Third time’s a charm for Oak Bay High. In the best-of-three over the past few years of Gary Taylor Classic, the local boys take the title.
The Bays won 83-50 over Sir Winston Churchill in the final Saturday at Oak Bay High. The junior boys team finished second, falling 65-34 to Vancouver College.
The annual tournament celebrated a decade this year, raising about $110 by donation at the door for the Help Fill a Dream Foundation.
It’s still early in the season but the Bays are a leading contender in the B.C. boys basketball 4A division, ranked No. 1 by Varsityletters.ca after beating St. Thomas More 86-68 in the final of the Tsumura Basketball Invitational in Langley on Dec. 9.
The Bays then made it two-straight tournament wins having walked through their own Gary Taylor Classic in the new Oak Bay High gymnasium this past weekend. On Thursday the Bays beat Cowichan 106-54, then defeated St. Thomas More 76-31 on Friday and Sir Winston Churchill (Calgary) 83-50 in the final on Saturday.
Next up for the Oak Bay team is the Vikes Alumni High School Classic designed to give the Island’s best a chance to face top schools of the mainland and Washington State. Funds generated at the tournament will go into a scholarship program for island-based basketball players on the Vikes.
“This is an absolute fantastic opportunity, Brentwood College looks polished, Van College is polished, we’ll see the top high school athletes in B.C. compete against the Washington state teams,” said Oak Bay coach Chris Franklin.
cvanreeuwyk@oakbaynews.com
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