Much like Thanos collecting the infinity stones in the Marvel Universe, the Kelowna Owls senior boys basketball team and head coach Harry Parmar have won nearly every major provincial tournament over the past 15-plus years.
The one exception to the Owls' own Infinity Gauntlet was the Abbotsford-based Snowball Classic Tournament.
Kelowna has been coming to the tournament for years and fell in the 2017 finals to the Walnut Grove Gators. They also lost to the New York-based Mount Vernon Knights in 2016. The Owls have kept coming back and have always been competitive but failed to win the big one.
They can finally erase some of that past disappointment after a triumphant 2025 tournament capped off by an 89-80 win over Abbotsford's MEI Eagles in the tournament final on Saturday (Jan. 18).
Jam-packed at for the Snowball Classic Final. Abbotsford91ÂãÁÄÊÓƵ™s against Kelowna
91ÂãÁÄÊÓƵ” Ben Lypka (@BenLypka)
The Owls opened up a 23-15 lead after one and increased that to 47-35 at halftime. The offence was lit by Kelowna's Jake McParland, who collected 17 points in the first half (including four three-point shots).
MEI pushed back in the third quarter, electrified by guard Shaun Madahar who scored eight points in the quarter. Madahar led the Eagles with 16 points in the game. The Eagles cut the lead to as low as seven, but the Owls kept responding. They pulled away in the fourth quarter to secure the win. McParland finished with a game-high 23 points.
Good ball movement and a mid range J puts Kelowna up 51-39
91ÂãÁÄÊÓƵ” Ben Lypka (@BenLypka)
Big three by MEI cuts the lead to seven
91ÂãÁÄÊÓƵ” Ben Lypka (@BenLypka)
"I think this is the only one we haven't won," Parmar said after the victory. "It's nice, we can finally get this one off the plate."
He gave MEI full credit for a tough game and refusing to give up.
"We should have put them away earlier," he said of the final. "Our composure and and execution isn't where it needs to be, but kudos to them they played hard."
Kelowna also pulled off a significant upset with an 83-82 overtime win over the Los Angeles-based Farifax Lions in Friday's (Jan. 17) semifinal. Parmar said he felt the Lions looked vulnerable. The Owls got off to a hot start on Friday and hung on for the win.
"I saw their pace and I thought we could stay with them," he said. "So once we started to dictate the pace, it was a good sign for us."
The Owls also pulled off a big upset back in 2017 when they beat California's Rolling Hills Huskies in that year's semifinal.
Parmar said the Owls initially started coming to the Snowball Classic out of respect and admiration for the recently-deceased Snowball Classic tournament director, basketball head coach and Abbotsford sports legend Prentice Lenz. The Abbotsford Senior Secondary School teacher tragically died last month. The tournament did hold a moment of silence for Lenz before the tip-off of the final.
"He was a great human," Parmar said. "I feel so bad for his family."
Parmar said he has been coming to the Snowball Classic for a long time and this year was another great event, but it felt different without Lenz.
"Certain things that were happening I thought 91ÂãÁÄÊÓƵ“ oh Prentice would have done this or that," he said. "I've seen him these three days so much over the last 12 years. He was such a good guy, I remember him telling me after our first time here that we can come back whenever we want. It's very sad, but coach Teague Funk did a very good job this year."
The third place game saw the Vancouver-based St. George's Saints also take down Fairfax with an 87-71 win. Burnaby South defeated the host Abbotsford Panthers 77-71 in the fifth place game.
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