It will be a city final rematch with a provincial tournament berth on the line when the Richmond Colts and MacNeill Ravens meet again Wednesday at the Richmond Olympic Oval.
The top two teams in the Richmond Senior Boys League are joined by the Steveston-London Sharks among eight schools still in the hunt at the final edition of the Lower Mainland AAA Championships.
Next year teams from Richmond, Vancouver, New West and Burnaby will go their separate ways when B.C. School Sports expands the number of zones in Greater Vancouver from two to four. Richmond will be part of the South Fraser Zone with Delta and Surrey schools.
The No. 2 seed and city champion Colts advanced to the final four with an 81-73 home court win over the Lord Byng Grey Ghosts. The No. 3 seed Ravens got a 33-point performance from city MVP Usman Tung to defeat the Magee Lions in quarter-quarter-final action. That sets up Wednesday’s tilt with a B.C. berth at stake and a spot in Friday’s championship game. Tip-off is 4:30 p.m.
Meanwhile, the Sharks stayed in contention with an 89-71 victory over Gladstone on Friday — led by 22 points from Ethan Wight and 17 more from Kouki Kawano. That sets up a Wednesday do-or-die game against the St. Thomas More Knights at 2:45 p.m. at the Oval.
The two teams met a couple of weeks ago in exhibition play with the Knights prevailing 71-64 on their home court. The Sharks have played a number of the top teams in the province tough this season, including an 86-74 loss to No. 1 Charles Tupper last week in Lower Mainland quarter-final action. Wight had 25-points.
The loser of the Colts/Ravens match-up will play the winner of Steveston-London/STM on Thursday at 6:15 p.m. for a B.C. berth.
Meanwhile the Lower Mainland AA Championships will also take place at the Oval and tip-off on Monday.
The No. 5 seed Cambie Crusaders take on No. 4 St. Pat’s at 4:30 p.m. That will be followed by No. 7 McRoberts taking on No. 2 King George at 6:15 p.m. Opening day action will conclude with No. 3 Hugh Boyd facing No. 6 West Point Grey Academy at 8 p.m.
McRoberts moved into the main draw with a 79-70 win over Notre Dame on Friday.
Two guaranteed berths into the B.C. AA Championships are on the line. The final is slated for 8 p.m. on Thursday.
