Tournament Tip Off beckons this afternoon for Charles Hays Rainmakers

The final journey together for some of the members of the Charles Hays Senior Boys Basketball team is underway, the team having left Prince Rupert at the start of the week for their defence of their 2020 Provincials Championship.

A one year gap owing to COVID making for some changes to a roster that had much success two years ago and has hopes for another banner for the Charles Hays Gymnasium by early Saturday evening.

There is however a lot of basketball to be played between now and then and one mis-step or a matchup with a hot team could lay waste to all those plans. 

The first test to the Tournament blue print for Mel and Ryan Bishop comes this afternoon at 3:30, when the Rainmakers take on Windsor Dukes from North Vancouver.

The Lower Mainland team is a fixture at tournaments across the Vancouver area and beyond, so having  had opportunity to gain some extensive competition for  2021-22 has been a much easier task for their coaches than what has faced the Prince Rupert tandem. 

That with the past COVID precautions making for a challenge to try and find enough competitors within a reasonable travel range to keep the  Rainmakers sharp and to develop their skills.

As we have noted previous, the Rainmakers come into the tournament on a winning note with a sweep of the Northwest Zones last weekend, a performance that saw them rise in the Provincial rankings and provided them with the sixth place seed in the Provincial tournament.

This years tournament marks the final appearance for Rainmakers Head Coach Mel Bishop who will step aside from the sidelines following the end of the 2022 run for the Provincial banner, a milestone that is sure to be noted by AA Tournament officials and those in attendance at the Langley Events Centre.

North Coast Hoops fans can follow their progress at Provincials through a Pay Per View Live Stream from the AA Provincial site, with a day pass and tournament pass price options available.

The popular sports resource Varsity Letters will also have extensive coverage of all of the Provincial tournaments taking place at the Langley Events Centre this week, you can access those themes here.

As the week moves forward we'll also keep up on the travels of the Senior Boys, you can review those notes and what have been posted previous from our archive page here.