The coach of the Terry Fox Ravens senior boys basketball team doesn’t know who is going to win this year’s Legal Beagle tournament. But he does know it won’t be easy.
Brad Petersen said the 29th annual tournament that begins on Thursday has one of the toughest fields in years; seven of the top 10 AAAA teams in the province will be on the hardwood at Fox, and his own Ravens and Kelowna secondary received Honourable Mentions in the most recent rankings.
While some schools might salt a couple of easier touches into their tournaments to ensure the home side can put on a good show for their fans, the Beagle has forged its reputation as a measuring stick for teams with designs on the provincials as they head into league play.
“Teams really want to be a part of this tournament,” Petersen said.
Which means organizers spend more time fretting about who to turn away than canoling teams to come out.
“You have to have some tough conversations,” Petersen said.
Leading this year’s field is Oak Bay, ranked second in the province after all the Christmas season tournaments had wrapped up. The Bays opened their season with six straight wins (including a 95-50 victory over the Ravens at the Tsumura Invitational Tournament in Langley in December), and spent a couple of weeks atop the provincial rankings; but they slipped a spot when they lost the final of the UVic Holiday Invitational, 89-85, to Brentwood College, the top ranked AA team in the province.
Other top teams include third-ranked Holy Cross, fifth-ranked Walnut Grove and sixth-ranked W.J. Mouat. Semiahmoo, Kitsilano and Vancouver College are ranked eight through 10.
Only South Kamloops hasn’t got a digit to their name, but Petersen said their program hasn’t diminished much since its glory days with NBA star Kelly Olynyk.
It’s all about creating an environment that forces the cream of provincial basketball to rise to the top, Petersen said.
“When you come to this tournament, you know you’re going to have three or four really tough games.”
Af for his own team, which opens play against Kelowna on Thursday at 6:45 p.m., Petersen said the tournament will be a good learning experience for his young players, many of whom are taking on roles they hadn’t expected when the season started.
“There’s no taking a quarter off,” Petersen said. “If you want to beat these teams you’ve got to be willing to play 40 minutes of basketball. That’s a good lesson to learn.”
And his squad is eager to start learning.
“This is something all our kids circle on the calendar,” Petersen said.
• The Legal Beagle begins Thursday at 3:15 p.m. with a game between South Kamloops and W.J. Mouat at Terry Fox secondary school in Port Coquitlam. The championship final will be played on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at Fox.
