The Charles Hays Rainmakers are once again going to the Big Dance, with the Prince Rupert basketball squad set for another quest for a Provincial title staring this Wednesday.
The Rainmakers who qualified for Provincials last month with a Zones Victory in Smithers will be in tough right from the opening tip off.
With their opening day competition that of the highly touted St. Thomas Aquinas Saints of North Vancouver who have a pre tournament ranking of 4th spot.
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The Rainmakers who are ranked at Number 13 for the tournament learned of their opening round opponent from the BC Boys High School Basketball Show which was live streamed on Sunday afternoon.
The short shout out for Ryan Bishop's and Ben Mark's AA squad comes at the 31 minute mark of the broadcast with hosts Chris Kennedy and Howard Tsumura noting that the Rainmakers this year are a bit of an unknown factor for tournament time.
That owing to less visits to the south this year than in past to take on Vancouver area competition.
Mr. Tsumura noted of the past success for the Makers' in Provincials, as well as their 16 and 6 record in 2022-2023.
He and Kennedy also observed of the balanced attack that the team will be bringing to the championships.
"Ryan Bishop, you know taking over as the head coach from Dad there now, Ben Mark also there as a coach.
The two guys there leading this Rainmakers team down. Real balanced attack. You know it's one of these teams that have a different guy that steps up and leads the team each night.
Don't know a lot about the Rainmakers personnel ... they weren't in any tournaments down here this year.
But I think as a given, certain program's always bring a certain quality, a certain attitude you know you're going to see that from the Rainmakers, they're going to play hard.
A Physical team every year"
While the visits were reduced this season, the Rainmaker trip to North Vancouver in December seems to have slipped up under the radar of the Provincials playoff preview tandem.
In the No Regrets Tourney, the Makers' found some tough competition from the Lower Mainland area, including a tournament opening match up with St. Thomas Aquinas who got the better of the Rainmakers back in December.
The Charles Hays side will be looking to return the favour at the Provincial tournament on Wednesday.
The Saints however make for a formidable opponent and a team that is noted for their size and the successful season that they had in the Vancouver area.
The two teams will tip off Wednesday at 5:15 at the home of the Provincials the Langley Events Centre.
Also heading south from the north is Vanderhoof's Nechako Valley which is also in the AA Tourney.
They open up the chase for a title against Pacific Academy at Noon on Wednesday.
In Single A tournament play, a team to keep an eye on is that of Haida Gwaii's Gidgalang Kuuyas Naay, a hard earned victory over Bulkley Valley Christian in Zones earned them a number 7 ranking pre tournament.
The Haida Gwaii team is coached by Desi Collison and Dwayne Alsop, they will be tipping of on Wednesday at 7PM, they take on Brookes Westshore from Vancouver Island.
The preview of the AA tournament and notes on the Haida Gwaii side can be viewed from the video above a the 23 minute mark.
The AAA Tournament features a return for Caledonia Secondary ranked at Number 15, with the Kermodes tipping off against Number Two seed, Dover Bay from Nanaimo. The two teams have the night cap on Wednesday with an 8:45 tip off.
The preview of the AAA tournament and notes on the Kermode side can be viewed from the video above a the 52 minute mark.
Rainmaker fans and those of the other participating teams from the Northwest and Haida Grail can follow the action through the TFSE stream casts.
With both a daily pass and tournament pass available for hoops fans to check out.
You can review those viewing options and access more information for the tournament from the AA Tourney website page.
As well, Howard Tsumara's Varsity Letters website will feature a number of entries as this week moves forward, the publication one of the best resources on high school and University sports.
Follow news of the tournament from their Social media feed on Twitter
The Double A boys action can be followed through the #BC2ABoys thread
Check back with the blog often as the tournament moves forward, for our updates and other notes on Provincials.
More notes on the Rainmakers season can be found from our archive page.
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