It's become an annual rite of passage for the Duchess Park Condors basketball program.
Both senior teams - girls and boys - see it as their time to step up and take ownership of City League basketball bragging rights.
The Duchess Park girls, on the strength of their 89-25 semifinal win over the College Heights Cougars, will be shooting for their seventh-consecutive city championship Tuesday at 6 p.m. at the Northern Sport Centre when they take on the Prince George Polars.
The Polars advanced with a 77-60 semifinal triumph Tuesday night over the Kelly Road Roadrunners.
Ranked eighth among triple-A girls teams in the province, the Condors will be heavily favoured to beat the Polars and win their 18th championship in the 30-year history of the City League.
The Condors name has been engraved on the boys trophy in each of the past five years and the odds are strongly in favour of a repeat when they take on the D.P. Todd Trojans in Tuesday's 8 p.m. final at the NSC.
The Duchess Park boys, ranked No. 1 in B.C. among triple-A boys teams, rolled over the Prince George Polars 80-42 in a semifinal playoff Tuesday, while the D.P. Todd Trojans scored a 74-56 win over the Kelly Road Roadrunners to advance to the final. The Trojans are ranked sixth provincially in the double-A poll released Wednesday, dropping from No. 3 last week.
The Condors topped the Trojans in the past two City League finals. They played each other Dec. 20 in the Condor Classic tournament final and Duchess Park walked off with a 66-50 victory.
The Condors will tune up for the city final this weekend at the Cougar Classic tournament, which starts Friday at College Heights Secondary School. The Duchess Park senior girls are playing this weekend in a tournament in Kelowna.
In other basketball action in the city this weekend, Kelly Road is hosting the junior girls district championship, starting Friday. The College Heights Cougars junior girls are undefeated against North Central zone opponents over the past two seasons.
The junior boys district championship is on this weekend at Prince George Secondary School.
