Entering the season as the de facto favourites by virtue of their 2018 championship win, the Burnaby South Rebels wore a big target throughout much of the current senior boys basketball season.
Now, with hours to go before the opening game of the B.C. senior boys 4-A championship tournament, the Rebels can take inspiration from the young guns.
Joining a parade that already includes the Rebels' junior boys, who capped a perfect season last week with a B.C. title, Burnaby South's Grade 8s upped the ante with a thrilling 63-61 overtime victory over St. Pat's for the provincial crown. As though inspired by last year's senior team's triumph, another level has taken the baton and passed it on.
It's a perfect hand-off for the senior Rebels as they start the final week of play.
Burnaby South kick-starts the tourney today (Wednesday) with a match against No. 12 seed Walnut Grove, 3 p.m. at the Langley Events Centre.
Slotted as the No. 5 seed and in the same quadrant as No. 4 Vancouver College, the Rebels will be tested early as defending champions. The Gators have home court advantage, and in their run through the Fraser Valleys pushed No. 3 ranked Lord Tweedsmuir (but seed No. 8 at the B.C.s) before fallng by a nine-point spread. They are also one of the few teams to beat No. 2-seed Kitsilano this year.
On the plus ledger for the Rebels is the character and determination shown over the past 10 days, where the squad took a slap from B.C. School Sports, for having used an ineligible player, then ran off four straight must-win games to grab the last spot to the B.C.s. That run included a 97-77 defeat of No.7-ranked St. Georges, ending the Vancouver school's season in convincing fashion.
To this point, they've racked up a 25-8 record -- although four of those losses were to non-B.C. teams. Besides the Lower Mainland opening forfeit to Killarney, the only B.C. teams to hand them a loss were No. 1 Holy Cross, Lord Tweedsmuir and 3-A Richmond.
They closed the Lower Mainland championships last Friday with a must-win 101-66 victory over Sir Winston Churchill to claim the third and final berth to the provincials, with all-star honours to Jiordano Khan, Sasha Vujisic on the first team, and Baltej Sohal on the second squad.
There's no compliment sweeter than being copied, although the Grade 8 Rebels are truly architects of their own success. The first-year Burnaby South squad stopped Abbotsford Middle 67-63 in the semifinal, with tourney MVP Brady Lau cashing in 31 points, four steals and three rebounds. Picking up all-star honours were Lex Paloma and Armaan Hehar.
The ball's now in the Burnaby South senior team's court, and they'd have it no other way.
Follow the B.C. championship game results at http://www.bchighschoolbasketballchampionships.com, and keep checking in here at www.burnabynow.com for game stories.
