The Parkland Panthers senior boys basketball team is ranked fifth among AAA high school basketball teams as the season begins.
Parkland hits the middle of the pack in the sportvictoria.com rankings to start the senior boys high school basketball season on Vancouver Island. They are in good company with Nanaimo District Secondary, Wellington (Nanaimo), Edward Milne (Sooke) and Mark Isfeld (Courtenay).
The local boys are still practicing and face a bit of temporary player shortage, according to coach Roger Pires. He says a group of his players are off to the mainland this week for the AA volleyball provincials Nov. 25 to 29. Parkland hosts their home basketball tournament on Dec. 5 and 6.