The Terry Fox Ravens and Centennial Centaurs will play quarterfinal games today, Dec. 5, at the Tsumura Invitational high school boys basketball tournament at the Langley Events Centre (LEC).
The upstart Ravens, comprised mostly of sophomores and juniors who won the junior provincial championship last season, defeated the seventh-ranked Kelowna Owls 77-66 Wednesday, Dec. 4, in their opening round game at the tournament.
Forward Jayson Ikani scored 21 points — 10 of them in the fourth quarter — to lead the Ravens, who are unranked.
Grade 10 forward Deklen Martin chipped in 16 points, 12 of them from beyond the three-point line.
Fox plays fourth-ranked Vancouver College in its quarterfinal game, 4:30 p.m., at the LEC.
The Centaurs, meanwhile, will face the second-ranked AAA team in the province, Vancouver’s St. Patrick Celtics, in its quarter-final at 6:15 p.m.
Centennial, which was seventh in the AAAA rankings last week but had slipped to an honourable mention, defeated Yale 81-71 in their opening match.
Towering 6’7” junior Alex Birsan accounted for 35 of the Centaurs’ points. He also pulled down 15 rebounds.
Senior guard Taisho Gilmour scored 16 points.
Port Moody’s Heritage Woods Kodiaks lost its tournament opener, 89-71, to the fifth-ranked St. George’s Saints. It plays Abbotsford’s M.E.I. in a consolation round game.
The Tsumura Invitational is one of the premier early-season high school basketball tournaments in the province. It brings together 32 top-ranked teams that play in two “Super 16” and “Select 16” brackets.
The girls’ tournament will be played Dec. 11 to 14, also at the LEC.
Port Coquitlam’s Riverside Rapids and the Dr. Charles Best Blue Devils from Coquitlam will play in the “Super 16” bracket while the Centennial Centaurs and Heritage Woods Kodiaks draw into the “Select 16” bracket.
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