2019-2020

(From the Stanstead College yearbook)

Senior Boys

With a solid core of returning players from last year's team and a few new additions, expectations were high. Even though our first league game of the season ended up being a loss on the scoreboard, we quickly realized we were a good team with a great deal of that dreaded word "POTENTIAL." Did we reach this potential? Perhaps, in glimpses, because as a team we just couldn't seem to put it all together on a consistent basis. For example, we took to the court at the annual CAIS tournament and lost two games to teams that we had no business losing to. The next day, at the very same tournament, we won three straight against quality opponents and took home the Division 3 banner. Unfortunately this lack of consistency and mental fortitude plagued us for most of the season.

League play was no different for us as we managed to beat a team by a score of 71.54 only to turn around and lose to that very same team a few weeks later. Long story short, we were a talented team that too often struggled with consistency.

Our regular season league games did not count toward the league standings and playoff participation. Thus our goal for the season was to gain experience in order to prepare for the biggest tournament of our season: the Anderson Provincial Small Schools Tournament (which we won last season at home). This year the tournament was held in Quebec City. After few round robin games and a very tight semi-final game, we found ourselves in the championship final for the second year in a row. Sadly, we came up just a little short of bringing home another banner, but our effort was solid and as a coach I was very proud of what we were able to accomplish.

All that was left of our season was a trip to the Visser Provincial Tournament hosted by Centennial. While our results of one win and two losses clearly aren't all that impressive, as a coach I was extremely happy with how we played as a team. To return to the start of the season for a second, we designed warm up tops that read "Less ME, More TEAM"! Now we were not perfect in this respect but managed to improve significantly in this area as the season drew to a close.

I am proud of this team and its accomplishments, and to each of you, especially the graduating seniors, Andrei, Yoshi, Benjamin, Charles, Tyler and Ba Nam, thank you for your hard work, dedication and commitment to this team. I wish you all the best of luck in all of your future endeavours, on and off the court!

Junior Boys

What a season for the 2020 Jr Boys Spartans. We had a great group of veterans who were one year older and stronger as well as a large incoming class that brought us the talent to succeed. We got an awesome new coach in Ms. Lamonth. She was very helpful running the team and helping our genereal offence and defence (x's and O's). We finished first during the regular season with a record of 10-2 and by far the lowest points against showing our commitment to defence. We ended up beating our close rival Montcalm in the RSEQ finals to win the championship. A great season where everyone bought in and understood their roles. Everyone worked hard to achieve this years success!

(From the Clarion, November edition)

A new beginning

The basketball team has had to face a lot of challenges this year. The team lost 6 players from last year and was facing almost a complete rebuild. Newcomers, Ben Chadwick and Charles Hon were introduced to the team and took the roles of team leaders. Ben Koo, George Corea, and Gordon Shan took their new roles and gave the team depth that was required. Veterans, Gage Larkin, Richard Pan, Andrey Afanasyev, Andrei Bucatel, Yoshiro Oh, Ryan Young, and Tyler Carruthers came back and were ready to step up. The team faced a loss of the secondary coach Terrence Thomass and Duane Liverpool was left alone. Our team is heavily undersized and we have to rely on other aspects of our game, such as three-point shooting, good defense, and an insanely quick pace.

The first game was disappointing. The team was not playing like we were capable of and the result was a loss. After a week of hard work, we were able to find the balance in our team and had two consecutive wins.

After that, the CAIS tournament in BCS. We lost our first game in the group after leading for almost the entire game, couple of mistakes in the last two minutes led to a frustrating loss. The second game was a nightmare, especially after we lost our starting center Andrei Bucatel with a broken nose. We were placed in the third division. The goal was to dominate and show that the previous games were a fluke. Even being hurt by the injuries, the team managed to solidify the status and beat every team by an average of 30 points and take home the division three banner.

Ben Chadwick received the all-star selection and was later named athlete of the week. Then we had a stretch of home games. Spartans kept improving and were able to top the Du Phare team, the team that we lost our first game. Gage Larkin had the best game of his career (praise the new hair color) and the game was over with an eleven points margin. Overall, the team is way different than last year. We still have a core of veterans but the playstyle and the leading scorers have changed. The threes are flying and the ball is moving with alighting speed. Also, every single player from last year improved with a bigger role. Now it is time for a break, get some rest and come back stronger than before.