SG Basketball: When it Matters at the Bailly

Which is why we’ve been working towards this weekend since Opening Day. Why we worked so hard in practice the last four months to improve our passing and our decision-making. Why we play in RSEQ’s Div III to improve our toughness and team speed. We circled this all-important tournament on our calendars four months ago, and it was finally here. Could we pull it all together when it mattered the most?

Holy smokes, what a way to start the tournament! I don’t know if we’ve had a game this season where we did so many things well. Full court trap? We adapted smartly and by the second quarter we were consistently breaking it with perfect football passes. Chuck-n-chase? Total commitment to team rebounding. Decision-making in transition? The best this year, with several tic-tac-toe highlight fast break buckets, including a Jeniva to Elisabeth beauty and a gem from Sam to Ceci. We played tough, we played smart, and we played fast on the way to a comprehensive 51-24 win, with the Player Of The Game Award being shared between Elisabeth Shane (12 pts, 14 rebs, 5 blocks, and the author of those perfect football passes) and Mariama Barry (23 pts, 9 rebs, 7 steals). But as good as the Dynamic Duo was in this one, the Highlight Of The Game has to go to Sage Lovejoy for courageously playing point guard for one offensive possession. Result? Sage committing an offensive foul to keep her defender away from her. That-a-girl!

You could tell it was the second game of the day. We couldn’t match our energy level from the opener, and our decision-making suffered as a result. Too often we were impatient on offense, which resulted in empty possessions where we didn’t even get a shot off. And defensively we ran out of gas in the fourth quarter, allowing the Raiders to finish the game on a 14-0 run. But it wasn’t all bad. Not even close. Because once again we dominated the first quarter 17-6 led by Player Of The Game Rosemary Lefebvre (20 pts, including 4 threes). And when we WERE patient on offense we created great looks. And thanks to a spirited run to end the third quarter we built up a big enough lead that we were able to withstand Richmond’s final push where they basically refused to miss a shot. A 47-40 final score, and the Stanstead College Spartans had booked a ticket to the Bailly semi-final!

There are very few experiences like playing a basketball game against QHS in their barn. Their fans are the loudest, their gym is the smallest, and their basketball culture is second to none. You know the Blazers are gonna give you their best, and you know the gym is going to be rocking. Do or die semis vs QHS. In front of their fans. With Elisabeth’s dad and uncle wearing homemade Spartan helmets in the stands. It doesn’t get any better. This is what the Anderson-Bailly is all about.

And we were AMAZING! Did I say the Friday morning game was our best game of the year? Not anymore. THIS was the best game of the year. We did SO many things right. Our warm-up was great and we flew out of the gate on a 9-0 run. And when QHS responded with a 12-4 run of their own, we did not get rattled. We stayed focused, ignored the screaming fans, and turned a 15-14 lead into a 29-18 halftime score. After letting their best player (#10) get to the rim a few times, we smartly adjusted and shut the door on her penetration the entire second half, forcing the remaining Blazers into tough jump shots with our crisp rotations. And most impressively, QHS played the entire game in a box-and-one defense focused on stopping Mariama. So what did we do? Mariama maturely played within herself, forcing nothing, which allowed Elisabeth (14 pts) and Player Of The Game Rosema (career-high 23 pts!) to go off by taking full advantage of all the extra space.

What a game! We have never looked more like a true basketball team, with all five players on the floor playing well, playing smart, playing tough, with purpose and with no hesitation. In the biggest game of the year, when it mattered the most, we brought our best. And earned a trip to the Bailly Final.

This would be the fourth time we’d played WIC this season. We won the first time at our SIT, but they’d beaten us the last two times. That’s why they were ranked #1 at this tourney, and we were ranked #2. We were the underdogs. But I didn’t mind. Sometimes the underdog is the best place to be.

Did I say the semi vs QHS was our best game of the year? Nope. THIS was the best game of the year.

Because WIC is really good. One of the top teams in Montreal, they’re athletic, well-coached, and they’ve been together for years. But your Spartans played them tooth and nail for 32 minutes, scrapping for every advantage, fighting every second. In an outstanding defensive performance, we held their all-world #15 to 9 pts, thanks to eventual Tournament All-Star Elisabeth Shane dominating the key. Sam and Jeniva and Ceci and Lea-Rose made life hard for WIC’s sharpshooting #4 with their smart rotations. Jeniva Coffee earned Player Of The Game honours for her hustle, toughness and game high 8 pts. Rosema sank a 35-foot three-pointer to win the Bell Telephone Long-Distance Award. And in my favourite play of the tournament, the one that made me realize that we are starting to THINK basketball, Mariama and Rosema changed an inbounds play on the fly to score a layup against an overplaying Voyageurs defense that was cheating like crazy. Gotcha!

But despite all that, we were still down 29-21 with 6 minutes left. Because WIC, if I haven’t mentioned it, is really good. But somehow, at the end of an exhausting 3-day tournament, the girls dug even deeper. The defense locked down, Rosema hit a three, Rosema hit another three, Elisabeth banked in a tough jumper, and we had tied it up. 29-29. Three minutes left. We lose #4 for a heartbeat and she makes us pay from deep. 29-32. Elisabeth scores again. 31-32. Two minutes left. Anybody’s game. The next basket will be hee-yooooge. We get a stop. So do they. We force another miss, but the rebound goes long, right to #4, who corrals it and steps into a Bailly-winning triple (her 5th of the game) that finds nothing but net. The dagger. We go into desperation steal or foul mode but the miracle doesn’t come. Final score 31-37, and congratulations to West Island College for a hard-earned first ever Bailly Championship.

I could not be prouder of this team. From the play on the court to the support from the bench, the basketball we produced this weekend looks nothing like what we were playing back in November. I’ve been coaching for a long time, 27 years, but I don’t know that I’ve coached a team that improved more in four months than this year’s squad.

And that, of course, is what matters most.

- Coaches Van Dyke & Wolfe

Overall Record: 15 wins 18 losses
RSEQ League Play: 3 win 9 losses
Points for per game: 33.7 Points allowed per game: 34.4