It may be time to ditch a few stereotypes about Brentwood College, which is best known in sports for producing Olympic-medallist rowers and World Cup rugby players. But the athletes from the Mill Bay school can also toss around a mean game of hoops.

The rankings proved accurate, yet only just so, as Brentwood College edged St. Michaels University School 57-56 over the weekend in the South Island boys’ double-A high school basketball championship game.

Brentwood College is ranked No. 2 in B.C., while Reagan Daly’s SMUS squad, which survived a 40-38 scare by host Shawnigan Lake School in the playoff round of the Island tournament, is No. 6 in the province.

Blake Gage’s Brentwood College program placed third in B.C. last year and has produced alumni such as six-toot-11, 240-pound Ben Felix, who transferred this season from the NCAA Division 1 Northeastern Huskies to annual CIS power Carleton Ravens.

“We’re still very much a rowing and rugby school first with outstanding programs in those sports,” said Gage, in his eighth season of coaching Brentwood’s boys of hardwood.

“But we’ve given kids an opportunity to play multiple sports. The kids have a lot of fun with basketball and really love it.”

Led by Grade 12 players John Courville and David Lawrence, another big run through the B.C. tournament is possible for the province’s second-rated Brentwood squad.

“We’re a lot smaller and younger than last year, with three starters in Grade 11,” noted Gage, a former CIS player with the University of Western Ontario Mustangs.

“Any team can beat any team on any given day at the Islands or B.C.’s But we hope to be there when it matters.”

Lambrick Park, ranked No. 10 in B.C., captured the third automatic berth into the Island championship, which takes place Thursday through Saturday at SMUS. The Lions are guided by veteran mentor Ed Somers — who has coached Lambrick Park to five B.C. titles in 18 seasons — and defeated the Gulf Islands Scorpions 75-47 in the bronze-medal final.

South Island fourth-place Gulf Islands will be challenged by North Island No. 5 Woodlands of Nanaimo for a spot in the Island championship.

The Ladysmith 49ers, an annual powerhouse and B.C.-championship program under coach and former UVic Vikes CIS champion Randy Steel, rode the slicing backcourt play of Ronal Finnegan to the North Island double-A title with a 57-48 victory over Mark Isfeld of Courtenay in the championship game played at Wellington Secondary in Nanaimo.

Highland of Comox outlasted the Wellington Wildcats 59-51 in the third-place game.

Ladysmith, Mark Isfeld, Highland and Wellington earned automatic spots in the Island championship.

The Island double-A championship at SMUS begins at 2 p.m. Thursday and runs through the championship game at 7 p.m. Saturday on the campus Steve Nash made famous.

The top-three teams advance to the B.C. double-A championship March 7-10 at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops.

Meanwhile, March Madness continues to swing into view as the Oak Bay-hosted boys’ South Island triple-A championship begins Wednesday when the seventh-seed Reynolds Roadrunners take on Stelly’s or Spectrum at 7:30 p.m. The third-seed Claremont Spartans and fourth-seed Belmont Bulldogs play Thursday at 6 p.m. and 8 p.m., respectively, against opponents to be determined.

The top seeds are the Kaz Kobayashi-fuelled Oak Bay Bays, ranked No. 8 in B.C., and the provincially 11th-ranked Mount Douglas Rams, led by Conor Morgan and Elliot Rowe. Those teams jump into action Friday at 5:30 and 7:30 p.m. against opponents to be decided.

The championship game is scheduled for Saturday at 7 p.m.

The North Island boys’ triple-A championship runs Thursday through Saturday at Dover Bay Secondary. The top-five seeds, in order, are the Dover Bay Dolphins, Cowichan Thunderbirds, G.P. Vanier Towhees, Ballenas Whalers and Alberni Armada.

The top-four teams from both the South and North tournaments qualify for the Island triple-A championship March 1-3 at Cowichan Secondary, from which the top-three Island teams advance to the B.C. championship March 13-17 at the Langley Events Centre.

The triple-A girls Island championship also begins this week.

Claremont is the top seed from the South, while Alberni is No. 1 from the North for the tournament, which runs Thursday through Saturday at Mount Douglas.

The top two teams earn automatic berths to provincials, which are slated for March 7-10 at Capilano College in North Vancouver.

The third-place Island team will advance to a challenge game for a trip to the provincials.