The North Central zone earned two berths in this week’s BC single-A boys basketball provincial championship and on Wednesday those two teams took to the court as the 16-team tournament got underway in Langley.
Unfortunately, for the 14th-sseded Cedars Christian Eagles of Prince George and the 13th-ranked Northside Christian Northstars of Vanderhoof, there was no Day 1 upset in the works for either team.
The Eagles were crushed 72-28 by the No. 3 Unity Christian Flames of Chilliwack and Cedars was relegated to the consolation round. Kaeden Paulsen shot a team-high 14 points for the Eagles, who will meet No. 11 Nanaimo Christian in their next game Thursday at 8:30 a.m.
The Northstars, who defeated Cedars in the zone final two weekends ago, fell 71-44 to the No. 4 Southpoint Academy Titans of Delta, despite a 21-point effort from Graham Yoder.
Northside Christian will take on No. 12 Meadowridge Gryphons of Maple Ridge Thursday at noon.
Meanwhile, at the quad-A tournament, also in Langley, the No. 15 Prince George Polars lost their opener 95-62 to the Dover Bay Dolphins of Nanaimo. Hunter Anderson, with 21 points, and Kabir Bhathal, with 20, paced the Polar attack.
PGSS will go on to meet the No. 10 Yale Lions Thursday at 10:15 a.m.
At the triple-A championship, the College Heights Cougars got a 30-point performance from point guard Dillon Piddocke and an 11-point game from MJ Kim but it wasn’t enough. They dropped a 92-69 decision to St. Patrick Celtics of Vancouver. Riley Santa Juana, with 28, and Jakobi Matulbos, with 20, were the high scorers for St. Patrick.
College Heights is matched with No. 6 Magee Lions of Vancouver in a Thursday game at 7:45 p.m. at Langley Events Centre.
In double-A action, the No. 14 Nechako Valley Vikings were trounced 100-44 by the No. 3 Nanaimo Christian Trail Blazers.
Sam Haochin Li and Finnegan Murphy each hit for 25 points for the Blazers. Thomas Cross had a 17-point game to lead the Vikings.
Nechako Valley will face No. 11 Credo Christian Kodiaks of Langley on the court Thursday at 8:30 a.m.
After their opening-round losses, the best possible finish for any of the North Central squads is ninth.
