Queen Elizabeth Secondary girls top of the Ladder in Goodwill Basketball Classic
The Queen Elizabeth Royals won this year's Ladder Division of the Surrey Fire Fighters Association Goodwill Basketball Classic. (Photo by Silvester Law)
The Queen Elizabeth Royals are wearing a new crown as the Grade 12 girls dethroned last year’s North Surrey Secondary champions to reach the top of the Ladder Division in the Surrey Fire Fighters Association Goodwill Basketball Classic.
The 22nd annual dual tournament series – which splits senior teams into the Ladder and Axe divisions – saw the Q.E. Royals push the North Surrey Spartans off the top of the Ladder in a hard-fought 44-25 final to become 2024 champs, leaving the Spartans with silver.
Earlier in the tournament, Q.E. faced its stiffest competition in the quarterfinal, narrowly edging out the Semiahmoo Thunderbirds 54-50, before holding the Elgin Park Orcas to a 13-point deficit at 36-23 in the semifinal. The Orcas finished third overall, exterminating the Frank Hurt Hornets 45-33.
The Ladder Division featured some very close games, including Frank Hurt’s 59-57 win over Khalsa School in the first round, Grandview Heights taking on Kwantlen Park 41-37, and North Surrey’s quarterfinal 42-40 nailbiter against the Princess Margaret Lions. North Surrey also put up an impressive 68 points against Frank Hurt’s 57, but despite their high-scoring semifinal, the Spartans just couldn’t repeat last year’s finals win.
In the Axe Division, two-time champions the Fleetwood Park Dragons were unable to defend their title, dropping to the Clayton Heights Riders in the quarterfinals 37-31. The Riders and Lord Tweedsmuir Panthers each made it to the semifinals but fell to the Pacific Academy Breakers and Holy Cross Crusaders, respectively. The 3rd place game was as close as it gets, with the Panthers fending off the Riders by one point and winning 55-54 to walk away with bronze.
In addition to accolades on the court, the Surrey Fire Fighters’ Charitable Society offers several bursaries in the name of “goodwill” to student athletes who have outstanding volunteer service in their community. To date, the society has awarded more than $90,000.
Congratulations to all of our teams who competed in the Surrey Fire Fighters Association Goodwill Basketball Classic!
