This time, the girls will get their chance to shine.
The second edition of the P.G. Summer Hoops Classic three-on-three high school basketball tournament tips off this weekend at Duchess Park. At last year's inaugural event, the divisions were limited to senior boys and junior boys. But, when games get going on Saturday morning, the boys won't be the only ones on the floor.
This year, tournament organizers Nav Parmar and Sunny Brar made it a priority to try to get girls involved and their efforts met with success. Initially, eight girls teams registered, though two had to drop out because of a conflict with the double-A soccer provincials which start today in Campbell River.
"I let all the high school girls coaches know that this was something in the works and (asked them) to distribute the registration forms to see how much interest there was," Parmar said. "And within two to three weeks, I had about 24 or 25 players registered.
"We couldn't be happier," Parmar added. "It just adds diversity to the tournament. The goal was to diversify the tournament but also to make it bigger and better than it was last year and I think we've accomplished that."
Ten senior boys teams will compete in this year's Summer Hoops Classic and there are eight teams in the junior boys category. The tournament will start with an opening ceremony at 8:30 a.m. Saturday and the first games will be on the courts at 9 a.m. Opening-day play is expected to wrap up at about 5 p.m. and will be followed by a three-point shooting contest. On Sunday, games will resume at 9 a.m. and lead up to the championship finals at about 4 p.m.
Each game will consist of two 10-minute halves, with stop-time in the last minute of the first half and the final two minutes of the second.
Brar said the tournament will have a competitive but enjoyable atmosphere.
"We have the various high school kids - for example the Duchess players versus the PGSS guys. That will be competitive in itself because no kid wants to lose," Brar said. "I remember being that age, and you don't want to lose. And the way we've set it up, it's kind of cool because it's three-on-three so it's a little bit like playing at lunch time. So it will be competitive but also it will be fun. Last year a lot of the kids had a blast so hopefully this year it's the same thing."
As for the level of play, Brar expects it to be high.
"Last year's (senior boys) final, we had PGSS versus Duchess - Tyrell (Laing's) guys versus Jasper (Yutuc's) - best kids in town so it was very, very competitive," Brar said. "Even the junior division, it was really good basketball too."
At the end of the tournament, a most valuable player award in the name of Matt Pearce will be handed out. Pearce, who was a significant contributor to youth sports in general and to last year's three-on-three tournament specifically, died on Jan. 23 of a heart-related issue.
"Matt will be there in spirit," Parmar said. "And just talking to the players, they want to play extremely hard for him."
Pearce's son, Colburn, is on a junior boys team that also features Malcolm MacDonald and Cody Boulding.
Coincidentally, the first Summer Hoops Classic doubled as a fundraiser for the Heart and Stroke Foundation of B.C. & Yukon. That will be the case again this year, and the players are cognizant of that fact. MacDonald said he's looking forward to how much awareness the tournament will bring to the foundation.
As part of the tournament's fundraising component, an online donation page has been established through the Heart and Stroke Foundation. As of Wednesday afternoon, $7,408 had been donated. The target total is $10,000.
On both days of the event, raffle tickets will be for sale. The prize package is a Prince George Cougars jersey, signed by the entire team, and a Cougars hat.
For the second consecutive year, Family Dental Care is the title sponsor of the P.G. Summer Hoops Classic.
"We've had huge support from them," Brar said.
P.G. Summer Hoops Classic three-on-three basketball tournament
Saturday and Sunday at Duchess Park secondary school
Participating teams
Junior boys division
1. Malcolm MacDonald, Colburn Pearce and Cody Boulding
2. Raymond Dhillon, Michael Schwaub and Seth Lapre
3. Cameron Sale, Randy Sandhu, Colton Meehan, and Christopher Magrath
4. Ameer Dhillon, Ash Bourque and AJ Bassi
5. Jovhan Janjua, Sasha Gajic and Brendan Moseley
6. Nick Husband, Ronnie Delacruz and Demian Dron
7. Garrett Anderson, Soren Ericcson, Adam Lee and Brevin Gervais
8. Owen MacDonald, Jack Kuc and Markus Myotovic
Senior boys division
1. Tyrell Laing, Solomon Dougdale and Johnny Tatla
2. Jasper Yutuc, Owen Trepanier and Bailey Muxlow
3. Jonathan Mueller, Hunter Brophy and Will Pippy (Vanderhoof)
4. Joshua Gillin, Nigel Thompson and Ben Shand
5. Fasahat Saeed, Kyle West, Jong Chow and Cole Rader
6. Jacob Thibodeau, Jonah Gilbert and Ethan Coleman
7. Steven Kidwell, Fraser Macrae and Joshua Muir
8. Jacob Tiand, Noah Matyas and Riley Lindsay
9. Jacob Cundy, Joshua Potter, Brett Stubbs and Anthony Chow
10. Cale Davidson, Luke Brbot, and Gursaevik Aulakh
Girls division
1. Courtney Hauck, Litsanna Thanos and Gabrielle Caillier
2. Sydney Botham, Jasmine Cutler and Kayla Gregory
3. Alyssa Brown, Nina Goyic, Paige Unger, Kyra Arrowsmith, Ida Muturi
4. Hannah Loukes, Gurveet Thandi, Camryn Douglass and McKenna Arsenault
5. Jasmine Schlick, Erin Unger and Julia Kreitz
6. Grace Coullier, Courtney Bouwman, Jessica Begin and Talisa Douglass
