Athletics
Spartans News

SG Basketball @ BCS Tournament

By Erik Van Dyke
Reflections – Sipping at the Stream of Consciousness… musings, observations and the occasional insight from our gold medal performance (St-George’s 38-12, Sacred Heart 50-22, ECS 43-10, KES 40-11) at the BCS Invitational Tournament this past weekend…
  • Looking back on the weekend, a word occurs to me to describe this team – UNSELFISH. No one is looking for “what’s best for her.” Instead, everyone is looking at “what’s the best play.” I’ve lost count of how many times we, in the immortal words of Gregg Popovich, “pass up a good shot to create a better shot.” The passing on this team is instinctual, automatic, and oftentimes dazzling.
  • Speaking of sweet passes, there are 4 that stick in my mind that qualify for our Red Lobster’s Dish Of The Week: 1) Chloe left side to Kenz flashing down lane hook pass to Alyssa flying in for weak side layup vs Sacred Heart; 2) Kenz in transition to Rina top of key reverse hook pass to streaking Chloe for layup vs ECS; 3) tic-tac-toe 5-pass sequence, can’t remember who, resulting in elbow jumper for Kenz vs KES. 4) Rina no-look pass from top of key to Alyssa under-the-zone for quick finish vs, hmm, everybody, at least a dozen times. All sweet dishes…can’t pick a winner 🙂
  • Our hustle on defence has improved, especially the players new to the system. As they’ve become more comfortable with the rotations, Van, Abby, M.K. and especially Maya are disrupting the opposing offence with less hesitation and more purpose. Proof? Only 55 pts allowed all tournament!
  • Another word that occurs to me: BOUNCE-BACK. Two examples this tourney. First, after a tough semi-final, Chloe shook it off and rebounded with a flawless all-round performance in the final – last year I don’t think that happens. And then, also in the final, Emily, struggling through her first poor shooting game of the season, air-balls a three-pointer, but her teammates hustle for the offensive rebound, get her the ball again 5 seconds later, and where many an athlete would have turned the shot down she bravely takes it and nails it. Anyone can play confidently when everything’s going well, but it takes character to bounce back.
  • M.K.’s offensive rebounding and nose for loose balls was on full display all weekend long. She steals so many extra possessions for us.
  • Alyssa’s improvement this season can be directly tied to her mindset. Last year she was just “happy to be here.” But not this year. She now understands that team success depends just as much on her as on anyone else. She’s hungrier for the ball on offence, her rebounding and defence are improving, and she remains a truly elite finisher inside.
  • Watching some of the plays these players make on offence, how instinctive they are, convinces me that there really is no substitute for years of experience playing together.
  • Rosie Ladou continues to progress at an impressive clip in her first real year of basketball. Defensively she’s always been good, but the strides she has made rebounding and on offence were clearly evident this weekend. Case in point, the contested layup she finished, shoulder to shoulder with a speedy ECS guard the length of the floor, from the left side, in the semis – she wasn’t making that one in November!
  • Mackenzy St-Pierre, best player at the tournament. Bar none.
  • I heard two great compliments about your Spartans this weekend. First, an ECS parent, shaking his head after the semi: “Who do we try to stop? There are too many options, too many ways that your team can score. It’s pick your poison, we can’t focus on just one or two players. Who do we stop?” And secondly, the Sacred Heart coach: “You know, my girls don’t even mind if they lose to you, because your team plays with such sportsmanship and are just so nice!”
  • Looks like we’s on a bit of a streak. 14 wins in a row, with our last loss being that humbling 42-16 defeat to Triolet December 8. And guess who we face in our next game this Monday? Yep, Triolet. I’m really looking forward to this one, as it will really show us how far we’ve come.
Congratulations, TEAM! Can’t wait to sign that Banner!

The year so far…
Overall Record: 22 wins 4 losses
RSEQ League Play: 3 wins 2 losses
ETIAC League Play: 1 win 0 losses
Points for per game: 43.6 Points allowed per game: 25.4
CAIS Silver Medalists
Stanstead Invitational Tournament CHAMPIONS
MIS Tournament CHAMPIONS
BCS Invitational CHAMPIONS
Back