Parity has been the theme of the Richmond Senior Boys Basketball season and there is further proof at this week’s inaugural South Fraser 3A Championships.
With two days to go in the eight-team tournament at Steveston-London Secondary, it’s the third and fourth place finishers in the city playoffs that have secured trips to next week’s BC 3A Championships at the Langley Events Centre.
The MacNeill Ravens and Richmond Colts will meet in Friday’s championship game (7:30 p.m.) after producing huge wins on Wednesday.
The Ravens are heading back to the LEC for the second straight year after knocking off city champion McMath 75-69.
The Colts continued their huge week with a thrilling 84-81 double overtime victory over the host Sharks.
It was exactly two weeks ago MacNeill dropped a 74-62 decision to the Wildcats in the Richmond semi-finals. However, the fourth place Ravens won the lone league encounter back in January — handing McMath its only loss in regular season play.
The Colts, who were coming off a big win one night earlier against Sur-Del League champion North Delta, couldn’t have picked a better time for their first win of the season over the Sharks in three tries to head back to the provincials for the second time in three years.
Richmond High had lost 75-65 to Steveston-London in the city semi-finals.
Now it’s the Wildcats and Sharks that are fighting to keep their seasons alive starting with big tasks today in do-or-die games against North Delta and Guildford Park respectively. They tip-off at 5:45 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
The winners will meet for third place and the final BC berth at 5:45 p.m. on Friday.
Meanwhile in Surrey, the McNair Marlins, Hugh Boyd Trojans and Cambie Crusaders are all battling for the final BC berth at the South Fraser 2A Championships.
The Marlins and Crusaders square off in one consolation game today while Boyd takes on Pacific Academy in the other. The winners advance to Friday’s third place game for the last spot at the LEC.
The Marlins fell 65-52 to host Surrey Christian in semi-final play while the Trojans lost to Southridge 67-56. Cambie kept their season alive with a 67-60 win over Burnsview.
