Rainmakers sent to B Side of Provincials Tourney after opening day loss to St. Thomas Aquinas

The run for another High School Basketball provincial title for the North Coast will have to wait until 2024. 

That after an opening day loss at Provincials in Langley sent the Charles Hays Rainmakers to the B side of tournament play for this year.

The Makers' who were up against the highly touted St. Thomas Aquinas Saints from North Vancouver came out of the chute fast, taking some strong play in the first quarter to the number Four Seed holding a lead for most of the first ten minutes of the tourney icebreaker for both teams.

However, the St. Thomas side made a few adjustments as the quarter moved along and finally managed to take the necessary steps to counter the Rainmaker game plan that coaches Ryan Bishop and Ben Mark had created for the opener.

The Saints turned the tide by the end of the first quarter and dominated much of the play for the rest of the game. While the Rainmakers did have spurts of push back and clawed into the lead from time to time, those incursions were quickly thwarted by the Saints who featured a few towering players who could control the boards in their own end to snuff out any plans for a comeback.

By the time the final whistle blew, the North Vancouver side had put the lead well into double digits, finishing play with a 69-40 victory over Charles Hays.

The majority of the Rainmaker scoring came from Jon Clifton (14) ,  Darren Budskin (12) and Kole Leighton (9)

The full scoresheet for Game One for the Rainmakers can be review here.

The Charles Hays Side are back at it early this morning, their Day 2 contest gets underway at 8:30 as they tip off against Southridge.

For the other participants in Provincials from the Northwest, Day 1 was equally frustrating.

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In the AA Tournament Nechako Valley dropped their opener agains Pacific Academy the final in that contest was 78-65 (see game sheet here)

The Vanderhoof Boys play Khalsa School today a Noon

Terrace's Caledonia had an  AAA Tournament opening round loss to Nanaimo's Dover Bay with the Island side topping the Keromdes 81-34. (see game sheet here)

Caledonia faces Steveston-London on the B side of the tourney at 1:45 PM today.

In the Single A tourney, Haida Gwaii's Gidgalang Kuuyas Naay kept things close for much of the game, before the team from Brookes Westhore finally pulled away, claiming a 53-41 victory by the end of the match.  (see game sheet here)

The Haida Gwaii Boys tip off against Similkameen at 1:45 PM today.

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Those with an interest in the finale to the High School Basketball season can access the action live through the Pay Per View feed. 

(click on live events, find the game you wish to view on the selection sheet, pay your fee and stand by to see who claims banners by Saturday night)

You can follow all of the tournament action through the BC High School Basketball website, as well as by following Howard Tsumura's Varsity Letters Portal, which provides extensive coverage of the tournament.

You can also keep up with the event through the #BC2ABoys twitter feed  

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Update: Final Score from Day 2 Action at the Provincials

Southridge 68 -- Charles Hays 52

Game Sheet N/A

We will have updates on the Rainmakers at Provincials from our Rainmakers archive page here.