It’s tip-off time for the senior boys basketball provincial tournament, and a trio of Abbotsford teams are in the mix.
The W.J. Mouat Hawks are the lone local team competing in the 4A tournament, and the club enters the event seeded fourth in the province.
Mouat opens the tournament at the Langley Events Centre tomorrow (Wednesday) at 10:15 a.m. against the 13th-ranked Belmont Bulldogs.
The Hawks finished second at the Fraser Valley championships, which wrapped up on Feb. 25. The championship game saw Mouat fall 87-85 to Tamanawis in overtime. Hawks players Sukhi Kang and Dhivaan Bhogal were both first team all-stars at that event.
Mouat also won the Abbotsford Police City Basketball Tournament back in December.
The 3A tournament features two Abbotsford teams, as both the Rick Hansen Hurricanes and the MEI Eagles have qualified for the big dance.
Hansen, the defending 3A champions, are seeded 10th and take on Duchess Park from Prince George tomorrow at noon. The Hurricanes wrapped up the Fraser Valley championships in fourth place, with Gurlal Mann (first team) and Gurkaran Mangat (second team) named all stars.
Hansen lost to eventual Fraser Valley champion North Delta on Feb. 28 to end their regional title hopes. The Hurricanes concluded the event with a 75-71 loss to Clayton Heights in the third place game on Friday.
The Eagles, heading to senior boys provincials for the first time since 2009, take on Richmond’s R.A. McMath tomorrow at 6:45 p.m.
MEI took down the G.W. Graham Grizzlies 74-71 on Friday to clinch the fifth and final Fraser Valley region berth at provincials. Isaiah Reimer of the Eagles was named a second team all-star at the Fraser Valley championships.
Check abbynews.com for updates throughout the event.