Even with the significant strides the Delta Pacers have made in in the past month, there is no guarantee they will survive even the first round of their own tournament this week.
Head coach Matt McKay is more interested in preparing his senior boys basketball team for the upcoming playoffs than he is in winning hardware. But it's still rare these days to see a host school give itself such a challenging draw.
The inaugural eight team Bill Kushnir Memorial Tournament features the Pacers opening play Thursday night (8: 15 p.m.) against the Heritage Woods Kodiaks. A win would set-up a Friday semi-final tilt against the No. 1 "AAA" ranked Yale Lions.
However, Delta better not look past the Kodiaks who very well could be a future opponent in what's shaping up to be an extremely competitive Fraser Valley Championships.
The Port Moody school currently sits in first place in the Fraser Valley North League with a 4-0 record and ended the Pacers' season a year ago by handing them a 76-59 loss in the Valley playoffs.
"It's going to be a very tough first round game," said McKay. "There are a lot of very good teams in the Fraser Valley and they are one of them.
"Every game at our tournament is going to be competitive. That's what you want."
The fifth ranked Tamanawis Wildcats will be heavily favoured to advance from the other side of the draw. They open against Abbotsford's Robert Bateman and will face the winners of St. Pats/Steveston-London in the semi-finals. St. Pats is ranked No. 4 in the provincial "A" rankings.
The Pacers were slated to play Tamanawis last night in league action and McKay says the Surrey school is a difficult match-up for his squad.
"They are big, long and athletic bunch," he said. "They also have a deeper bench than say a White Rock Christian or Kitsilano. "I'm anticipating they will win our league and are very similar to Yale.
From a personnel standpoint, those two teams are the toughest for us to match up with their bodies and skill set."
Rounding out the Kushnir tourney participants are Steveston's McMath Wildcats who entered this week's play unbeaten in Richmond League play (5-0). McMath faces Yale in the opening round.
The championship game is slated for 4: 15 p.m. on Saturday. Admission is $2.
