Picking and rolling through the mists of time, Island high school basketball has produced Olympians and an NBA MVP and provided a lifetime of memories from Billy Robinson at Chemainus Secondary, Gerald Kazanowski at Nanaimo District and Steve Nash at St. Michaels University School.
But none of them in high school faced an off-court foe like COVID-19, which wiped out the 2021 season and has limited 2022 to only regular-season games and practices with tournaments banned through at least January.
“Tournaments are important in basketball and that regulation affects all teams,” said Darren Reisig, president of the Lower Vancouver Island School Sports Association.
“It’s disappointing but understood. It’s going to be a challenge moving forward. Teams will have to figure out ways to get competitive exhibition games within the guidelines.”
Three Lower Island high school regular season basketball games were postponed this week due to COVID-19 protocols.
“Re-scheduling is in the works. We are going to have to be flexible,” said Reisig.
“I sure hope we can get it done.”
The 2022 season is promising plenty of drama on and off the court. High school hoops was fortunate in that it had just completed its B.C. championship tournaments at the Langley Events Centre the week before everything shut down in March of 2020. The 2021 season went dark due to the pandemic.
With school sports returning, it looks to be a fairly balanced shootout in B.C. boys’ Quad-A this season, even though the lack of tournaments makes prognosticating tricky.
The Claremont Spartans defeated the No. 2-ranked Vancouver College Fighting Irish 99-95 last month before being downed handily by the Oak Bay Bays 80-64. The Fighting Irish, meanwhile, swept the Nanaimo District Islanders 104-78, Belmont Bulldogs 96-70 and Bays Oak 95-87 in the competitive final against the host Bays to win the Gary Taylor Classic at Oak Bay last month in the period before tournaments were shut down.
Also of note this season is Dover Bay of Nanaimo, tied for 10th with Claremont in the B.C. top-10 poll, although the Dolphins’ 83-46 loss to top-ranked Burnaby South gives an indication of how good the Rebels might be in comparison with the rest of the field.
“Burnaby South is above and beyond. After that it’s a coin flip,” said Claremont head coach Brandon Dunlop, whose Spartans are led by UVic Vikes-committed point-guard Izzy Helman and six-foot-seven Grade 11 forward Camden Sparkes.
According to the Varsity Letters website top-10 rankings, the Fighting Irish are ranked No. 2 behind Burnaby South, St. George’s Saints of Vancouver No. 3, Sir Winston Churchill Bulldogs of Vancouver No. 4, Fleetwood Park Dragons of Surrey No. 5, Handsworth Royals of North Vancouver No. 6, Abbotsford Panthers No. 7, Kelowna Owls No. 8, Enver Creek Cougars of Surrey No. 9 and Claremont and Dover Bay tied for No. 10.
The St. Patrick’s Celtics of Vancouver are rated No. 1 in boys’ Triple-A with the Mark Isfeld Ice of Courtenay No. 10. The Lambrick Park Lions of Saanich are top-ranked in boys’ Double-A with Brentwood College No. 4 and PCS Pacers an honourable mention. The Glenlyon-Norfolk Griffins are No. 2 in boys’ Single A behind the Fernie Falcons.
Showing how fluid the rankings and classifications are, Double-A top-ranked Lambrick Park defeated Quad-A top-10 Claremont in league play this week.
“Lambrick Park is a very tall and good team that would be a tough match-up for anybody in the province, regardless of tier,” said Spartans coach Dunlop, a former star with the UVic Vikes.
The Terry Fox Ravens of Port Coquitlam were No. 1 in the Varsity Letters pre-season girls’ Quad-A poll with Claremont No. 8 and Belmont an honourable mention. Claremont is led by all-rounder Olivia Boulding, a member of the Canadian junior national volleyball team, and headed to NCAA Div. 1 at the University of Montana in that sport.
The R.A. McMath Wildcats of Richmond are top-ranked and Mark Isfeld and Parksville’s Ballenas Whalers honourable mentions in the girls’ Triple-A top-10 poll. The SMUS Blue Jags are No. 2 in girls’ Double-A with Brentwood College No. 5 and Lambrick Park No. 10 and PCS Pacers No. 5 in girls’ Single-A.
Where it all leads is the question. “You never know when it’s going to be taken away from you. We have our fingers crossed. But whether there will be Island or provincial championships is out of our hands,” said Dunlop.
