It was one week ago tonight that British Columbia's Basketball community gathered at the River Rock Casino and Resort in Richmond to Welcome the Class of 2019 to the province's Basketball Hall of Fame.
And as part of that celebration of Basketball excellence, the long career of dedication to High School basketball for Rainmaker legend Mel Bishop was taken note of, as the Charles Hays and Prince Rupert Secondary school teacher and coach took his place among BC's Best.
The long time Rainmaker who has been the architect of many successful seasons as coach, entered the Hall in the Coaching category, though a good case could also be made for inclusion as a builder.
At the River Rock ceremony of May 11th Bishop joined Vancouver's Lori Clarke and Andrew Mavis in the Athlete category, Builder Len Corben from North Vancouver and Official Bill Denney from Vancouver as the Fab Five for 2019.
Also honoured at this years event was the 1971-72 UBC Thunderbird Men's team.
The accolades for the legendary basketball figure in the province make for a well deserved testimony to the commitment that he has brought to the game in BC over the last four decades.
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| Prince Rupert basketball legend Mel Bishop cutting the last of the net at the BC Basketball championships in Langlay in March. Last weekend The long time basketball coach with SD52 was honoured by BC Basketball enshrined into the BC Basketball Hall of Fame |
Last Saturday's event made for a memorable book end for a remarkable season for the iconic Rainmaker. Mr. Bishop along with his son Ryan, both took the Charles Hays Rainmakers through a most successful 2019 season of basketball, culminating in the provincial finals this March.
An event that the always well prepared Rainmakers entered with but one goal in mind that of capturing the AA Banner, a task that they took to in dominating fashion during the course of the province's version of March Madness capped with a 78-51 victory over George Elliot in the final on March 9th.
The March victory marked the fourth time that a Prince Rupert high school team has claimed the top prize in Basketball, the first in 1964 in the then single tier setup; with the other two in 1998 and 2001 at the AA level, with Bishop at the helm as coach for both banners.
In addition the championships of the past, hoops fans on the North Coast still talk of the memorable 2014 run when the Rainmakers had another stellar March tournament, finishing in second place in the AAA final of that year.
Once the Basketball BC Hall of Fame has updated their records, Mel Bishop's name and achievements will be recorded as part of the biography page for the Hall, which you can review here.
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