The annual Terry Fox Legal Beagle Invitational is considered year in, year out by many hardwood hounds to be one of the most prestigious tournaments in the senior boys high school basketball season.
One can say this year's 23rd edition is certainly one of the campaign's biggest - literally.
Not only is the 10-team event that opens tomorrow (Thursday) chocked full of top-ranked teams in the province, it is also stacked with towering players, including three seven-footers, one six-foot-10 post, three six-foot-nine pivots and two six-foot-eight board crashers.
"It really is the battle of the giants," said Terry Fox head coach and ex-Ravens playing standout Steve Hanson, whose own squad boasts the lofty likes of six-foot-nine Mason Woods and six-foot-seven Ryan Sclater. "In 1992, I played centre and I was six-foot-four and 170 pounds. Mind you, two years later our centre was Dave Morgan and he was six-foot-11, so it's hard to compare . [Height] seems to come in cycles but the average big man today has definitely changed."
The Ravens -- tied for fifth in the latest B.C. AAA rankings with Abbotsford's W.J. Mouat Hawks -- tip-off the tournament at 6:45 p.m. today versus North Vancouver's Windsor Dukes, who are picked fourth in the provincial AA poll.
Other opening-day games feature Langley's Walnut Grove Gators (No. 8) battling Richmond's R.C. Palmer Griffins, who are listed No. 8 on the B.C. AA list after dropping down from their AAA-championship status last year, at 3:15 p.m.; highly regarded Mouat tangling with honourable-mention Sir Charles Tupper Tigers at 5 p.m.; and the No. 1 Kelowna Owls clashing with the No. 6 Kitsilano Blue Demons at 8:30 p.m.
The No. 4-ranked White Rock Christian Warriors and the No. 9-ranked Tamanawis Wildcats of Surrey received first-round byes and begin tourney play Friday morning.
Action continues through Saturday, with the title game at 7:15 p.m.
