FRIDAY
APD CITY TOURNAMENT
DECEMBER 4, 2015
Basketball players vie for hardcourt bragging rights in annual tourney. See special feature on key players A30 THE ABBOTSFORD POLICE CITY
BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT
Starting on Wednesday, Dec. 9, some of the best young basketball players in Abbotsford sford hit the court for local bragging rights at the Abbotsford Police City ity Basketball Tournament. Here aare eight players suggest by their coaches from the schools represented::
RILEY BRAICH
A B B O T S F O R D
JOBAN PANDHER
DESSMIN SIDHU
Yale Lions
MEI Eagles
Abbotsford Panthers
Rick Hansen Hurricanes
Position: Point Guard Favourite Player: Steph Curry Archrival: Mouat
TAYLOR COUSINS Position: Point Guard Favourite Player: Steph Curry Archrival: Mouat
PAIGE JANZEN Position: Guard/Forward Favourite Player: Steph Curry Archrival: Mouat
Position: Point Guard Favourite Player: Kobe Bryant Archrival: Abby
Robert Bateman Timberwolves
Riley Braich has been to the top of the mountain of B.C. basketball, and he wants more. The Grade 12 student was a key part of last season`s 4A provincial champion Yale Lions, and he said he`s ready to use that experience to fuel the 2015-16 season. “I learned not to get too high or too low during the season,” he said. “You have to always stay grounded - don`t get too down if you drop a game. Provincials are what really matters.” B t th Abb PD it t ti titl th t th
Taylor Cousins remembers last year, and the Grade 11 student knows how close she and her MEI Eagles teammates were to winning the Abby PD city tournament. The Eagles lost 67-59 to the Hawks in the senior girls final, and Cousins wants another shot at bragging rights this year. “It was a very close game,” she recalled. MEI placed seventh at provincials last year, and Cousins said what this year’s squad lacks in size it k f i i k
Injuries plagued the Abby Panthers senior girls team at last year’s Abby PD city basketball tournament, but star player Paige Janzen said those issues shouldn’t stop the team this year. The versatile Grade 12 student can play any position on the floor, and said her team is improved from last year. “We’re a lot stronger than last year and everyone is committed,” she said. “We play as a family.” J id h bi t t th h l i t
The expectations are high this season for the Rick Hansen Hurricanes, but that doesn`t seem to bother Joban Pandher. The Grade 12 student is manning the point for the second-ranked AAA team in the province, and said there is a lot of potential for his squad. “We`ve been together as a group for a while now,” he said. “The core as stayed together as a group and we`d really has to make some noise this year.” Th H i l t t i th F V ll ` t
Position: Point Guard Favourite Player: Kyle Lowry Archrival: Abby Dessmin Sidhu is in the driver’s seat for the Robert Bateman Timberwolves, and that’s just the way she likes it. The Grade 12 student is running the point for the T-Wolves senior girls team, and she’s planning to lead her team to an improved 2015-16 season. “I like to be the playmaker,” she said. “And to make sure that everyone knows what they’re doing out there.”
SIMRAN SIDHU
JASS SINGH
JUSTIN VAN DORP
Dasmesh Punjabi Falcons
W.J. Mouat Hawks
Position: Shooting Guard Favourite Player: Steph Curry Archrival: Hansen
Position: Shooting Guard Favourite Player: Klay Thompson Archrival: Yale
Abbotsford Christian Knights
For the first time ever, the Dasmesh Punjabi School Falcons are sending a senior girls team to the Abby PD city basketball tournament. Sharpshooting guard Simran Sidhu said it’s a big opportunity for her and her teammates. “It means we’re showing other schools what our school is capable of,” she said. The Grade 11 student was a key member of last year’s Falcons team that competed in the junior girls division of the Abby PD tournament, and Sidhu id h t t b ild ff f l t
The Hawks were last year’s Abby PD city basketball tournament senior boys champions, and star player Jass Singh thinks they have great chance to repeat. Singh and the Hawks took down the Abby Panthers in the final round, and he said they should be better this year. “The team is looking great,” he said. “I think we’re a lot faster and stronger than last year. We only lost one key guy from our startling lineup who graduated last year so it’s basically the same team.” Si h l d ith th T BC U 17 i i l
Position: Small Forward Favourite Player: Lebron James Archrival: Mouat The ACS Knights are moving on up, and Justin Van Dorp will be a big piece of the 2015-16 puzzle. ACS now plays in the AA division after years in A, and Van Dorp thinks his team is ready for the jump. “It’s all totally new teams and it will be more competitive but I think we can handle it,” he said. The Knights finished sixth at the A provincials last year, and Van Dorp was named to the tournament’s second all-star team
your life your community.
twitter.com/abbynews facebook.com/myabbynews
abbynews.com m
Online all the time. In print Wednesday & Friday.
Liquor stores eye marijuana sales Outlets ‘best suited’ to become pot distributors: BCGEU Jeff NAGEL Black Press
Liquor stores – both private- and government-run outlets – should be authorized to sell recreational marijuana when the federal government delivers on its election promise to bring in a new regulated system. That’s the pitch coming from the B.C. Government and Service Employees’ Union,
which represents government store workers, and the B.C. Private Liquor Store Association. The two groups, normally competitors, joined forces Wednesday to argue their stores are well-qualified to responsibly handle legalized marijuana, alongside beer, wine and spirits. “We haven’t been aligned in the past but we are aligned on this issue,” said Damian Kettlewell of the private stores association. “We’re suggesting that we have the experience
and the knowledge and, eventually, the product training to sell this product in liquor stores.” He emphasized the aim is to serve as the retailers for recreational pot only, and not compete with existing medical marijuana providers. Liquor stores are already required to check ID to ensure patrons are over 19 to prevent alcohol purchases by youth, said BCGEU president Stephanie Smith.
Det. Craig Burridge heads up child porn investigations
QUICK ARREST A12 Police nab a robbery suspect mere minutes after he pepper-sprayed store owners
Vikki HOPES and Laura RODGERS
EAST-WEST ROUTE
Abbotsford News
Continued on A4
A7 Abbotsford Police
Continued on A4
School lockdown Three Abbotsford schools were placed under lockdown yesterday afternoon after a disturbance at a nearby home resulted in police swarming the neighbourhood to search for a group of suspects. The incident ended about two hours later, with all the suspects in custody. Const. Ian MacDonald said the episode began at about 12:15 p.m., when police received a 911 from a young man who lives in a home in the area of Old Clayburn Road and Bulkley Street. The caller said that a group of three or four young men had come to the home and tried to goad him into fighting, but he felt threatened and instead called police. The caller told police that the group was heading in the direction of Robert Bateman Secondary, located on Exbury Avenue, not far from the home.
GOING AFTER ‘THE WORST’
A14 City mulls two plans to create a new option to relieve pressure on Fraser Highway
■
Letters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A9
■
Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A32
■ Viewpoint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A8 ■
Classifieds. . . . . . . . . . . . . .A43
85¢ Parents of students at Robert Bateman secondary listen to Abbotsford Police Const. Ian MacDonald as he TYLER OLSEN Abbotsford News explains a lockdown at the school on Thursday afternoon.
TRUST YOUR VEHICLE SERVICE TO THE EXPERTS. We offer competitive rates and often better than multi-national or independent shops
HIGHWAY #1 EXIT 83, MT. LEHMAN ROAD, ABBOTSFORD
YOU CAN PUT YOUR TRUST WITH OUR NINE SER VICE DEPARTMENTS - 6 DAYS A WEEK