Graduating Grade 12 players will get to dribble and shoot one last time in their high school basketball careers today in the 35th Vancouver Island Seniors Classic All-Star Games in the Spectrum Community School gymnasium.
It is B.C.’s longest running high school basketball all-star event and draws not only parents and hoops fans but also college and university scouts. The boys’ B game is at 4 p.m., the girls’ game at 5:45 p.m. and the boys’ A game at 7:30 p.m. Admission is $10 for adults and $5 for students.
The format features the South Island All-Stars tipping-off against the North Island All-Stars.
The event was inaugurated in 1988 and has featured numerous players who have gone on to play university and college basketball. Last year’s girls’ game MVP was Makena Anderson from St. Michaels University School, who went on to be named Canada West rookie of the year and to the U Sports national all-rookie team this season with the University of Victoria Vikes. The 2019 boys’ game MVP from Oak Bay was current UVic Vikes star and Canada West and U Sports national MVP Diego Maffia. Two-time NBA MVP Steve Nash from SMUS scored 17 points in the 1992 boys’ game.
Leading the North Island boys’ A team tonight is Milan Pasquale of B.C. Double-A finalist Brentwood College, son of former UVic Vikes national champion Vito Pasquale and nephew of the late five-time UVic national champion and two-time Olympian Eli Pasquale. Also on the North Island boys’ A squad is Oyama Crouch from the B.C. Triple-A champion Dover Bay Dolphins.
The North Island girls’ team features two players, Sage Kotapski-Tinga and Sain Hagel, from the Mark Isfeld Ice of Courtenay.
B.C. Triple-A finalist SMUS leads with two players, Maddy Albert and Alex Motherwell, on the South Island girls’ team.
The South Island boys’ A team is led by Justin Le and Gio De Gracia from the B.C. Quad-A champion Spectrum Thunder and Thomas Beames, Heath Taylor, Finley Lillis and Owen Lewis from the B.C. Quad-A third-place Oak Bay Bays.
The Island Rising Stars High School All-Star Games, featuring boys’ and girls’ players in Grades 8-10, were played Friday night at Spectrum.
