The Charles Hays Rainmakers will be heading south this week as they make their way to Langley and their latest appearance in the British Columbia High School Basketball Provincials.
The Tournament which runs from Wednesday through to Saturday will bring sixteen of the top schools together in the quest for a Provincial Banner, and for this years tournament the Rainmakers head into the competition as the Number One Seed.
Sunday night tournament organizers revealed the match ups for Opening Day Wednesday of the tournament and for Charles Hays the tourney will tip off with a match up with Sparwood, with a 10 AM tip off.
As the Rainmakers make their way to Langley, they will arrive as a team now quite familiar with their competitors, with Charles Hays having made a few trips to the south this season to take on some fairly impressive competition, some of it at levels well above their AA status for tournament time.
Taking part in this years AA Provincials include:
1 -- Charles Hays (Prince Rupert)
2 -- DP Todd (Prince George)
3 -- Langley Christian (Langley)
4 -- Elphinstone (Gibsons)
5 -- King George (Vancouver)
6 -- Britannia (Vancouver)
7 -- George Elliot (Lake Country)
8 -- Brentwood College (Mill Bay)
9 -- Westsyde (Kamloops)
10 -- Seycove (North Vancouver)
11 -- St. Michael's University School (Victoria)
12 -- Sa-Hali (Kamloops)
13 -- Abbotsford Christian (Abbotsford)
14 -- Lambrick Park (Saanich)
15 -- Pacific Academy (Surrey)
16 -- Sparwood (Sparwood )
As they navigate their way through the tournament, the Rainmakers will be working towards a Saturday afternoon appearance at 3:45 in the Arena Bowl of the Langley Events Centre and their shot at bringing home a Provincial banner to the Northwest.
In the preview of the tournament streamed live last night, hosts Chris Kennedy and Howard Tsumura marked the Rainmakers as the clear favourites for the tournament and noted that such is their depth and consistency this year, that Mel and Ryan Bishop's team could be dropped into any of the four tournaments this week and be a top contender.
They noted the teams 18-2 record and the strong performances through the season of Liam McChesney, Eric Lees and Kai Leighton as key ingredients to the explosive offence and stingy defensive play.
The pair also observed how the Rainmakers could be placed in the AAAA tier (the domain of the largest schools in BC) and still be considered a top ten team in high school basketball in the province.
"Charles Hays is built to the stage right now where they have absolutely no fear even in the 4A forum they just walk right in there and they're just going to play whoever you put in front of them ... McChesney just a terrific talent, so you don't want to put any undue pressure on anyone, but if anyone can take the kind of expectation, based on their body of work it's Charles Hays" -- Sports journalist and long time basketball observer Howard Tsumara on the AA tournament
Their preview of the AA tournament makes for a good scouting report for the teams that will be looking to challenge Charles Hays for the banner.
You can watch yesterday's draw that sets the table for this years tournament here, the AA bracket starts at the 11 minute point.
Fans of the Rainmakers can follow the team through a pay per view streaming service that streams the tournament on either a daily schedule or with a tournament package.
Find the details here and register for the service here.
More background on the AA Provincials can be explored from Tournament website here.
For one of the best views of the tournament and high school sports Howard Tsumura's Varsity Letters is a must read to get the inside scoop on what's going on through tournament time.
We'll be tracking the Rainmakers through the tournament and as we get closer to Wednesday's tip off we'll provide a Results archive for you to access the scores and latest notes on the AA tourney.
There is one other Northwest team taking to the courts of the Langley Events Centre this weekend, long time Charles Hays rival Caledonia is also at Provincials, ready to compete for the AAA banner starting Wednesday.
The Kermodes first see action at 8:30 AM when they take on Prince George's Duchess Park in their tournament ice breaker. Caledonia fans can follow that tournament from the AAA Tourney website.
You can review the path to provincials through our Rainmaker Sports archive page here.
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