Canada's version of March Madness has officially tipped off.
The U Sports Final Eight championship, hosted at the Univeristy of British Columbia's campus in Vancouver, sees 16 (eight men, eight women) university programs from across the country compete for the W.P McGhee (men) and Bronze Baby (women) trophy.
Seven players from the Okanagan are on rosters of championship teams.
Women
- UBC Thunderbirds - Katrina Fink and Stella LaGrange
Fink and LaGrange are both locals to Kelowna. Fink, a fourth-year guard out of Kelowna Secondary School (KSS), is playing in her last season with the Birds after joining the program in 2020. Injuries have kept her out of games since the 2022-23 season, but she will be graduating this year with a degree in Kinesiology.
"Kat suffered a lot of injuries over her time with the program but still managed to give her heart to the group and her teammates in whatever capacity she could," said head coach Isabel Ormond. "That is always hard to do when you're not on the court as much as you'd like, so we really appreciate her spirit and her presence with our group for as long as she's been a Thunderbird."
LaGrange, a third-year guard from Okanagan Mission, has suited up in 19 games for the 18-2 Thunderbirds this year, accumulating 43 points, 13 assists and 27 total rebounds.
The fifth-ranked Thunderbirds, who finished second in the Canada West playoffs, will face the fourth-ranked Saint Mary's Huskies from Halifax in the quarterfinals.
- University of Alberta Pandas - Rylee Semeniuk
The fourth-year guard out of KSS is a key bench contributor for the 18-2 Pandas, who won bronze at the Canada West playoffs. Semeniuk has played 97 games over four years, averaging 3.4 points per game and 1.5 assists per game. She has a career high of 21 points on six threes back in the 2021-22 season in just 17 minutes.
The Pandas have a tough matchup in the quarterfinals, as they will play the top-ranked (and Canada West champion) Saskatchewan Huskies at 8 p.m. on Thursday.
Men
- UBC Thunderbirds - Raj Dhadda and Gus Goerzen
Dhadda, from Kelowna, went to high school at Rutland Secondary, and then to the Canadian Topflight Academy West (CTAW), which is a predatory academy for aspiring athletes. The rookie is redshirting this season but has potential in the future with a 6-foot-5-inch, 170-pound frame as a guard.
Goerzen, from Roberts Creek, B.C., on the sunshine coast, spent three seasons at UBC Okanagan. During his playing career with the Heat, Goerzen sits seventh all-time in scoring, with 580 points, 10 per game.
After sitting out the 2023-24 season due to transfer rules, the 6-foot-6-inch sharpshooter is shooting 38.8 per cent from beyond the arc, averaging 17 minutes a game and seven points per game for the 15-5 Thunderbirds. Goerzen is in his fourth year of eligibility and may return next season.
A Canada West semifinalist, the T'Birds (ranked third) do battle with the UPEI Panthers (sixth ranked), who upset the St. Francis Xavier X-Men in the AUS Championship.
- Ottawa Gee-Gees - Wil Zylyk
The 6-foot-6-inch sophomore guard from Kelowna went to high school with the OKM Huskies. He also spent a season with the CTAW program. Zylyk has played 21 games this year, averaging 5.1 minutes and 1.1 points per game. The Gee-Gees won the OUA Championship, after an impressive 20-2 regular season and is coming into Nationals ranked number one. They will play the eighth seeded Concordia Stingers, who won silver in the RSEQ playoffs, in the quarterfinals.
- University of Calgary Dinos- Beckett Johnson
Second-year Johnson hails from Salmon Arm, having played with the Salmon Arm Secondary Golds in high school. After playing in six games his freshman year, Johnson has nearly tripled that mark, getting into 18 games this season. The rangy guards first-ever bucket in Canada West was an emphatic dunk.
The Dinos, 16-4 on the year, won the Canada West Championship over the Thunderbirds, and sports the U Sports MVP Nate Petrone. They tango with the OUA finalist, Queen's Gaels, in the quarterfinals.
Teams will be playing Thursday through Sunday, and all 22 matches will be broadcast live on CBC.
