Skip to content

Hoops battles heating up in the Fraser Valley East

Senior boys’ high school hoops action heats up this month, as the district’s three triple-A teams jump into league play...
94987mapleridgebasketball02012c
The Pitt Meadows Marauders 6’7’’ centre Giovanni Manu collects a rebound in a lopsided victory of the Maple Ridge Ramblers in junior boys’ action this week.

Senior boys’ high school hoops action heats up this month, as the district’s three triple-A teams jump into league play in the Fraser Valley East.

So far this season, Abbotsford looks like it has the teams to beat in the east, says Maple Ridge Ramblers coach Ken Dockendorf.

The Rick Hansen Hurricanes are the top-ranked triple A team in the province, and the locals also have to contend with the Abbotsford Collegiate Panthers, who rank an honourable mention, but have gone 4-0 in league play so far.

Dockendorf’s Ramblers will host the Panthers Friday at 7 p.m. at MRSS.

That will be just the second game of the season for Ridge, as they beat Langley’s R.E. Mountain Eagles 76-37 in their regular season opener.

The Panthers beat the Pitt Meadows Marauders 81-68, dropping Pitt to 1-1 on the season.

The Hurricanes will blow into Pitt Meadows for their league matchup with the Marauders on Tuesday.

The rebuilding Marauders dropped from quadruple A to triple A this season, to play at a competitive level, and they are scheduled to play the Ramblers in a league game for the first time in years on Feb. 18 at 7 p.m. at MRSS.

Dockendorf said the traditionally rivalry between the two schools might need rekindling for high school hoops fans.

“It’s been so long, I don’t know if they remember it,” he said. “We don’t see them as our main rival anymore.”

Thomas Haney is a third team in the east, and they have gone 1-3 so far this season. They lost to Hansen 87-66, Mountain 69-63, and the Robert Bateman Timberwolves 94-63. Their win was over the winless Langley Secondary Saints (0-3) by a score of 61-50.

They next host Brookswood on Feb. 11.