“Quarterfinals For Three Please”: PG schools all set for provincial bouts
Wednesday was a perfect day for the beginning of the BC Boys Basketball Provincials in Langley. Perfect in the sense that all three senior boys teams from Prince George came up victorious in their first-round matchups.
The Langley Events Centre plays host to the basketball provincials for junior boys one week and junior and senior girls the next. All that’s left now are all the senior boys teams in the province, spanning from 1A to 4A. With the exception of the highest level (4A), Prince George has a team in every tournament and all are getting set for quarterfinals matchups on Thursday. Funny enough, all three teams will tip-off around the LEC at 8:15 Thursday evening.
In 3A, the #4-ranked Duchess Park Condors were tasked with the 13th-seed Caledonia Secondary Kermodes out of Terrace to open their tournament. Though the game tipped off at 8:30 Wednesday morning the Condors showed little signs of fatigue. In the second quarter, the Condors doubled up the Kermodes 28-14 to take a 15 point lead into halftime. Grade 10 scorer Caleb Lyons led the way for Duchess with 25 points in the game, including four three-pointers on six attempts. Lyons also grabbed seven rebounds and two blocks.
The young guard’s contribution led the team to a 72-49 win and advanced them to the quarterfinals on Thursday against #5 G.W. Graham Grizzlies. The Condors will be looking to fly a little higher than they did last year, after losing the 2018 quarterfinals to the eventual champion South Kamloops Titans. They’d go on to finish 6th, a placement they’ll hope to improve upon this season.