The road to redemption begins this Wednesday (March 1) for the Riverside Rapids senior girls' basketball team.
The Port Coquitlam school is back as one of the top-tier teams at the B.C. AAAA provincial championships, and are looking to grab hold of the blue banner after losing it by two points last year.
In 2022, Riverside (#1) lost the final to cross-town rivals Terry Fox Secondary (#3) by a score of 77-75, settling for silver and one trophy shy of the season's unofficial triple crown: the Tsumura Invitational, Fraser Norths and provincials.
This time, the green, blue and white may look to mirror the Ravens' success from one year ago.
The Rapids are seeded third following BC School Sports' rankings results for the 2023 tournament on Wednesday (Feb. 22).
The governing body for secondary sports in the province dropped Riverside from the first overall spot, which they were seeded for the majority of the 2022-23 campaign, after losing to Burnaby Central in the Fraser North regional championship.
The Wildcats' 74-61 victory propelled them from seventh to second, giving way for Eastern Fraser Valley-champion Walnut Grove Secondary to claim the tournament's top seed.
Riverside will be led by four Grade 12s on the roster: Natalie Curley, Alexis Hart, Grace Park and Avery Sussex.
The team's first match is against the 14th-seeded R.E. Mountain Eagles on March 1 at 5:15 p.m.
With PoCo's entry, each Tri-Cities community is set to be represented in the battle for the B.C. AAAA senior girls' basketball provincial title.
Port Moody's Heritage Woods Secondary and Coquitlam's Dr. Charles Best Secondary qualified for the 16-team tournament with the 10th and 13th rankings respectively.
The Kodiaks, who finished 12th in the 2022 event, are set to take on seventh-seeded Okanagan Mission (Kelowna) at 7 p.m. on March 1.
The Blue Devils will tip-off against number-four Yale Secondary (Abbotsford) at 12 p.m. earlier that day.
All games are set to be played at the Langley Events Centre.
Junior Boys
The B.C. junior boys' basketball championships began Saturday (Feb. 25) and one Tri-Cities team has already pulled off a major upset.
Heritage Woods, ranked 12th in the 32-team contest, has advanced to the quarter-finals after defeating fifth-seed Westsyde Secondary (Kamloops) by a score of 67-59.
Afu Bullock scored a game-high 25 points to send the Port Moody school to the elite eight.
Earlier yesterday, the Kodiaks won their first-round contest 68-26 over North Vancouver's Windsor Secondary (#21).
Heritage Woods is set to face #4 Sullivan Heights (Surrey) at 11 a.m. today (Feb. 26).
The Kodiaks claimed bronze at the Fraser North regionals to solidify their provincials berth, defeating Burnaby Mountain 66-65 in overtime for the higher seed.
Meanwhile, Coquitlam's Centennial Secondary is looking to win the provincials' relegation bracket.
The 23rd-seed Centaurs fell 71-40 to 10th-ranked Handsworth Secondary (North Vancouver) in their tournament opener, but rallied back to beat #26 Oak Bay (Victoria) 52-39 last night.
Alex Birsan is Centennial's leading scorer thus far, combining for 35 points in two games.
Centennial can now finish as high as 17th if they win their final two games, the next of which is set for 12:30 p.m. today against #15 Vernon Secondary.
