI will see the first games of the final day tip off at 8:30am. All TBI games are free to attend. For those unable to make it out to LEC, game can be streamed free of charge at TFSETV.ca. For schedule and scores, please visit www.langleyeventscentre.com/tbi 

SUPER 16

Seaquam 67 Brookswood 40

In a battle between two teams with championship pedigrees and lofty provincial rankings, it was the No. 3 seed from the BC School Sports 4A level, Seaquam Seahawks with the convincing 67-40 win over the top-ranked BC School Sports 3A team the Brookswood Bobcats.

The core of this Seahawks squad won the 2022 Junior Girls Basketball Provincial Invitational Tournament while this Bobcats crew won the event in 2023. And for this season, Brookswood came into the TBI ranked first in the most BC School Sports polls for 3A teams while Seaquam entered as the 4A #3.

Both now playing at the senior level – despite having several players each still eligible to play junior – Seaquam built an early 14-4 lead and never looked back in securing the double-digit triumph.

Grade 11 Mackenzie Henderson led Seaquam with 15 points while Grade 10s Camryn Tait and Callie Brost chipped in with 14 and 13 points, respectively. For Brookswood, it was a pair of Grade 9s leading the way as Ashley Vande Ven had 16 and Jordyn Nohr scored 14.

Riverside 86 Burnaby Central 81

The Riverside Rapids hunt for a third consecutive TBI tournament title remains alive after they defeated the Burnaby Central Wildcats 86-81.

The game was a battle of two of the top four ranked BC School Sports 4A teams as Riverside entered the tournament No. 2 while the Wildcats were No. 4, but Burnaby Central fell behind by double digits in the first quarter, only getting the lead to less than nine points late in the fourth quarter.

Riverside’s Avery Sussex scored 41 while Jorga Hart added 18. Burnaby Central was led by Ankita Chopra’s 28 points, with Kierra Blundell added 22 and Vobia Kalome chipped in 16.

Other Day 3 scores:

Okanagan Mission 97 South Delta 57

South Kamloops 40 Reynolds 32

G.W. Graham 60 Langley Christian 50

Kelowna 66 Charles Best 54

St. Michaels University School 58 Yale 51

Argyle 71 Mulgrave 45

SELECT 16

St. Thomas More Collegiate 51 Walnut Grove 40

It was a stunning turnaround for the St. Thomas More Collegiate Knights. Tied at the half, the Knights managed a meagre five points in the third quarter, falling behind 36-29 with a period to play. And after the Walnut Grove Gators opened the fourth with another basket to push the lead to nine, the Knights sharpshooters found their mark, rattling off 22 consecutive points – including six three pointers -- in a 51-40 semi-final win. Walnut Grove was held to just four points in the quarter.

And it was a pair of juniors who led the Knights with Grade 10 guard/forward Mackenzie Pagtakhan scoring 18 while Grade 9 guard Demicah Arnaldo adding 14. The Gators – who had the significant height advantage – received 15 points from 6-2 forward Lyla McKay and another 10 from 6-0 guard Kyanna Knodel.

M.E.I. 67 Holy Cross 56

A dominant fourth quarter allowed the M.E.I. Eagles in their semi-final clash with the Holy Cross Crusaders. The Eagles trailed by five points early in the final period but allowed just two field goals – and seven total points – the rest of the way, while their own offence awoke to score 23 points over those 10 minutes as they defeated the Crusaders 67-56.

The trio of Lola Reimer (22 points), Ella Tatlock (20) and Olivia Sidhu (15) combined for 57 of the team’s 67 points. Tatlock also hit four three-pointers while Reimer sank a pair of triples for the Eagles. Chloe Mangalindan countered with 21 points (including five three-pointers) and Solene Jackson added 14 to lead the Crusaders.

Other Day 3 scores:

Clayton Heights 59 Abbotsford Traditional 41

Heritage Woods 58 Fleetwood Park 57

Sir Winston Churchill 64 R.A. McMath 50

Lord Tweedsmuir 70 Oak Bay 57

Abbotsford Christian 49 Maple Ridge 33

Notre Dame 53 Britannia 43

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