The Dover Bay Dolphins are defending 3A provincial basketball champions, but will contest the tougher 4A division where they're ranked second. Wellington Secondary and Nanaimo Christian School will join them in the 3A and 1A divisions. (Langley Events Centre)

By Alex Rawnsley

medal hopes

‘We’re in it to win it:’ three Nanaimo schools vying for provincial basketball titles

Mar 4, 2025 | 4:16 PM

NANAIMO — A trio of local high school basketball teams are Mainland-bound this week, with at least two holding high hopes to win a provincial championship.

The Dover Bay Dolphins, Wellington Wildcats and Nanaimo Christian Trail Blazers all open their B.C. High School Provincial Basketball Championships campaigns on Wednesday, March 5 at the Langley Events Centre, with both Dover and Wellington going in highly ranked.

Dover Bay head coach Darren Seaman said his 4A team is ready as the number two seed to go all the way, after winning the 3A championship last year.

“We made it two years in a row with the 3A level…both those years, we made it to the final game. I think that experience of getting there and understanding what it looks like and what it takes to win, the boys are definitely cool headed, and I feel like really have an experienced group that I can rely on.”

The Dolphins posted an impressive 32-4 record this season, with their only losses coming against Victoria’s Spectrum Community School and Oak Bay High School.

Living a dream

VIDEO: Nanaimo's Matthew Wood makes NHL debut

2h ago

mischief

Multiple election signs damaged across mid-Island

8h ago

Erosion work

Partial trail closure to mitigate lingering bank erosion downstream from Ammonite Falls

Apr 06, 2025

It’s entirely likely the provincial champion will come from Vancouver Island as the division is 78-1 against teams from the Mainland this year.

“We’re in it to win it, there’s no doubt about that. We’ll definitely be taking one game at a time, but I feel like this group has what it takes, if they can just focus on the details and stay in the moment…I think we’ll work our way through and hopefully get to that final game again.”

Dover Bay plays Prince George at 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday, with their full schedule available here.

Wellington Secondary School opens their tournament at the 3A level Wednesday afternoon, a 3 p.m. start against Vernon.

Ranked fifth, head coach Luke Letham believes his Wildcats roster can use experience gained over recent seasons to contend this week.

“Last year we were very young, mostly grade 10s and 11s. This year, we’ve got more seniors on the team, which you can really tell…definitely a lot more leadership. This year the higher expectations are definitely showing that we’ve been a little bit more battle tested.”

He doesn’t anticipate the venue, nor large crowds, to be a factor.

Wellington has played in a number of big tournaments this season, including one in Langley in early December which serves as a good comparison to provincials.

Regardless, the team which went 37-5 this season, with all their losses coming against 4A teams, will have to battle every game.

“It’s physical over there, teams are deeper, they’re bigger, they have a very strong schedule. Just with geography, where they are…they can play quad-A teams, strong double A teams, so there’s lots of different teams for them to play.”

Wellington’s full tournament schedule is available here.

One local team not highly ranked, but capable of making waves is the Nanaimo Christian School Trail Blazers.

Coached by Mark Rauwerda, NCS will open their tournament as the 11th ranked team against sixth-ranked Immaculata from Kelowna, an 11:45 a.m. tipoff on Wednesday.

Rauwerda said they’re relatively new to playing at provincials and this week will be all about experience.

“It was our goal at the start of the season to make provincials…if I’m being honest, we have no expectations. We just want to go there for the experience, just compete against the best teams in the province and just enjoy being in that basketball community.”

It’s hoped this tournament will provide a boost for the program into next year, where a young squad will be one year older.

The growth has already begun, as Rauwerda said the team is better this year at closing out close games, learning to “handle the moment a little bit better.”

“We do have a number of [grade 11s], I think we have six on the roster, and then we have a couple of grade 10s playing up as well. Next year we’ll have a good balance between grades 11 and 12, so it’s really just about the experience this year, and hopefully next year we can make a good run at it.”

Nanaimo Christian School’s full tournament schedule is available here.

Play continues through to Saturday, March 8.

Follow us on Facebook. Join Everything Nanaimo on Facebook and stay connected with everything happening on central Vancouver Island.

info@nanaimonewsnow.com

Follow us on: Twitter (X) | Bluesky | Facebook