THE Holy Cross Crusaders, Sir Charles Tupper Tigers, Charles Hays Rainmakers and the Glenlyon Gryphons have earned the top seeds for their respective tiers at this week’s B.C. High School Basketball Championships at Langley Events Centre.

The Championships run March 6 to 9 at Langley Events Centre.

In the 4A Tournament, Surrey’s Holy Cross Crusaders are in search of the school’s first championship at the largest tier of senior boys basketball.

The Lower Mainland champion Kitsilano (Vancouver) Blue Demons secured the No. 2 seed while the Terry Fox (Port Coquitlam) Ravens – who lost to Holy Cross in the Fraser Valley final – come in as No. 3 and the Vancouver College Fighting Irish (the Lower Mainland runner-up) is No. 4.

The defending 4A champion Burnaby South Rebels enter the 16-team tournament as the No. 5 seed.

The rest of the field consists of (by seed number) Oak Bay (Victoria) Bays, Kelowna Owls, West Vancouver Highlanders, Lord Tweedsmuir (Surrey) Panthers, Belmont (Victoria) Bulldogs, W.J. Mouat (Abbotsford) Hawks, Walnut Grove (Langley) Gators, Centennial (Coquitlam) Centaurs, Mount Baker (Cranbrook) Wild, Heritage Woods (Port Moody) Kodiaks and North Peace (Fort St. John) Grizzlies.

Rounding out the top four seeds behind Vancouver’s Sir Charles Tupper Tigers in the 3A Tournament are the No. 2 Vernon Panthers, No. 3 Pitt Meadows Marauders and No. 4 Duchess Park (Prince George) Condors.

And there will be a new 3A champion this year as the defending champ South Kamloops did not make the final 16. However, last year’s finalist, Burnaby’s Byrne Creek Bulldogs enter as the No. 8 seed and the third-place finisher from 2018, the North Delta Huskies, come in at No. 9.

The rest of the field consists of No. 5 G.W. Graham (Chilliwack) Grizzlies, No. 6 A.R. MacNeill (Richmond) Ravens, No. 7 Rick Hansen (Abbotsford) Hurricanes, No. 10, G.P Vanier (Courtenay) Towhees, No. 11 Robert Bateman (Abbotsford) Timberwolves, No. 12 Steveston-London (Richmond) Sharks, No. 13 Caledonia (Terrace) Kermodes, No. 14 Argyle (North Vancouver) Pipers, No. 15 Reynolds (Victoria) Roadrunners and No. 16 Mark Isfeld (Courtenay) Ice.

The No. 1 ranked Charles Hays Rainmakers are looking for their first provincial title since 2001, but one of the many teams standing in their way include two-time defending champion Brentwood College, with the Mill Bay school coming in as a No. 8 seed and potential quarter-final matchup.

Prince George’s D.P. Todd Trojans are the No. 2 seed while local squad Langley Christian Lightning are No. 3 and the Elphinstone (Gibsons) Cougars are No. 5.

Last year’s provincial finalist, King George (Vancouver) Dragons are the No. 5 seed.

The rest of the field includes No. 6 Britannia (Vancouver) Bruins, No. 7 George Elliot (Lake Country)

Coyotes, No.9 Westsyde (Kamloops) Whundas, No. 10 Seycove (North Vancouver) Seyhawks, No. 11 St. Michaels University School (Victory) Blue Jags, No. 12 Sa-Hali (Kamloops) Sabres, No. 13 Abbotsford Christian Knights, No. 14 Lambrick Park (Victoria) Lions, No. 15 Pacific Academy (Surrey) Breakers and No. 16 Sparwood Spartans.

Twelve years after their last championship, the top-seeded Glenlyon Norfolk Gryphons of Victoria are hoping to add a third 1A title.

Rounding out the top four seeds are the No. 2 Kelowna Christian Knights, No. 3 Highroad Academy (Chilliwack) Knights and No. 4 Credo Christian (Langley) Kodiaks.

Credo Christian won bronze in the 2018 Tournament and are the top finisher from 2018 who qualified for the 2019 Tournament.

The other teams in the mix are: No. 5 Vernon Christian Royals, No. 6 Similkameen (Keremeos) Sparks, No. 7 Cedars Christian (Prince George) Eagles, No. 8 King David (Vancouver) Lions, No. 9 Northside Christian (Vanderhoof) Northstars, No. 10 Pemberton Red Devils, No. 11 Gudangaay Tlaats’gaa Nay (Masset) Thunder, No. 12 Nanaimo Christian Trail Blazers, No. 13 Deer Lake (Burnaby) Falcons, No. 14 McBride Mustangs, No. 15 Gold River Cougars and No. 16 Fernie Falcons.

For full schedules for all four tournaments, visit www.bchighschoolbasketballchampionships.com.

All four championship games will be played on Saturday in the Arena Bowl with game times set for 1:30 p.m., 3:45 p.m., 6:00 p.m. and 8:15 p.m.