HISTORY OF THE BRITISH COLUMBIA
HIGH SCHOOL BOYS BASKETBALL ASSOCIATON (BCHSBBA)
In 1945, the Connaught Invitational featuring Trapp Tech, Nanaimo, Chilliwack and Duke of Connaught was held at the New Westminster Y.M.C.A. The following year, eight of the best high school basketball teams in British Columbia were invited and thus the BC.boys’ tournament was born. In this inaugural, Vancouver College Fighting Irish captured their first Provincial Championship by defeating Kamloops 34-32. They repeated as winners in 1949, 1957, 1960 and 1967. Association pioneer and Basketball Hall of Fame member Ken Wright won the tournament in 1947 with Duke of Connaught and this was the first of their four titles.
In 1948, the Tournament expanded to 16 teams and was played at the Queens Park Arenex, and Magee of Vancouver won the coveted crown by defeating Duke of Connaught 49-41 in the title game. In 1950, the Tournament moved to the New Westminster Junior High School and, under the auspices of the BC Inter-High School Boys’ Basketball Association, Duke of Connaught won the first of three successive titles (1950-51-52), a record that still stands.In 1951, the Tournament was held in the spacious U.B.C. Memorial gym where the Dukes took home the Sparling Trophy for the third consecutive year.
Led by John Kootnekoff and Fred Kabatoff, Mission brought the Fraser Valley its first provincial crown in 1954 as they edged Gladstone 40-39 in the title game. In 1955, Coach Rudy Wiley won his first of two successive championships as Trapp Tech, in every Tournament since 1946, defeated Alberni 46-37 to capture the Sparling Trophy. It was a fitting climax to a school with such a rich basketball tradition.
In 1956, Duke of Connaught and Trapp Tech amalgamated as Lester Pearson and produced one of the strongest tournament teams of all time. The Mikes had four first all-stars, George Grozier, Don Krego, Ken Winslade (Hall of Fame builder) and Dave McDonald and provided New Westminster with its 6th championship in 11 years as they defeated Magee for the B.C. title.
1956 was the beginning of a number of outstanding teams. In 1957, a great group of athletes from Vancouver College (Bob Lasko, Leo Petty, John Oster, Paul Seale) walked away with the Provincial Title, followed in 1958 by a tall and talented squad from Lord Byng featuring Dave Way, Keith Hartley, Ed Gushue and Dave Osborne. Yet another outstanding team followed in 1959 as, after many years of trying, Coach George Andrews (Hall of Fame player) and his Victoria Totems won their first B.C. Title, the start of many to come to Vancouver Island in the 1960’s. Vic High was led by Dave Black, Barry Sadler, Dave Nelson and Darrell Lorimer.
After Vancouver College won the Sparling Trophy in 1960 and Magee in 1961, outside Lower Mainland domination took over. In 1962, unheralded Victoria won its second Provincial Title by edging Vancouver College 38-34 in the championship match. After three strong attempts, Hall of Fame coach Jake Braun led his Mel Eagles to the Provincial Crown in 1963 behind the outstanding play of Ed Suderman, Jim Falk and George Heidebrecht, as they defeated Alberni 58-40 in the championship game.
The 1964 Tournament was a classic. A cinderella team from Prince Rupert won it all by crushing Kamloops 66-51, slipping past Magee 62-61, upsetting defending champion MEl. 66-64 in overtime in a game that most observers feel was the most exciting in tournament history and won the championship with a 43-41 victory over Abbotsford.
1965 saw the beginning of the Vancouver Island dynasty. Hall of Fame coach Gary Taylor’s Oak Bay teams were finalists in 1965, 66,68, and 69. The Bays won the Provincial Title in 1965 and 1968 and their rivals, the Victoria Totems, won the championship in 1966 and 1969. The Bays produced four most valuable players in those five years: Bob Burrows, Brian Mckenzie, Dave Morgan and Tom Holmes and were clearly the dominant team during the late 1960’s. In 1967, Vancouver College proved to be the spoilers of complete Vancouver Island domination as they won a record fifth Provincial Championship defeating David Thompson 56-41 in the first all-Lower Mainland championship final since 1958.
1968 ushered in a new era as games were played at the new 15,000 seat Pacific Coliseum. The Championship final was played in this new structure for the first time.
While the 1960’s belonged to Vancouver Island, the early 1970’s saw the dominance of the Fraser Valley come to the fore. Also 1970 brought a new division for BC High School Boys Basketball so for the first time there was now two tiers (1A and 2A) which were based on a schools population. The 1A tier has played their championship at various sites around BC and then at Columbia Bible College from 2003 to 2010 and now it is at the Langley Events Centre since 2014.
Coach Jake Braun won it again with MEI in 1970 by defeating arch rival Abbotsford 49-47 in one of the most thrilling tournament final games. Three out of the four teams in the semi-finals that year were from the Fraser Valley including a new force on the horizon, North Delta, who were led by most valuable player Dave Coutu. Hall of Fame coach Stan Stewardson led North Delta to the title in 1971 and future NBA player and tournament MVP, Lars Hansen of Centennial led his team to the 1972 title. Oak Bay came back on the scene winning it in 1973 and 1974 under Hall of Fame coach, Don Horwood and then North Delta won it all again in 1975. North Surrey took the title in 1976 followed by Oak Bay in 1977 and a great Nanaimo team led by the Kazanowski brothers won it all in 1978. The Burnaby South Rebels took the crown in 1979 followed by the “Hoosier” like, Duchess Park Condors, from Prince George, who won it all in 1980 despite the fact that they only had six players.
In 1981 the tournament moved to the PNE Agrodome and led by big man John Randa, the North Surrey Spartans won it in 1981. The 1982 final was an emotion packed event between West Van and Argyle and in his final game as coach of West Van Brian Upson won the title with a thrilling 49 to 48 victory. There has been a wonderful documentary made about Coach Upson and it is called: Longshot, The Brian Upson Story. After eighteen tournament appearances the dream finally came true for the Abbotsford Panthers in 1983 and then it was the Steveston Packers taking the title in 1984. Hall of Famer Bill Disbrow’s Richmond Colts then began their dominance winning in 1985, 1987, and 1988 with another Hall of Famer Ken Dockendorf winning the title with his Maple Ridge Ramblers in 1986. The Colts were trying to get a third consecutive title in 1989 when yet another Hall of Fame coach, Rich Goulet led his Pitt Meadows Marauders to the upset win. Coach Goulet became the first coach to win a Provincial title at both the “AA” and “AAA” level.
1988 saw the BC High School Boys Basketball Association expand further and now a third tier of play was added so there would be three championships (1A, 2A, and 3A). The new 2A championships were played at various sites around the Province and then the tournament found a permanent home in Kamloops from 1999 to 2013 and then at the Langley Events Centre starting in 2014.
North Delta won their third BC Title in 1990 while Richmond won their fourth in 1991. In 1992 we saw the talents of the most successful player in BC High School hiostory, two-time NBA MVP, Steve Nash. Steve led his SMU Blue Jags to the title with a 76 to 48 win over Pitt Meadows. The Terry Fox Ravens then burst on to the scene with co-coaches Don Van Os and Hall of Famer Rich Chambers the Ravens won back to back titles in 1993 and 1994. Terry Fox was going for the three-peat in 1995 but this was the year of the upsets as little known Ladysmith led by Tony McCrory pulled out the title beating MEI in the final.
History was made in 1996 when we saw a Vancouver public school win for the first time in 38 years as Kitsilano, coached by Randy Coutts, took the crown and then they won again in 1997. These two years were also significant as the tournament moved to GM Place, which was also home for the Vancouver Canucks and the Vancouver Grizzlies. The final was played in front of over 10,000 fans, which is one of the largest crowds ever to watch a championship game.
The tournament moved back to the Agrodome in 1998 and stayed there until 2010. 1998 was the fifth title for the Richmond Colts as they beat Vancouver College in the finals and then in 1999 we saw the emergence of Scott Allen’s White Rock Christian Academy Warriors as they took the title 72 to 62 over Centennial. Pitt Meadows won their second title in 2000 defeating league rival Terry Fox in overtime and then Kitsilano earned their third championship in 2001 and followed it up with another win in 2002. White Rock returned to championship form in 2003 beating Claremont in the final and after being upset in 2004 won another title in 2005. It was the ArgylePipers who won their schools first championship in 2004. The Handsworth Royals led by future NBA center, Rob Sacre, won the 2006 championship and then veteran coach, Mark Simpson, led his Dover Bay team to their schools first title in 2007 followed by Yale winning their first title in 2008. The 2009 tournament featured future NBA player Kelly Olynyk who played for the South Kamloops Titans. Kelly almost averaged a triple-double for the tournament but was unable to lead his team to the finals as they lost a heart breaker in the semi-finals to the St. Georges Saints. This set-up a huge rivalry game in the finals as the Vancouver College Fighting Irish were looking to break their long championship drought. However the Saints had the last laugh as Emerson Murray hit a baseline jumper at the buzzer to secure the win for Saint Georges. 2010 was the last year the tournament would be held at the Agrodome and in a very low scoring final coach Al Friesen won his second championship as Yale defeated WRCA 49 to 40.
For the 2011 season the tournament moved out to the Valley and the beautiful Langley Events Centre (LEC) where games were played in the 5,500 seat Arena Bowl. The LEC has become the permanent venue for the Association and has added many new features including video screen replay and highlights, live web streaming of all games, and an opening banquet for all teams the day before the tournament starts. Long time coach Paul Eberhardt led his RC Palmer Griffins to their schools first ever title as they staged the largest comeback in championship game history getting behind 19 to 2 to start the game but beating the Vancouver College Fighting Irish 71 to 63 in front of over 5,000 fans. In 2012 the Terry Fox Ravens claimed their 3rd title in a thrilling final beating the Walnut Grove Gaitors 75 to 74 but the Gaitors got their revenge winning in 2013 as they took care of the WRCA Warriors 59 to 53.
2014 was another milestone for the Association as a fourth tier of play was added so now there would be four championships (1A, 2A, 3A, & 4A). Also for the first time all four championships would be played at the LEC over the course of two weekends. In week #1 West Point Grey Academy won their first ever 1A title and coach Ed Somers won his record breaking 6th championship in the 2A final as the Lambrick Park Lions beat rival SMU 70- to 64. In week #2 former player from the Terry Fox Ravens championship team, Aaron Mitchell, led his Saint Thomas More Knights to be the first ever winners of the new 3A tier. Winston Churchill became the first Vancouver public school since Kitsilano to win the 4A championship as they beat Holy Cross 67 to 64.
Due to the amazing work of all of the former volunteers and executive members in building up the Association finances the BCHSBBA was able to purchase a floor to add a fourth court to the LEC and thus 2015 was the culmination of many coaches dreams as the Association would now be holding all of their championships in one location on the same weekend. On the first ever Championship Saturday all four tiers played in the Arena Bowl with Kelowna Christian winning the 1A title, Coach Ian Hyde-Lay won the 2A championship with his SMU Blue Jags 23 years after winning the 3A title. The second ever 3A championship was won by Surreys Fleetwood Park as they beat Charles Tupper 73 to 65. In the 4A tournament Terry Fox was looking to get another championship but were stopped by valley rival Yale who beat them 69 to 63 with MVP Jauquin Bennett-Boire scoring 44 points in the final.
In 2016 Ron Pettigrew Christian won the 1A title beating Credo Christian 69 to 58. This was a very special moment as 28 years prior the schools coach and Principal, Ron Pettigrew, was killed along with 5 of his players in a fatal bus crash. The 2016 squad featured Ron’s daughter as one of the coaches and Ron’s grandson as one of the players. The 2A title was a first for the North Shore’s Collingwood Cavaliers as they beat SMU 68 to 40 and in the 3A championship the Southridge Storm also won their schools first title beating Steveston-London 78 to 71. The Kelowna Owls were the dominant 4A team as they completed an undefeated season when they beat Tamanawis 87 to 72.
In 2017 BC Christian beat Kelowna Christian in the 1A final, Brentwood College beat SMU in the 2A final 54 to 44 and Rick Hansen beat South Kamloops 69 to 63 in the 3A final. Coach George Bergen won his second title at the 4A level as his Gaitors beat Kelowna 78 to 65 in the 4A final game preventing the Owls from winning back to back championships.
In 2018 Heritrage Christian took the 1A title beating Bulkley Valley 65 to 53 and the 2A championship saw Brentwood College going back to back as they easily beat King George 97 to 59. The 3A tournament was an opportunity for South Kamloops to get some revenge for losing last year’s final as they rallied to beat Byrne Creek 74 to 66. The 4A tier was a tournament that featured many stunning upsets as the final four featured the #13Belmont Bulldogs, the #8 Burnaby South rebels, the #6 Semiahmoo Totems and the #2 Tamanawis Wildcats. In the end it was the 8th seeded Rebels that took the title beating Semiahmoo 80 to 72.
In 2019 Kelowna Christian continued their dominance by winning their record sixth 1A Championship (they also won a 2A title in 2013) as they easily beat Credo Christian 82 to 45. Hall of Fame coach Mel Bishop picked up his third title at the 2A level as strong play from tournament MVP Liam McChesney led the Rainmakers to a 78 to 51 win. Coach Bishop picked up his two previous titles with Prince Rupert in 1998 and 2001. The 3A tournament was very competitive with many exciting close games. The #9 North Delta Huskies pulled off four consecutive upsets beating #8 Byrne Creek, #1 Charles Tupper, #4 Duchess Park and then #2 Vernon 46 to44 in the Final. Tournament MVP Suraj Gahir hit the game winning basket in both the semi’s and the championship game. This was North Delta’s first title at this level having previously won 3 times at the 4A tournament. Just like the 3A tournament the winner of the 4A tournament was also a #9 seed as Lord Tweedsmuir pulled off 4 straight upsets on their way to their schools first ever title. The Panthers completed the biggest comeback in championship history as they were trailing by 18 points with two minutes to go in the 3rd quarter and they came all the way back to beat Kelowna 91 to 86.
