(Quebec City, Que.) – British Columbia and Ontario remained unbeaten on Saturday and will carry perfect records into the final day of competition at the 2026 Junior National Championship at the CEGEP Limoilou Sports Complex in Quebec City, Que.
Defending Canada Games champions British Columbia improved to 3-0 with a 64-41 victory over Manitoba, securing first place in Pool A and a berth in Sunday’s semifinals against Alberta.
“I think we’re doing well to gel as a group,” said Jeffer Ward. “Each time we play games, we’re growing and learning from it, so I’m excited for the Canada Games.”
The win extended British Columbia’s undefeated run to the 2022 Junior National Championship in Charlottetown, P.E.I.
Sunday’s semifinal matchup will be a rematch of the 2023 Canada Games gold medal game, in which British Columbia defeated Alberta 79-32.
“There’s a little bit of pressure, but also it’s fun,” Ward said. “It’d be cool to keep the streak going, and we’re going to try our best, but pressure is all in the mind.
“We feel good, we’ll follow the game plan, and we’ll do our best.”
Alberta punched its ticket to the semifinals with a convincing 74-27 quarterfinal win over New Brunswick.
Ontario also completed round-robin play without a loss, defeating Alberta 60-36 to finish atop Pool B with a perfect 3-0 record and secure a place in Sunday’s semifinals.
In Sunday’s semifinals, Ontario will face host Quebec.
“We’ve been playing well as a team, so I’m impressed with our performance and just the rotations we have been really good, and we’re doing great things so far,” said Desmond O’Shaughnessy.
“We’re coming together really well as a squad – I’m impressed with how everyone is playing and being able to come on the court even off the bench and know exactly what their role is – we’re able to capitalize on that really well.”
After placing eighth at the 2022 Junior National Championship and seventh at the 2023 Canada Games, Ontario has showcased its growth and development in Quebec City.
“The improvement is drastic,” O’Shaughnessy admitted. “We were looking at our past scores from the last cycle, seeing how far we’ve come as a squad – it’s awesome to see how well we’ve developed and been able to put all of our strengths together to perform really well at this tournament.”
Quebec earned a spot in the semifinals with a 49-38 win over Manitoba.
Semifinal action gets underway Sunday morning at 8:00 a.m. EDT as teams battle for a spot in the national championship game.
Full schedule and results, can be found on WBC’s event page.
About the 2026 Junior National Championships
The 2026 Junior National Championship serves as both a test event and a seeding tournament for the 2027 Canada Winter Games. The Junior National Championship is held once every four years as part of the Canada Games quadrennial cycle. Taking place in Year 3 of the cycle, the tournament provides a key competitive opportunity for Canada’s top emerging athletes while helping determine seeding for the Canada Winter Games in Year 4.