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Surrey, Delta high school teams among 64 at LEC’s expanded Tsumura Basketball Invitational

‘We have seen the tournament grow and develop into a staple of the high school basketball calendar’
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Okanagan Mission Huskies and Langley Christian Lightning in action during the 2019 Tsumura Invitational at Langley Events Centre. (File photo: Gary Ahuja/Langley Events Centre)

Several Surrey-area high school basketball teams will play at Langley Events Centre during this week’s Tsumura Basketball Invitational tournaments, one for boys and another for girls.

The 2022 TBI will see 32 boys teams play from Dec. 7 to 10, followed by 32 girls squads Dec. 14 to 17.

The sports complex on 200 Street will be busy with 128 games over eight days, in an expanded annual tournament co-planned by longtime B.C. sports reporter Howard Tsumura, the North Delta-based author of the Varsity Letters website.

Admission is free to attend games, and the schedule is posted to langleyeventscentre.com/tbi. Those who can’t make their way to the LEC can watch the free streams on tfsetv.ca.

In the boys tournament, the Surrey-based teams are Elgin Park Orcas, Enver Creek Cougars, Fleetwood Park Dragons, Holy Cross Crusaders, Salish Wolves, along with North Delta Huskies.

On the girls side, Surrey-area teams are Fleetwood Park Dragons, Clayton Heights Nightriders, Salish Wolves, Lord Tweedsmuir Panthers, plus North Delta’s Seaquam Seahawks.

“I feel like the 2022 field is, top to bottom, the strongest and most competitive we’ve had yet – and so many other coaches around the province have told me the same thing, so welcome players, coaches, fans and families,” Tsumura said in a news release.

“Over the course of our two four-day tournaments, it is my hope that the best qualities of the game we love so much will be evident for all to see.”

The TBI first tipped off in 2012, and last year’s tourney saw 40 teams (20 boys, 20 girls) compete for the two TBI titles.

“Over the last decade, I have been so impressed with the joy that our TBI teams bring every season to Langley Events Centre,” Tsumura said.

“It’s always early in the season and everything is still in front of our student-athletes as they set course for earning a trip to the provincial championships in March. With that in mind, the fact that we have been able to expand the event this season into three distinct brackets for both boys and girls does nothing but push the atmosphere over the top.”

The larger brackets for 2022 see each team play four games, with the champions crowned on the final day, while the eight-team brackets will see their champion determined on the Friday after each team has played three times. Upon the conclusion of the third games, the tournament committee will re-seed the teams to create eight new matchups for the final day, based on the first three days’ results.

“TBI is one our longest running traditions at Langley Events Centre,” noted Tyler Dinwoodie, an associate director at the LEC. “We have seen the tournament grow and develop into a staple of the high school basketball calendar, so for it to double in size this year is exciting.”



tom.zillich@surreynowleader.com

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Tom Zillich

About the Author: Tom Zillich

I cover entertainment, sports and news stories for the Surrey Now-Leader, where I've worked for more than half of my 30-plus years in the newspaper business.
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