The Peter Buhler Memorial Trophy was donated by the Student's Council in honor of Peter Buhler. Peter was an all around 

athlete and participated in most of the sports offered at Abby Senior. He passed away in October of 1962 from Leukemia. The 

memorial trophy is presented each year to the winning team of the Snowball tournament. Some of the highlights of previous 

tournaments are detailed below.

1961: Vancouver College defeated Magee 59-49 in the first Snowball tournament. To get to the finals, the Fighting Irish edged 

Abbotsford 52-50 in overtime, while Magee nipped Queen Elizabeth 45-44. Abbotsford took third place by beating Queen 

Elizabeth 61-42 in the consolation game.

1962: Lord Byng defeated Vancouver College to capture the Snowball title in one of the finest games of the year. Abbotsford 

again finished third, with Queen Elizabeth in fourth. In the provincial championships that year Victoria defeated Vancouver 

College in the Finals.

1963: Provincial champion M.E.I. undefeated during the year, won the Peter Buhler trophy by edging Byng 77-74. In the consolation game, Vancouver College defeated Abbotsford 67-52 for 3rd.

1964: This was the year that the Abbotsford Panthers finally won their own tournament. The Panthers defeated West Vancouver 

66-48 in the final after beating Vancouver College 73-39 in the semi-final. Abbotsford went on to place second in the Province.

1965: The Abbotsford Panthers again won the Tournament. They defeated North Surrey in the first round, and Windermere in 

the Championship game. The Panthers won the Peter Buhler trophy behind the excellent rebounding of Sam Vandermeulen and 

Emery Baker and the outstanding shooting of Stewart Freund.

1966: Burnaby Central captured the Peter Buhler trophy by defeating Lord Byng 52-43. Vancouver College placed third by 

defeating Abbotsford.

1967: The Abbotsford Panthers walked away with the Peter Buhler Trophy for the third time. Friday night Burnaby Central 

defeated North Vancouver 61-58 and Abbotsford defeated North Surrey 50-45. In Saturday's consolation game North Surrey 

topped North Vancouver 55-52 while Abbotsford defeated Burnaby Central 71-42 in the championship game.

1968: North Surrey defeated Burnaby Central 58-52 to capture the 8th annual Snowball Tournament. In the semi-final North 

Surrey defeated Abbotsford 63-56 and Burnaby Central downed Lord Byng 64-56. The Panthers beat Lord Byng 65-41 to place 

3rd.

1969: Abby won its tournament for the fourth time by defeating Lord Byng 60-46 in the final. The Panthers defeated North 

Surrey 47-40 and Lord Byng nipped Burnaby North 56-50 in the semi-finals. North Surrey placed third by defeating Burnaby 

North.

1970: The Snowball Tournament was a six team affair this year. The Hope Mustangs defeated Delta and Prince Rupert before 

upsetting Abbotsford 67-52 in the finals. North Surrey rebounded from an opening round loss to Abbotsford by defeating Delta 

52-48 in overtime, in the consolation game.

1971: Another six team tournament saw North Surrey win the Snowball Tournament for the second time. They accomplished 

this with big victories over Abbotsford, 63-43 and Mission 70-54. Mission qualified for the final by defeating Penticton in overtime 50-46 and then defeating Hope. Abbotsford took 3rd place by defeating Prince Rupert in the consolation game.

1972: Friday night, Reynolds won a close game over Mission 63-59, Burnaby North beat Mt. View 53-42, and Abbotsford defeated North Surrey 57-46 in a league game. After beating Burnaby Central in the semi finals, Reynolds went on the defeat Abbotsford in the final to win the Snowball Tournament.

1973: Abbotsford defeated Hope to capture their fifth Snowball title. On Friday the Panthers beat North Surrey 52-51. Hope 

went on to finish 8th in the B.C. tournament and North Surrey finished third.

1974: Unlike in their 1970 win, Hope won the Snowball as the favorites. They had convincing victories over Abbotsford, 77-66 

and Vancouver College, 64-77. Abbotsford finished third by defeating Penticton in the consolation game (88-57).

1975: Abbotsford Panthers won the trophy for the sixth time in 15 years by soundly beating Hope 82-32 and edging Point Grey 

85-76 in the final.  Point Grey featured  MVP Howard Kelsey, who scored 95 points in 3 games. North Vancouver took 3rd by 

defeating Hope.

1976 : For the first time in tournament history, an Okanagan team won the Snowball Tournament. Penticton won the tournament 

with victories over Sir Winston Churchill, Kamloops, and then a solid 72-63 victory over Abbotsford in the final. Tournament 

MVP Gord Herbert of Penticton average 30 points per game.

1977: The Peter Buhler Trophy returned to Abbotsford for the seventh time in a strong eight team tournament. Penticton 

reached the finals by defeating Notre Dame and eventually provincial finalist Princess Margaret. The Panthers beat W.J. Mouat

and Kamloops to qualify for the final. In the championship game Abbotsford overcame a 16 point fourth quarter deficit to win 

by a score of 68-66. M.V.P. Gord Herbert of Penticton scored 109 points in 3 games.

 

1978: North Surrey reached the finals by defeating W.J. Mouat 96-65 and St. Thomas More 73-59. The M.E.I. Eagles  made the 

final by defeating Abbotsford 67-43 and by nipping Kamloops 56-55. James Reich and Steve Beauchamp led the North Surrey 

Spartans to an easy 64-48 victory over the M.E.I. Eagles for their third Snowball Tournament.

1979: With several top ranked teams in the Snowball, Abbotsford utilized its home court advantage to win the tournament by 

defeating W.J. Mouat 86-54, Mission 77-56 and N. Delta 56-50. Earlier in the tournament N. Delta had upset  M.E.I. to advance 

to the final against Abbotsford. The tournament was characterized by the excellent play of Steve Beauchamp, Mike Berger, 

Jamie Buis, Rob Fussi, and MVP Ken Klassen.

1980: In a small 4 team tournament, North Surrey won the tournament for the fourth time with victories over Kamloops 74-71 

and Mission 86-77. Abbotsford finished third by beating Kamloops 65-59, after losing to Mission 86-54 on the opening day. 

North Surrey went on to win the Fraser Valley Championship, with Abbotsford placing third.

 

1981: Talent laden teams highlighted the Snowball, as Abbotsford won its own tournament for the 9th time. Teams included N. 

Surrey, eventual B.C. champions, Queen Elizabeth, who finished 7th in B.C. and Abbotsford, who finished 4th in B.C. Abbotsford reached the final, defeating Langley 86-69 and Queen Elizabeth (with 7 foot tall Gord Clemens) 82-59. N. Surrey reached 

the final defeating Kamloops 93-89 in overtime and M.E.I. 85-59. Eight of the twelve games were decided by 6 points or less.

1982: Seaquam defeated Abbotsford 68-67 in one semi-final, before edging Forest Lawn of Calgary 70-69 in the final of the 

eight team tourney. Seaquam beat Salmon Arm 83-67 in its first game while Forest Lawn romped over Princess Margaret 89-38 

in its first outing, before sneaking by Vernon 72-71 in the other semi-final. Abbotsford defeated Vernon 72-71 for third place 

while North Surrey claimed fourth place with a 79-72 win over Salmon Arm.

1983: The final of the 23rd annual Snowball Tournament was a preview of the B.C. championship game as the Abbotsford 

Panthers defeated the North Surrey Spartans 78-65 to capture the Peter Buhler trophy for the 10h time. It was total team effort 

by the Panthers who defeated Maple Ridge 73-46 and St. Francis of Calgary 84-53 to reach the final. Panther all-star Darrell 

Wulf from Prince Rupert amazed fans scoring a total of 107 points, including 47 in one game against Penticton.

1984: There was little excitement in the 24th Annual tournament until the championship game between Abby and eventual 

Alberta Champion Bishop Carroll of Calgary. The Panthers reached the final with easy wins over Pitt Meadows and Prince 

Rupert, while Bishop Carroll defeated  Belmont and Maple Ridge. In the final, Abbotsford surprised the packed house leading  

48-45 with only minutes remaining. However Bishop Carroll won the tournament with four unanswered late in the game.

1985: A better final in the silver anniversary of the Snowball tournament could not have been scripted, as Abbotsford met its 

cross-town rivals M.E.I. A frenzied crowd packed the Pit and were entertained to an intense, exciting game won by the host 

Panthers. MVP Brian Phillip-Stewart scored 12 points to lead the Panthers, to victory. Phillip-Stewart was more potent in Abbotsford's 63-60 semi-final victory over Stamford Collegiate of Niagara Falls Ontario, scoring 31 points. M.E.I. bolstered by Jay 

Pankratz's 33 point performance defeated Westwood of Winnipeg in the other semi-final. Stamford, in Abbotsford on an Open 

House Canada Exchange, defeated Westwood for third place. A young Kelowna team defeated Salmon Arm for the consolation 

trophy.

1986: Playing their best basketball of the season, the Windsor Dukes of North Vancouver easily defeated the Richmond Colts 

82-58 to capture the Snowball crown. Led by the sensational shooting and passing of tournament MVP Craig Morgan, the 

Dukes whipped Bishop Grandin of Calgary 90-64, before beating the host Panthers 73-58 to reach the final against Richmond. 

Abby beat Prince Rupert 62-48 to finish third while Kamloops nipped Princess Margaret of Surrey 80-74 to win the consolation 

trophy.

1987: The Abbotsford Panthers saved their best performance for the final game against cross-town rivals M.E.I. in the 1987 

Snowball. Winning 62-56 the Panthers captured their second Snowball championship in three years and twelfth overall. MVP 

Ian Andreasen led the hosts with 20 points as Abby scored eight unanswered points late in the third quarter to break the game

open. To advance to the finals, Abby defeated Brocklehurst and Prince Rupert by identical 71-51 scores, and M.E.I. defeated 

Columneetza 85-49 and Westsyde 75-59.

1988 : For only the second time in the 29 year history of the Snowball Tournament, the Abbotsford Panthers successfully defended their title. Trailing 52-43 after three quarters, Abby outscored Belmont 19-7 in the fourth quarter of the championship 

game to squeak out a 62-59 victory. It was the third come from behind win for Abby. In the first game, Abby trailed Prince 

Rupert 23-8 before escaping with a 59-57 win. In the semi-final, Abby trailed Mountain 35-25 at the half, but scored 13 straight

points to win 60-56. MVP. Mike Hannik led Abby in scoring with 51 points overall, 21 of which came in the final. Mountain 

defeated Windsor for third place, while Prince Rupert captured fourth place with a win over L.V. Rogers of Nelson.

1989: This tournament was dominated by eventual B.C. finalists, Maple Ridge Ramblers. Exciting action included, Abby 

squeaking by Centennial 58-57 and Magee defeating Abby 75-67 on their way to the final against Maple Ridge. In the final it 

was all Maple Ridge as Dean Adams and Craig Upshaw let the Ramblers to an easy 89-68 win over Magee.

1990: Abbotsford easily defeated Leduc from Alberta 84-60 in the championship game. Tourney  M.V.P. John Downey scored 

19 points while scoring sensation Randy Ellis had 28.  Both Brookswood and Yale, who are in the process of building a program

played well. The tourney had its share of close exciting games, the best one on Friday night as Abby defeated Seaquam 62-61.

1991: The Magee Lions put on a show as they dominated the tourney beating North Delta and Brookswood to get to the championship game, where they defeated Abbotsford 88-67. Leif Carlson led the Lions outside shooting and strong inside-game,

while tournament MVP Chris Martin was unstoppable as he sank 32 points all from outside 15 feet.

1992: Every game after the first round was hard-fought and close down to the final buzzer. Prince of Wales, the eventual championship winner, defeated  Seaquam and Oak Bay to get to the final. In the final they defeated Abbotsford 73-69 in an exciting finish. Nanaimo, led by Gary Edgar a tremendous scorer and passer, finished third.

1993: Led by Novell Thomas and Setrak Merdinan, the top ten ranked Steveston Packers defeated Leduc in the semi-final and 

then John Oliver, 102-83 in the final to capture the 33rd Snowball tournament. Leduc captured third defeating Yale 80-73, while 

Mountain finished fourth, beating Nanaimo 73-61.

1994: A hardworking Columneetza team beat the Panthers 78-68 in the final. In getting to the final Columneetza recorded tough 

victories over Point Grey (70-66) and L.V. Rogers (100-90).  First team all star Brad Berikoff of LV Rogers thrilled the crowd 

with his drives and three point shooting. The Panthers beat Silver Heights of Manitoba (87-82) in front of a very loud, lunch 

time audience.

1995: Panther pride and spirit were present in the opening game, as 1000 screaming, delirious Abby students were treated to 

one of the best games of the tournament. Pat Dyck's heroic three point shooting forced two overtimes but it wasn't enough as 

Caledonia downed the Panthers. The final was an equally exciting contest, as McNair and MVP Josh Masters met Caledonia and 

all star Shawn Cross. Even though McNair prevailed 125-102 the fans were treated to an exciting game which featured an above 

the rim "jam".

1996: This tournament featured some of the top teams in the province.  Eventual provincial finalist, Terry Fox was just too 

strong for the opposition.  The Ravens experience and depth was evident as they easily beat the Abby Panthers 108 to 70 in the 

final.  The Ravens had beaten two strong opponents, Caledonia and Abby Christian, in reaching the final. Terry Fox's Jeff 

Antwi, the eventual tournament MVP, was outstanding distributing the ball, penetrating and shooting.  Abby beat Maple Ridge 

in one of the semi finals in an exciting noon hour game in front of 1000 screaming fans.

1997: The 1997 Snowball featured 3 of the top 15 ranked teams, MEI, Kelowna, and Abby Senior.  The eventual winner MEI 

beat McNair in the semis and Kelowna in the finals. Kelowna got to the finals by overcoming a 20 point Abby Senior lead in the 

showcase noon hour game in front of 1000 screaming fans.

1998: Abby Sr. won two close games to get to the final. Their first game was a 6 point victory over Westsyde and their second 

was a five point win over McNair  in front of  800 screaming Abby fans. Abby met Terry Fox  in the finals. Fox who had 2 comfortable wins over Abby Christian and Kelowna in getting to the final, took the early lead and kept it through out the game to 

defeat Abby Sr. Wayne Jones put on an incredible performance for Abby Sr., in winning the tournament MVP.

1999: The 1999 Snowball tournament was one of the most exciting tournaments in its 39 year history. Abby Sr. easily defeated 

Van Tech in its first game by 31 points and then defeated Kelowna by 16 points to reach the final for the second consecutive 

year.  In the final game Abby met cross time rivals Mission, who reached the finals by defeating Bellingham and Chilliwack.  

The final was played in front of over 1000 fans in a sold out gym.  After a seesaw battle, Abby came out victorious with a 4 

point win, winning the tournament.  Wayne Jones repeated as tournament MVP, putting on an incredible performance to lead his 

team to a tournament win.  Abby’s Ryan Dyck also picked up a first team all star, having a very successful tournament.

2000: Playing impressive basketball, the Yale Lions led by MVP Adam Friessen and tournament all star Jason Marr, defeated 

Chilliwack 87-72 in the final of the 41st Snowball. On their way to the final Yale defeated Westsyde 65-57 and Holy Cross 84-7

70.  Tournament all-stars Ben Jarvis and Ben Krahn led Chilliwack to wins over McNair (91-78) and Abbotsford (76-70) before 

losing to Yale in the final. Abbotsford finished 5th with Regan Hebert receiving a second team allstar.

2001: The  42nd Snowball Tournament featured 8 teams. Yale Lions repeated as champions, defeating Mission in the final. 

Westsyde from Kamloops defeated Maple Ridge for 3rd place. With an amazing individual effort, Ashook Sharma from Mission 

was named MVP.

 

2002: Cancelled

2003: Last year’s tournament featured 16 teams for the first time. It proved to be an outstanding tournament with Penticton 

defeating Mouat in the final 70-50. Abbotsford finished third defeating Bellingham 79-63 MVP Brent Lewis led Penticton to the 

championship. Coaches commented that it was one of the best organized tournaments they had been to.

2004: The 44th Annual Snowball Tournament featured teams from Kamloops, Washington, and the Fraser Valley. The tournament provided a great amount of excitement, with almost every game being within a few points.  Abby fought its way to finals 

defeating Chilliwack and Brocklehurst, before meeting Yale in the Final.  Yale easily defeated Sardis in their first game and

narrowly beat Highroad in overtime to reach the final.  The final proved to be a hard fought battle with Abby defeating Yale, 57

to 56 to win the tournament.  Highroad defeated Brocklehurst for 3rd place and Chilliwack defeated Bellingham in the consolation final for 4th place.  The tournament MVP was Brett Huntley from Yale .

  

2005: The 45th Annual Snowball Tournament featured teams from Kamloops and the Fraser Valley.  The tournament opened 

with Abby defeating Sardis 69 to 39 in front of a packed gym. Abby faltered in their next 2 games losing 48 to 58 to the eventual tournament champions, Abby Christian and losing in a close game to Yale for third place.  Abby Christian easily defeated

Poppy in their first game 76 to 41, and after a close game with Abby, went on to win the tournament easily, defeating Chilliwack

71 to 40 in the final.  Tournament MVP Joe Vroom from Abby Christian, dominated the tournament  with excellent post play 

and proved to be unstoppable in the final game.  The Tournament finished with Yale defeating Abby for third place in a hard 

fought 54 to 50 battle, and D.W. Poppy finished fourth, defeating Brocklehurst from Kamloops in the consolation final 59 to 39.

 

2006: The 46th annual Snowball featured 8 teams. In the championship final the young, emerging Yale Lions defeated top ten 

AA Hope 58-49 in a defensive battle. MVP Sheldon Bjorgaard led the Lions to the title.

2007: The 47th annual Snowball expanded to include 12 teams. Yale repeated as Snowball Champions with a decisive 85-50 

win over the host Abby Collegiate. A strong team from Mt Boucherie placed 3rd. Josh Kufke was tournament  MVP.

2008: Included in the 12 teams competing were defending 5A Alabama State champions, Williamson, #1 in BC,Yale, #6 in BC 

Kitsilano, #4 in BC St. George’s and #2 in AA Langley Christian. The games went as predicted with St George’s beating Kitsilano in the Consolation final and Williamson beating Yale in the final. In March of that year Yale won the BC championship.

2009 - For the second year in a row the eventual B.C. AAA Boys Champions, competed in the Snowball. Emerson Murray 

excited the crowds at the Snowball with his last second heroics against Kits to finish 3rd.  At the Agrodome 3 months later he 

continued his heroics capping St. Georges’ run to the finals with a buzzer beater to win it all. Marek Klassen thrilled the crowds 

in the finals with a sensational display, handling the pressure from multiple Rufus King players with ease. He finished the evening by leading his team, the Yale Lions, to the Snowball Championship in a furious finale 97-91.

2010 - The 50th Annual Snowball had some of the best individual players the tournament has ever seen. Highlitghted by one of 

the best sophomores in the U.S Jevon Thomas, Tournament M.V.P. Marek Klassen who is starting for Point Loma in California, 

and Emerson Murray who is played for the Cal State Golden Bears before transferring the Seattle University.  The tournament for the 3rd straight year featured the eventual B.C. Champions, the Yale Lions.  Yale also repeated as Snowball Champions.

2011 - The 52nd Annual Snowball featured Nike sponsored, and storied program Fairfax High School from L.A. 

Featuring 3 sons of former NBA players, Fairfax played some impressive basketball highlighted by the  their 76-54 win over a 

very talented Pitt Meadows Team.

2012 St. Andrews from Rhode Island easily dominated the Canadian competition to win the 53rd Snowball Championship.