Kevin Rothbauer Citizen
The high school basketball season will get under way in the Cowichan Valley this weekend with tournaments at Cowichan Secondary and Duncan Christian schools.
The Cowichan Thunderbirds will host the senior boys Welcome Back Tournament on Friday and Saturday, while the DCS Chargers will host the senior girls Welcome Back Tournament on the same days.
The boys’ tournament, which will be played at the Quamichan Campus, begins at 10:40 a.m. on Friday when the T-Birds host the DCS Chargers. Games will continue throughout the day, with semifinals at 7 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. The final placing games will go on Saturday, at 10 a.m., 11:30 a.m. and 1:15 p.m., with the championship game at 3 p.m.
Cowichan and DCS will be joined in the tournament by Wellington, Lambrick Park, Claremont, Nanaimo District, Dover Bay and Belmont.
The girls’ tournament will include one game at the Cowichan Secondary James Street campus, when Cow High and Frances Kelsey tip-off at 9:10 a.m. The rest of the games will be played at Duncan Christian. Brentwood College will face Kwalikum at 1 p.m., DCS will face Maaqtusiis at 2:30 p.m., and Shawnigan Lake School will play Glenlyon Norfolk at 4:15 p.m.
Semifinals will take place at 10 a.m. and 11:30 a.m., and the final will be played at 6:30 p.m.
The Cowichan Secondary senior boys played two games on the Mainland last weekend. They lost the first game 87-56 to Walnut Grove, the third-ranked AAAA school in B.C. Humza Khan had 21 points and Eston Unrau had 18.
The T-Birds bounced back in their next game against Nanaimo District, winning 82-65. Khan had 28 points, leading the team in points and pace. Unrau nailed six three-pointers on his way to 24 points.