Coquitlam’s Pinetree Timberwolves will be the lone Tri-City team competing when the AAAA boys’ high school basketball provincial championships get underway in Langley next week.
The club secured the last available provincial berth on Sunday when the team took down Tamanawis secondary 78-74 in the seventh-place game at the Fraser Valley Championship. The win was enough to punch the team’s ticket to the provincials — the first time the Timberwolves have accomplished the feat since moving to the AAAA division four years ago.
Pinetree had a strong start to the Fraser Valley playdowns when the tournament began Feb. 15, taking down Sardis secondary 97-77 in the first game. However, the club struggled two days later in a match against W.J. Mouat, who defeated the Timberwolves 94-60.
Pinetree bounced back with a 60-53 win over North Surrey, which kept their provincial championship hopes alive heading into the Fraser Valley Championship last week.
Down to the final eight teams, the Coquitlam club defeated Panorama Ridge 75-65 on day one before falling to Lord Tweedsmuir 94-69 last Thursday. That set the stage for Sunday’s showdown against Tamanawis and Pinetree’s seventh place finish.
This year has been a remarkable turnaround for Pinetree, which did not even make the Fraser Valley playdowns last year, finishing the 2017 regular season with an undefeated 7-0 record.
Meanwhile, Port Moody’s Heritage Woods Kodiaks and Coquitlam’s Centennial Centaurs kept their season alive heading into last weekend’s Fraser Valley Championship.
However, both clubs lost their first games — Centennial in an 81-69 bout against Tamanawis and Heritage Woods in a 78-62 loss to Yale — which ended their playoff run.
The 2017 provincial championship draw will be announced this weekend and games are set to begin on March 8 at the Langley Events Centre. For up to date scores and information go to www.bchighschoolbasketballchampionships.com.
