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Fraser Valley excelling at B.C. AAA senior boys championships

Six of the eight quarter-final teams from Valley
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Walnut Grove Gators' De'Sean Monsanto drives to the hoop against Mount Douglas Rams' Gurpinder Kang during the Gators' 78-73 victory at the B.C. senior boys AAA championships at the Langley Events Centre.
The Fraser Valley is collectively flexing its muscles through the first two days of the B.C. senior boys AAA basketball championships.The Valley – the largest of the provincial zones — received a tournament-high seven berths to the 20-team provincial championships at the Langley Events Centre.And they made good use of them too as six of the seven squads have qualified for the quarter-finals.Of course, all six are now matched up against one another in the final eight, which begin today (Thursday) at 3 p.m.This means that two of the three top spots will be filled with Valley teams.The first quarter-final features the tournament's top seed, the Kelowna Owls, against last year's runner-ups, the Vancouver College Fighting Irish.The Owls scored an 84-53 win over the Point Grey Greyhounds on Wednesday behind a monster game from Braxston Bunce, who had 24 points and 23 rebounds. Mitch Goodwin added 20 points, six rebounds and four assists.Kyril Fourik led the ’Hounds with 21 points.The second quarter-final pits Fraser Valley champion and second seed Pitt Meadows Marauders Air Force against league rival Terry Fox Ravens.The game goes at 4:45 p.m.Pitt defeated the Sir Charles Tupper Tigers 64-51 while the Ravens beat the Oak Bay Bays 73-52.In the first game, the game was tied at the half before Pitt Meadows built a lead they would not relinquish.Trevor Severinski led the way with 23 points and nine rebounds, while Matthew Blackaby scored 20. Cameron Smythe led the Tigers with 21.The Ravens' Ryan Sclater led his team with 22 points while Kazitoki Kobiyashi had 14 for Oak Bay.Quarter-final number three pits the Tamawanis Wildcats against the White Rock Christian Warriors at 6:30 p.m.The Wildcats defeated the Carson Graham Eagles 67-50, while the Warriors pulled off the first major upset, knocking off the third-seed St. George's Saints 63-62 in overtime.White Rock Christian, the Fraser Valley's sixth seed, had to win a play-in game on Tuesday, defeating the Mt. Baker Wild 79-67, to advance to the main draw.The Saints rallied from a 16-point third-quarter deficit to force overtime against White Rock Christian, but missed two free throws in the dying seconds of overtime to fall.Jake Newman had 19 points — including the winning basket with nine seconds to go — while Tyus Allen also had 19 points before fouling out.For the Saints, Milan Mitrovic had a game-high 21 points, including the three-pointer which forced overtime.And the final quarter-final is another pair of league rivals, the fourth-seed Walnut Grove Gators and the W.J. Mouat Hawks. It tips off at 8:15 p.m.The Gators have won four of five games against Mouat this season.Walnut Grove advanced with a 78-73 win over the Mount Douglas Rams.Jadon Cohee led the Gators with 33 points while De'Sean Monsanto and Brad Hoffman scored 15 points apiece.Curtis Wilson led the Rams with 21 points.The Hawks defeated the Kitsilano Blue Demons 66-55 behind 23 points from Jesse Coy.Tristan Etienne also had a monster game for Mouat with 16 points, a dozen rebounds, seven blocked shots and five steals.