The Big Ticket Preview: Senior Boys

A whopping 32 teams will be at The Big Ticket this season in the Senior Boys division, and it features teams from various divisions in the province.

AAA standouts Pitt Meadows, McMath, and Rick Hansen will be in the tournament, as well as rising program A.R. MacNeill — who made it to the final four last year at AAA provincials. Sir Winston Churchill should be one of the favourites, as they were one win away from making 4A provincials last season after losing to Burnaby South at the Lower Mainland zone tournament. The Big Ticket will feature the third, fifth, seventh, and eighth-ranked team from the AAA preseason rankings in the tourney.

"Our expectations heading into the season are to be a highly competitive team – with the final goal of making the Provincial tournament for the third straight year," said Pitt Meadows head coach Brody Herman talking earlier to BC Sports Hub. "We expect to finish at the top of our league."

Another team to watch out for is the Saint Patrick Celtics. They have a talented junior class that are making their way to the senior ranks and should put on a show for those in attendance at New Westminster Secondary.

"Three-point specialist Payja Santos, swingman Nick Triska are two seniors that will make some noise this year," said Celtics bench boss Nap Santos on players to watch out for. "Junior BC's all-stars and grade 11 standouts, Daniel Marcelo, Jose Malabanan and defensive player of the year in the Junior BC's Justin Macatangay will play huge roles for us."

New West, Abbotsford Senior, Thomas Haney, and Killarney will host the first three days of the tournament before it switches over solely to Abbotsford starting Thursday.

Written by: Nick Bondi