IT is down to the Elite Eight.

Thirty-two teams tipped off on Saturday morning at Langley Events Centre for day one of the 50^th annual Junior Boys Basketball Provincial Invitational Tournament but only eight remain alive in the hunt for a championship.

The quarter-final round is set for Sunday with a pair of games at 2 p.m. and then the remaining two at 3:30 p.m.

One clash features the fourth and fifth seeds, No. 4 St. Patrick (Vancouver) Saints against No. 5 Okanagan Mission (Kelowna) Huskies while the other has the No. 3 Yale (Abbotsford) Lions and the No. 6 R.C. McMath (Richmond) Wildcats.

The second slate of quarter-finals games features the tournament’s top seed, the Burnaby South Rebels face No. 9 Claremont (Victoria Spartans while the other matchup is the No. 2 Vancouver College Fighting Irish vs. the No. 7 Walnut Grove (Langley) Gators.

Burnaby South Rebels (No. 1) 78 Panorama Ridge Thunder (No. 16) 45

Down 14-5 in the first quarter, the Rebels settled down to take a 34-28 lead at the half and after the Thunder cut the deficit to three points early in the third quarter, Burnaby South went on an 8-0 run and never looked back.

Down 13 after three quarters, Panorama Ridge went cold from the field, making just three field goals.

Jareb Pineda and Jimmy Zaborniak went off for 25 points apiece for the Rebels with Zaborniak sinking five three pointers in the third quarter alone. Burnaby South hit 13 triples.

Vince Ignacio had 15 points for Panorama Ridge and Gurtaaj Hans had a dozen.

Okanagan Mission Huskies (No. 5) 58 MEI Eagles (No. 12) 49

The Huskies led wire-to-wire, holding MEI to five first-quarter points and never allowing the Eagles within four points the rest of the way.

Cam Parker led the team with 13 points and it was a balanced attack as seven players contributed offensively, scoring five points or more. Jayden Cousins led MEI with 14 points.

Walnut Grove Gators (No. 7) 55 Kelowna Owls (No. 10) 50

The Gators won a back-and-forth game as the teams were tied after one quarter with Walnut Grove taking a two-point lead at the half and up three points after three quarters. The Owls pulled within a point in the fourth quarter, but Walnut Grove was 8-for-9 from the free throw line to close things out.

Kevin Kao and Trevor Duffin led Walnut Grove with 13 points apiece and Callum Neily had 10 while Nolan Dergousoff led Kelowna with a dozen points.

Kevin Kao and Trevor Duffin led Walnut Grove with 13 points apiece and Callum Neily had 10 while Nolan Dergousoff led Kelowna with a dozen points.

R.A. McMath Wildcats (No. 6) 57 St. George’s School Saints (No. 11) 56

The closest game of the round of 16 saw the Saints race out to a 10-0 lead before the Wildcats clawed back to within a bucket after one quarter. McMath was down one point at the half and they were up 50-43 midway through the fourth quarter.

The Saints would go on an 11-0 run to lead 54-50 before the Wildcats scored seven of the final nine points. McMath made just five field goals in the final quarter, but four of those were from beyond the arc.

Travis Hamberger led the victors with 19 points while Rio Hutchful had 14. The Saints were led by 19 points from Luc Dixon.

Claremont Spartans (No. 9) 54 Sir Winston Churchill Bulldogs (No. 8) 48

In a battle of the eighth and ninth seeds, it was the lower-ranked Spartans edging the top Vancouver team.

Claremont never trailed with the Bulldogs finally pulling even at 40 early in the fourth quarter only to surrender an insurmountable 6-2 run which gave the Spartans a lead they would not relinquish.

Claremont was led by Colby Parker’s 18 points while Ben Manns had 13 and Jakob Edgar-Neufeld had 10. Nicholas Chan had 23 points for the Bulldogs.

St. Patrick Celtics (No. 4) 58 A.R. MacNeill Ravens (No. 13) 42

The Celtics offence erupted for 27 fourth-quarter points – they had just 31 in the first three quarters combined – to turn a two-point game early in the period to a 16-point margin of victory over the Ravens.

St. Patrick was led by 18 points from Daniel Marcelo and another 14 from Joshua Bahena while Jose Malabanan had 13 points, including a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter.

Tanner Devlin led the Ravens with 13 points.

Yale Lions (No. 3) 56 J.L. Jackson Golds (No. 19) 47

Yale’s offence struggled in the third quarter, managing just three points, but their defensive helped them overcome their shooting woes, liming the Golds to a mere seven points.

The Golds cut the deficit to a single point in the opening minute of the fourth quarter before Yale woke up offensively, hitting a trio of three-pointers to put the game out of reach.

Joseph Ho did the bulk of the damage offensively for the Lions, finishing with six triples and 32 points.

Leyton Boyd led the Golds with 15 points, all from beyond the arc.

Photos courtesy of Gary Ahuja Langley Events Centre