There would be no heartbreak in 2023 for the Semiahmoo Thunderbirds.

Finalists 12 months ago, the Thunderbirds defeated the Fleetwood Park Dragons 73-40 on Saturday night in an all-Surrey final in front of a record-breaking sell-out crowd at Langley Events Centre at the BC School Sports 4A Boys Basketball Provincial Tournament.

The title is the first senior boys basketball championship in school history.

Thunderbirds head coach Les Brown said the team’s loss in the 2022 title game to the Burnaby South Rebels was a valuable learning lesson for his team, which returned almost the entire roster, many of whom enter Grade 12 next year.

“We watched the game against Burnaby South from last year and their defence was fantastic. They were hungry, they wanted the ball, and we used that as motivation all year, knowing that we had to be the tougher team, hungry for every possession, especially in a game like this: possession is gold, and you have to take care of the ball,” the coach said.

Saturday’s final between the South Fraser rivals started off tentatively, with neither team able to build much of an advantage as the score was tied on four occasions before Semiahmoo took a slim 16-13 lead. The Thunderbirds would find their bearing in the second quarter, surging late for a 36-22 advantage at the half and then dominating the third quarter 25-10.

Brown said once his team (the No. 1 seed) overcame their slow start, they were able to take advantage of their Surrey rivals in the second quarter.

“We just pushed the tempo a bit, and to be honest, Fleetwood looked like they were getting tired. They had two grueling games against Vancouver College and Oak Bay, that was tough coming out of that bracket. It helped us a little bit that they were looking tired in that second quarter,” the coach said, referencing the fact Fleetwood Park (the No. 6 seed) was coming off tough victories over the No. 3 Vancouver College Fighting Irish in the quarter-final round and then the No. 2 Oak Bay Bays in the semi-final.

Much of the Semiahmoo offence came courtesy of Cole Bekkering (26 points, 12 rebounds) and Torian Lee (18 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists). Bekkering was selected the Quinn Keast Foundation Player of the Game.

Fleetwood’s Inder Deol was the lone Dragon to reach double figures with 15 points.

Lee would win the Most Valuable Player award, while teammate Andre Juco was chosen the Best Defensive Player. Bekkering, Aaron Uppal (Fleetwood Park), Nash Semeniuk (Kelowna), Adam Olsen (Elgin Park) and Griffin Arnatt (Oak Bay) were chosen to First Team All-Stars.

The Second Team All-Stars consisted of Semiahmoo’s Juco and Marcus Flores, Izaec Oppal (Fleetwood Park), Hayden Sansalone (Abbotsford Senior) and Mikyle Malabuyoc (Vancouver College).

Kelowna’s Walker Sodaro was the recipient of the Braich Foundation Most Inspirational Player while the Kelowna Owls team won the Most Inspirational Team Award, the W.J. Mouat Hawks won the Wink Willox Most Sportsmanlike Team Award and Fleetwood Park won the School Spirit Award.

In the bronze-medal game, the Oak Bay Bays defeated the Kelowna Owls 71-66.

For the second consecutive year, the St. Patrick Celtics are provincial champions.

The Celtics outlasted Nanaimo’s Dover Bay Dolphins 91-80 on Saturday night at Langley Events Centre, in the championship final of the BC School Sports 3A Boys Basketball Provincial Tournament.

The Dolphins led early – they were up eight late in the first quarter – but the reigning champions (and No. 1) seed, chipped away, cutting the deficit to one by halftime and then surged ahead with a strong second half as they outscored their opponent 53-39 over the final 20 minutes.

St. Patrick head coach Nap Santos said his team did a great job of executing their half-court offence as the Dolphins did an excellent job of sprinting back on defence, to take away the Celtics chance to transition.

And it was the dual threat of Grade 12 guard Irish Coquia and Grade 11 guard/forward Jovin Sunner as both Celtics players scored 30 points apiece in the victory. St. Patrick also took advantage from the free throw line as they sank 12 of 16 attempts, while the Dolphins only made four of their 11 opportunities form the charity stripe.

The Dolphins – the No. 2 seed – were led by 25 points from Grade 10 guard Frank Linder while older brother Luke Linder (Grade 12) finished with 22 points, despite badly injuring his ankle in the opening moments of the game. The pain was so bad post-game that he had to be carried on stage to receive his silver medal and all-star award. Luke Linder entered the championship game averaging 45 points per game.

For St. Patrick, the core of the team – many of whom have known each other since Grade 2 – have now won three provincial titles in the past three seasons, as they were also winners of the 2020 Junior Boys Basketball Provincial Invitational Tournament.

Coquia won his second straight MVP (and third dating back to Junior in 2020) while Sunner was named the Championship Player of the Game.

Kaden Carrion (St. Patrick), Gabe Vig (M.E.I,), Dylan King (Lord Byng), Harvir Hothi (North Delta) and Luke Linder (Dover Bay) were chosen First Team All-Stars. The Second Team All-Stars were Atawa Baraba (Byrne Creek), Kaden Nelson (Steveston-London), Frank Linder (Dover Bay), Gavin Archer (Argyle) and Gaurev Bains (College Heights).

The M.E.I. Eagles’ Spencer Tatlock was selected the Most Outstanding Defensive Player and the North Delta Huskies were chosen as the Most Sportsmanlike Team.

In the bronze-medal game, the Lord Byng Grey Ghosts defeated North Delta 81-47.

Surrey: Doon Entertainment Group hosted a Bollywood Valentine’s Night 2023 at Ultimate Banquet Hall on Friday, Feb 10, 2023. The event was well attended – it was a packed house of fans of Bollywood music.
Dhot Group was the Title Sponsor for the event. Amrit Dhot, CEO Dhot Group says,” When the Doon team approached me with the idea of organizing an event featuring Classic Bollywood songs with a Valentine theme, I agreed to become title sponsor. I have known the team behind Doon Entertainment Group for many years now – Dr. Sunil Bhatt, Harry Sandhar, Abhishek Dobhal, and Aradhna Sharma and I had full faith in their capabilities to deliver an excellent event, which they did.”
Local artists from Metro Vancouver, Nirupama Jagannathan, Suchita Nahid Salam, and Raj Bharti performed at the show. Dr. Sunil Bhatt was the star performer of the night. Audience took to dance floor when he started singing, it was a mesmerizing performance.
This was the first event by Doon Entertainment Group, and they plan to host many more exciting and entertaining events in future. Aradhna Sharma, Co-founder & Director says, “The love and appreciation we have received is overwhelming. We are going to bring many memorable events to Metro Vancouver. Our aim is to promote local talent and provide great entertainment to our audience. We are thankful to all our sponsors who supported us in putting this event together.”
Abhishek Dobhal, Co-founder & Director says, “We are overwhelmed with the response our Valentine’s event has received. Attendees had very positive things to share about the event. A lot of hard work went into this event, and its success is due to the support of our sponsors, community groups, artists, vendors and attendees. Our events are open to the public, where you can socialize and build relationships with the community. These events also provide opportunities for participation, voluntary service and social, cultural, and economic development.”