2019-2020

(From the Stanstead College yearbook)

Senior Girls

This season represented the beginning of a new era, with only five players (and one starter) returning from the 2018.19 squad. A new era, but not a rebuilding year, not really, because five of the 'rookies' for 2019-20 were already in Grade 12, an odd consequence of there being two senior girls teams (D2 and D3) the previous year. So regardless of how much we developed this year, we were going to lose at least 7(!) players at Senior Night no matter what. Tough to rebuild under those circumstances.

We only had one season, THIS season, to find our identity, to improve, and to try to reach our potential as a team. .

It was a hard road. The first couple months we were sloppy and slow in practice, and frantic and tentative during games. Our defence was okay, but we were inexperienced, we had difficulty bringing up the ball, and our offence was U-G-L-Y. To beat us you simply had to 1) pressure us, 2) play us physically, and 3) not let Elisabeth Shane (our clear MVP) touch the ball.

But my oh my, did we improve! Despite how boring it was, we drilled and drilled the same concepts in practice until they started becoming second nature. Which fostered confidence. And with that confidence, the girls became more poised - and tough, - during games. They started playing with aggression on defence and without hesitation on offence. They bought in, without question, to what we were trying to do, and they left their egos at the door, ready to fill whatever role was asked of them. Mariama Barry became a fast break specialist, Jeniva Coffee became a bruiser down low, team captain Rosemary Lefebvre learned to bring the ball up against the press, and Samantha Smith and Lea-Rose Remillard both used their much-improved sense of the game to become all-round utility players that could do a little bit of everything.

Eventually, this group of players persevered, came together, found a way, and turned themselves into a true basketball team. In fact, in one season-affirming stretch of inspired basketball in late February, we made it all the way to the finals of the Bailly Small Schools Tournament before losing a thriller (by 6 pts), and then the very next weekend finished an impressive third at the MacLeod Provincials, losing in the semis to the eventual champions by only 5 pts. Reach our potential? Yes sir!

Buy-in. No ego. Individual improvement. Those were the keys. I've been around for a long time, but this is the most improvement in one year that I've witnessed from any team I've ever coached. And for me, there is no higher praise. Congratulations on a great season, girls, and thank you.

Junior Girls

I would describe this season with one word: improvement. We won 7 games in the regular season and lost 5. We were successful by practicing hard every day from November to March and working hard in games. The team spirit and the effort that those girls demonstrated were unbelievable. We won the BCS Bantam Tournament and in the RSEQ playoff lost by 6 against the first-place team and then won the bronze medal game against Richmond. Fun fact about Richmond: we lost against them by 1 in overtime in November. Coaches and parents from different teams applauded us at the playoffs on just how much we improved.

Each game, we started our game plan with the same question: What are the most important things in basketball? Simone will say, "Miss, it is never the same answer: Simone was right. Here are the answers:

- Put the orange things in the orange things

- Defence

- Never stop

- Run like crazzzyyyyy

- Box out

- And finally, HAVE FUN!

And then there were these key points:

- Put more effort

- Be aggressive

- Take care of the baby.

- Who will put the baby in bed?

- Who will be the bodyguard?

- You can do it, bud'

- The house, Attack the house! Protect the house! Don't let her in the kitchen! She went right into the fridge. Protect the house!

- Help, Who is in Help,

- Sit on her,

- Swim! Swim!

- Use your hands! Use your feet, Feet! Feet!

Thank you, girls, for everything you did this season. We hope you will remember these important lessons for many years to come.

(From the Stanstead College website, November 14th)

SG Basketball: tough start in season opener

It seems like every year we play LaRuche in our season opener, and it always feels the same, i.e. they’ve been practicing their in-your-face pressure style of basketball since September, and we’re (understandably) never quite ready for it in our first game of the year after just a week of practice.

And, frustratingly, this year was no different. Les Carnicas never allow their opponents to get into a rhythm, and we certainly never found one, at least on offence. Bringing up the ball was a challenge, and matching their physicality was a struggle. We seemed to be constantly on our heels, hesitating, and she who hesitates is lost against LaRuche.

But it was not all bad news, as the one thing that we really worked on in practice – defence – showed some good signs. In fact, led by Elisabeth Shane (playing against her former school, no less) manning the middle we held our opponents to only one point in the first quarter, and 9 points total in the first half.

Ultimately, LaRuche did end up hitting enough outside shots to come away with the 29-21 victory, but that says more about the state of our offence (which we have yet to work on) than our defence, which consistently forced missed shots and gave us opportunities.

Player Of The Game honours, and the first ever Burger King Crown, go to Charlotte Riddell, who overcame her extreme – and I mean EXTREME – nervousness to play a sound, tough, poised game. Charlotte was a steady, calming influence throughout, and her defence and rebounding were a big reason why we held our opponents to only 29 points.

Next up, our own Stanstead Invitational Tournament, this Saturday, November 17. We have lots to work on, and the SIT is the best possible place to do it. I can’t wait!

(From the Stanstead College website, November 22nd)

SG Basketball: Gut check time @ Triolet

“Look at me. Stop slumping your shoulders. You need to decide right now what kind of athlete you are.

"Because real athletes try their hardest no matter what the score is, no matter how badly the game has gone, or the refs, or how good the other team is. If you want to be the wimpy kind of player whose effort depends on whether things are going well or not, well, that’s your choice. You’re allowed to be that type of player.

“To be clear, I am NOT asking you to all of a sudden become fantastic basketball players. You can’t control that. But I AM asking you to forget the score, forget how fast Triolet is, forget that they’re draining threes all over the place and that we can’t keep up. I AM asking you to try your hardest, with heads held high, and no fear, for the rest of this game. Because that’s what real athletes do. They leave their egos and moods out of it. They don’t care what the scoreboard says or how good the opponent is or how loud the other fans are or what little chance they have to win, they just give it 100% all the time. Are you a real athlete?

“Show me.”

- paraphrased from the coach’s spiel before the start of the 2nd quarter, Triolet @ SC, Mon Nov 18, 2019

Well, they showed me. Your Spartans got up off the mat, doubled their intensity, and fought for every scrap against one of the top teams in the Eastern Townships.

They not only matched them, they scored the next 6 points in a row. Then 2 more.

For the rest of the game, we actually fought them to a draw, outscoring the mighty Triolet 25-23, even tying the game at one point.

For such a young, inexperienced team, this 32-38 loss was eye-opening. We now know what we are capable of. The bar has been raised. What a gutsy performance. What character.

I could not be prouder.

(From the Stanstead College website, November 29th)

SG Basketball: Tall order while short-handed

It was with a skeleton crew that your Spartans travelled to Magog to take on LaRuche’s ‘A’ team this past Wednesday.

No less than four(!) girls (Juliette, Tammy, Sumomo and Lea-Rose) were unable to make the trip due to injuries and/or ailments, and of the remaining players Jeniva was under the weather, Cece’s knee was badly bruised and Rosema was battling shin splints. Not the best recipe to take on the #1 team in the league, lemmetellya.

But it’s with real pride that I can report the team played like true Spartans on this night. Outnumbered and outmatched in hostile territory – just like the Spartans of old at Thermopylae – they fought from the first whistle to the last, undaunted.

Elisabeth and Rosema provided the offence with clever pick and pops at the top and timely long-range shooting; defensively it was an impressive group effort, highlighted by Charlotte’s and Rosalie’s gritty play, Cece’s instincts on the wing, and Elisabeth’s high-flying rim protection; and Player Of The Game Samantha Smith, aggressive and poised at the same time, played fast and controlled and confident on both ends of the floor.

Oh, and there were some cool highlights:

Highlight of the Game #1: Elisabeth once again doing her best “Lebron James chase down block” impersonation, somehow catching up to a LaRuche player all alone on a fast break (one of her friends, no less!), flying in out of nowhere, and viciously slamming the attempted layup into the wall of the gym. It may be the craziest, most athletic blocked shot I’ve ever seen. Imagine if it wasn’t a friend of hers…?

Highlight of the Game #2: Elisabeth, double-teamed in the post, finding Cece down low with a slick bounce pass, and Cece coolly finishing at the rim.

Highlight of the Game #3: Rosema’s expression after she drained yet another long range bomb from three-point land, kinda like Michael Jordan in the famous “Shrug Game”!

All in all, this 26-38 loss was yet more proof of this team’s toughness and character. Outmanned and outgunned, they stepped up and refused to go down without a fight. It’s games like these that improve us and prepare us.

Now let’s get healthy – we’ve got three more games next week!

(From the Stanstead College website, December 5th)

SG Basketball: All about the process

With the number of new players we have on this year’s team, every game is an opportunity to learn something that will make us better. Wednesday’s 44-31 loss to Alexander Galt in an RSEQ league game was no exception.

Rosemary Lefebvre learned that she CAN bring up the ball against sustained pressure, as Galt had at least two players pestering our ball handlers full court all game long. Rosema is quicker, stronger and more confident than last year, and trusts herself more.

As a team, we gained valuable experience in playing against a specialty defence, as the Pipers sold out to make sure Rosema and Elisabeth Shane didn’t dominate the game. Although the shots didn’t fall, we created good looks and took intelligent shots from the wings and the high post.

Rosalie Gadoua-Giroux learned that she CAN out-rebound players twice her size, as she grabbed her first offensive rebound of the season in amongst the trees and calmly kicked it back out to restart the offence. Yeah, that was probably my favourite play of the game!

We learned that no matter how many things you do right, you can’t win a game at this level if you get out-rebounded and out-toughed. The Pipers absolutely crushed us on the boards and on loose balls, and that was the difference in the game. When you allow second, third and fourth shots every possession, and every 50-50 ball goes to your opponent, it’s pretty much impossible to win in this league.

Heck, even Galt learned something, i.e. don’t take so long to realize that Mariama Barry really knows how to slither her way to the hoop. It was like Cirque du Soleil out there in the first quarter as Mariama hit crazy circus layup after layup to help her team to a 15-12 lead going into the second quarter.

Player Of The Game Cecilia Fava had her best game of the season. She had already proven herself on defence, but this was her most offensive-minded performance in the high post. Cici is a fast learner, and I can’t wait to see how much more she improves as the season goes on and she becomes more confident.

And finally, as a team we learned the value of not letting officiating affect us. Sometimes you feel like all the calls go against you, but you can’t let that bother you. I thought we did a pretty good job of staying focused and controlling what we can control.

Anything worthwhile is a process. A constant series of trying new things and learning from one’s mistakes, with the ultimate goal of reaching one’s potential. I am thrilled with the progress we’ve made so far. Now we have two home games in a row, this Friday and Saturday. Let’s keep it going. Let’s keep improving. It’s all about The Process.

(From the Stanstead College website, December 10th)

SG Basketball: Gotta want it

Toughness and hustle plays: that’s what was missing in our 27-19 loss to Marie-Rivier (2) this past Friday.

Despite a stagnant offence that struggled to find any rhythm at all, with top scorer Elisabeth Shane out with an illness, we still scored enough points to theoretically win because our initial defence was so good that we never allowed our opponents to score on their first attempt. With the guards scrambling like mad and the forwards smartly rotating, we forced missed shot after missed shot. It’s unofficial, but I’m guessing Marie-Rivier scored all of 4 points on their initial shots.

But, boy oh boy, did we get out-toughed.

There are two main stats when it comes to toughness and hustle plays: rebounds and loose balls. We got absolutely crushed on the boards, with our opponents regularly getting two, three and sometimes even four chances to score each possession. We regularly let the ball, when we already had it in our hands, get tied up for loose balls, or even worse, ripped out of our hands. We couldn’t come up with any 50-50 balls; it seemed like 95% of loose balls went to Marie-Rivier.

And that, folks, is the whole story. It is very hard to win a basketball game if you get out-rebounded, out-hustled and out-toughed. I am not suggesting that we’re not trying to do those things. But we have to play stronger, be more on our toes and develop an attitude that says, “That ball is mine. I’m not waiting for my teammate to get it. That ball is my responsibility. And once I get it, I’m not giving it up.”

Until we do that, no matter how hard we work, every game is going to be an uphill climb. The pretty layups and threes and blocked shots make the highlight reel, but it’s rebounds and loose balls and toughness that win games.

Next time we meet this team, let’s be better at those things.

(From the Stanstead College website, December 10th)

SG Basketball: Spartans battle but fall in overtime

It wasn’t always pretty out there, but it sure was compelling drama this past Saturday in the Mackay Gymnasium, as Du Phare came to town to take on your Spartans in the last RSEQ league game before the Christmas vacation.

The Red & White were playing yet another game severely shorthanded, without the services of Lea-Rose, Charlotte, Tammy and Elisabeth, but from the opening tip the girls gave their all to fill the void left by their missing teammates. The forwards – especially Cecilia and Sam – played superb defence, giving up nothing on the wings; Mariama provided great help inside; and the guards rebounded well at the top. At halftime it was 14-10 for the good guys, and we felt locked in.

However, Du Phare’s sharpshooting #17 started hitting from the top of the circle, and we did not adjust well. Or at all. Despite identifying her as the main shooter, she poured in 19(!) points in the second half, which should have been good enough to put the game away.

But Player Of The Game Rosemary Lefebvre, the true embodiment of the Spartans on this day, would not let that happen. Battered and bruised, she fought for every inch. As our main scoring threat, Du Phare focused most of their attention on her, but she soldiered on, bringing the ball up, directing the offence, using screens (set nicely by Sam and Sage), never coming off the floor to get a breather, launching threes (she made 6 threes on the day!), and almost singlehandedly keeping us within reach.

And when she hit the game-tying triple with 30 seconds left in the game, it looked like maybe we would record our first RSEQ league win of the season. But overtime did not treat us well. Du Phare’s #17 stayed hot – 10 pts in the 5-min overtime period – and we finally ran out of gas. Tere played it smart down the stretch, fouling her player to extend the game and force free throws, but unfortunately her player was #17, who, if I haven’t mentioned yet, seemingly forgot how to miss.

Despite the 47-35 OT loss, it was a gutsy effort from your Spartans, and I am proud of the way we battled. “Competing” is never going to be a problem for this team. We are always going to fight hard. The challenge for us is going to be technical, i.e. learning the intricacies and fundamentals of basketball, especially on offense. And the good news is, we’ve got ample time to do this. That’s what practice is for.

(From the Stanstead College website, January 13th)

SG Basketball: MIS, a story in three acts

How You Start

It was a rocky start this past weekend at the annual Montreal Independent Schools (MIS) tournament. There is no shame in losing 36-20 to a very good LCC team in our first game, but we were uninspired defensively, we never got out of second gear intensity-wise, and some of us focused too much on personal struggles instead of thinking team first.

The truest athletes play their hardest regardless of their own poor play or the score or the ref or the fans. The truest athletes are always laser-focused on the play right in front of them, and their body language tells their teammates “win or lose, we are NOT going down without a fight.” Unfortunately, we would have to revisit this theme several times throughout the tourney. However, there WAS one bright spot, as Rosalie Gadoua-Giroux earned the Red Lobster’s Dish Of The Week AwardTM with not one, not two, but THREE bee-yoo-tiful assists in the space of 3 furious minutes, setting her teammates up for easy scores and lighting the gym up with her trademark smile.

Our second game was no better. Despite a solid first half, we lost focus and started playing as if we were entitled to the win, in the process allowing St-George’s to fight all the way back and force overtime in the final minute of the game. Ultimately, a couple good inbounds plays and Elisabeth Shane hitting two clutch free throws in OT secured the 24-22 victory, but we were so unmotivated defensively that I started to wonder “have we ever played hard?” No deflections, no loose balls, flat-footed, out-rebounded on both ends. Just going through the motions, as if systems and X’s and O’s won basketball games instead of heart, sweat and intensity.

How You Play

The good news – no, the GREAT news – is we turned it around in Game #3. Thank goodness! Despite playing an elite opponent (Halifax Grammar, who would go on to win the tournament), our energy was much-improved. Player Of The GameTM Mariama Barry led the way, fighting for rebounds and loose balls like her life depended on it. Scrapping, clawing, beating the girl in front of her on pure hustle, because she wanted it more at that moment. Mariama’s play inspired her teammates, and with all five Spartans on the floor digging for every inch, we played a superior HGS team tough for 40 straight minutes. Final score 22-42, but my faith had been restored. THAT is how we can play.

We carried this momentum into our first game Saturday morning, a quarter-final tilt against the #1-ranked team ECS (we were ranked #8 going into the championship round). Or at least into the first half, where we played our prettiest ball of the weekend in building a 21-14 lead(!). Our intensity stayed high, our defence was disciplined, the players executed the game plan, AND we hit shots, especially Player Of The GameTM Rosema Lefebvre. The second half saw our skilled opponents make the proper adjustments so we ultimately lost 40-26, but the Red & White had put a legitimate scare into ECS.

How You Finish

The final game of the tournament turned out to be a friendly against LCC (even though we’d already lost to them 36-20 on Friday), so it would have been understandable if the girls had come out flat.

But that’s not what happened. Instead, in a game that makes me proud to wear the Red & White, your Spartans somehow, in their 5th game in 30 hours, played their best game of the tourney. For 38 minutes we played the uber-athletic Lions straight up, basket for basket, with every single player contributing. Down 7-2 early. Tied it up at 7. Up 14-11. Down 14-16 at halftime. 14-20. Then 5 pts in a row to make it 19-20…19-25…23-25…back and forth…until with 2 minutes left in the game the scoreboard read 30-29 for LCC, a team that had handily beaten us a day earlier. Unfortunately, the wheels completely fell off so badly in the last two minutes (final score 29-42), that as a team we have decided to wipe the memory of those two minutes from our brains. Two minutes? What two minutes?

But what will not be wiped from our memory is the journey we took this past weekend. From Friday’s lack of intensity, to the last three games where we brought our best vs the top teams. That’s what sports is about, ladies. You get what you put into it. And to be successful this season, we are always going to have to put in everything we have. It will never come easy. And it’ll be worth it.

(From the Stanstead College website, January 14th)

SG Basketball: Improvement noted vs La Ruche

I LOVE rematches, especially ones where we lost to the team the first time we saw them. There is no better way to see if we’ve improved, if the countless drills and strategies and hours in the gym and on the road actually translate into better performance on the court.

The first time we played LaRuche(2) was back on November 13; in fact, it was our first game of the season. We were hesitant, we had trouble bringing up the ball, we were a little slow, a little soft, and we lost 29-21.

Different story this time.

In our most complete game of the season, we led wire-to-wire and finished with a 45-30 victory, in the process earning our first RSEQ league win of the year!

But the theme of this write-up is IMPROVEMENT, so here are some concrete examples that directly led to the 23-pt turnaround from November 13 to now:

Elisabeth Shane’s fast break passes, headmanning it earlier, with better timing. She must have hit Mariama Barry in full stride 4 times in the first half for 8 easy points.

Speaking of Mariama, guess who’s learned how to make her Eurostep move without offensive fouling?

The guards at the top of the defence extending out on Les Carnicas’s main shooter; still room to improve, but it was the best we’d done it so far.

Samantha Smith’s contested fast break layup that she would never have converted last year. (She also let out a cathartic scream after that layup that would have made Manu Ginobili proud!)

Sumomo Susuta’s improved defensive rebounding.

They’re always solid, but the Dynamic Duo of Lea-Rose Remillard and Player Of The GameTM Samantha Smith played their best wing defence of the season, so good I just couldn’t take them off the floor.

Tere Calva going coast to coast after a defensive rebound; the confidence is slowly coming…

Mariama’s and Lea-Rose Remillard’s screens for Rosema, intelligently helping her bring up the ball.And finally, Rosema Lefebvre’s stepback jumpers, which helped her explode for 8 pts in the fourth quarter, almost singlehandedly halting LaRuche’s spirited comeback. BTW, we call that “nailing the coffin shut,” and the three-pointer she drained from the top of the key to ice the game, we call that “the dagger.”

That’s a lot of improvement, and every example contributed to the most feel-good game of the year. It’s good to know that the hard work is paying off!

And boy o boy, am I looking forward to playing some other teams that barely beat us the first time around. Bring it on.

(From the Stanstead College website, January 15th)

SG Basketball: Wrong end of a blowout VS Galt

Not much in-depth analysis for this one. Sometimes the opponent, in this case Alexander Galt, is just too good.

Fundamentally sound, tough, athletic, and extremely well coached, they’d already played us once before, which made me even more concerned going into our RSEQ league game this past Tuesday night at the Mackay Gymnasium.

Well, I was right to be concerned, because the Pipers were locked in – ball movement, outside shooting, and a solid defensive strategy designed to stop what we wanted to do on offence. It was easy to become frustrated on offence (our scorers could barely get a look) and demoralized on defence (Galt hit 7(!) threes), but to our credit, we never stopped working despite the 45-15 final score.

And that is, of course, the lesson to take from this game. Anyone can stay intense when things are going well, but it takes genuine character to try your hardest when the scoreboard keeps ringing up points for the other team. In those situations, it’s not easy to keep your head up, to un-slump your shoulders, to keep your emotions in check, to ignore the score. But if it was easy, heck, everyone would do it.

True athletes compete as if every play was the most important play of the season. They don’t care about the score, or the fans, or the refs, or how good the opponent is. They’re 100% tunnel-vision focused on the only thing they control – their own effort. That’s the state of mind that every athlete should be trying to reach. And every time we get a little bit closer to that state of mind, that’s progress.

Final note: Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family and friends of Mr. John Mackay, the man who several years ago singlehandedly provided Stanstead College with a state of the art gymnasium. Mr. Mackay passed away this past Wednesday. He was 87 years old. The student-athletes who have already benefitted from his generosity number in the hundreds, and as the years go by thousands more will play, exercise and experience the joy of competition in the friendly confines of the gymnasium that proudly bears his name.

Thank you, Mr. Mackay. Rest in peace.

From the Stanstead College website, January 20th)

SG Basketball: Barnburner in Drummondville

In a rare Sunday afternoon RSEQ league game, your Spartans travelled to Drummondville to take on Marie-Rivier(2). After a relatively routine first half ended 21-14 for Les Riverains, things got exciting in a wild second half that saw both teams’ offences start firing on all cylinders.

First your Spartans exploded out of the gate, scoring 7 unanswered points to tie the game at 21. Then Marie-Rivier responded with a 9-point run of their own, making it 30-21 in the middle of the third quarter.

And then all hell broke loose, led by Player Of The Game Mariama Barry, who took the game over with a relentlessly attacking mindset and a series of fast-break Eurosteps, circus layups, rebounds and loose balls. We’re not sure what got into her, but when the dust cleared, Mariama had scored 11 points in the third quarter and helped the Red & White turn a 9-point deficit into a 38-33 lead with their most dominant run (17-3) of the season.

But this crazy game wasn’t close to over, as Marie-Rivier answered Hurricane Barry with a 7-0 run to start the fourth. Just like that we’re down again 40-38. Then it goes back and forth, back and forth, as both teams trade baskets throughout the quarter. But we can’t… quite… catch up… until the last minute when Rosemary Lefebvre’s clutch free throws finally tie the game 50-50. 30 seconds left.

We get an inbounds play to take the lead but just barely miss. Their ball. 15 seconds left. We force a turnover(!) and get the ball back. 5 seconds left, broken play, Lea-Rose Remillard finds Mariama under the basket with a suh-weet bounce pass, the shot goes up… the horn sounds… and the ball somehow rolls off the rim. This instant classic isn’t over yet, kids. Overtime.

Where both offences finally cool off. No one can get anything going, shots stop falling, the score stays tied until the Highlight Of The Game, when Elisabeth uses a perfect Lea-Rose screen in transition to rise and bury a silky-smooth jumper that puts the game away once and for all. A thrilling 53-51 overtime victory, and your Spartans take the long bus ride back to Stanstead with smiles on their faces. What a game!

(From the Stanstead College website, January 23rd)

SG Basketball: Out of gas @ Triolet

The last time we played Triolet we came out flat and basically lost the game in the first quarter. So this time the focus was on a quick start, on being 100% ready right away.

Over the course of an entire basketball game, plays made in the first quarter are just as important as plays made in the final minutes of the fourth quarter. This is a valuable lesson to learn, especially on the road.

And to the girls’ credit, they took this lesson to heart and positively flew out of the gate! Active hands, hustle plays, playing fast, we did it all on the way to opening an impressive 9-2 lead. And while Les Harfangs came back to go into halftime with a 20-17 lead, we had ourselves a legitimate ballgame. Our opponents did not like playing against our defence AT ALL, and if we could continue to break their pressure we had a real shot at the upset.

But, sadly, we ran out of gas. By the final frame we were exhausted, and could not stop Triolet from scoring the first 8 points of the fourth quarter to put the game out of reach. Never ones to give up, your Spartans made one last desperation push, scoring 6 straight points to bring us within 8, but their point guard nailed a dagger three to stop the comeback in its tracks. 39-27 final score, but I am pleased with the way we played. We left it all out there, we just need more “it” to start the game with. Improved fitness will be a point of emphasis going forward.

Finally, special kudos to the following Players of the Game:

Defensive Player of the Game: Samantha Smith, who has become the best on the team at reading the play, bumping appropriately, jumping the passing lanes and deflecting passes. Sam understands WHY she is doing things, and it shows.

Offensive Player of the Game: Tere Calva, for her most confident game of the year so far, featuring less hesitation, more aggressiveness, and a couple suh-weet finishes on the fast break.

(From the Stanstead College website, January 27th)

SG Basketball: Musings on BCS tournament

Observations and the occasional insight from our solid performance at the BCS Invitational Tournament this past weekend. (West Island College 32-36, St George’s 38-34, The Study 22-18, Sacred Heart School of Montreal 35-21)

Jeniva Coffee had herself a tournament. Her defence was improved, she was aggressive and did not hesitate on offenc e, she was a beast on the glass (her hands are crazy good), and she spent so much time diving on the floor after loose balls that it looked like she was swimming out there. In fact, her intensity and hustle earned Jeniva her first start of the season on Saturday.

Although we jumped out to an early lead and competed hard in the opening game vs WIC, we ultimately lost a close one due to too many mental mistakes. Leading 29-28 with two minutes left in the game, we turned the ball over 3(!) times with ill-advised dribbling and lazy passes, one of them a ‘live’ turnover that led directly to a back-breaking fast-break layup that lost us the lead for good.

We should play St. George’s more often, because this is the second time in two weeks that we had a great, close game against them. Some teams you just match up well with, and this was another back and forth thriller that we ended up winning in the final minute thanks to Player Of The Game Elisabeth Shane’s fourth-quarter heroics – 13 points in the second half!

Cecilia Fava’s father should come watch games more often (SURPRISE!), as Ceci, hungry for rebounds and intelligent on defence, had her best game of the tournament with her dad in the audience vs St. George’s.

It’s nice when you work on something in practice and it translates to game play, i.e. we wanted to start inbounding the ball more quickly after baskets, and we did it much better this weekend.

There is nothing that brings us to the edge of our seats quite like Lea-Rose Remillard or Juliette Veilleux grabbing a loose ball and then leading the fast break, dribbling. You may get Juliette pirouetting on one leg and flinging the ball to who-knows-where, or you may get Lea-Rose bouncing a perfect pass to Mariama for a layup. But whatever ends up happening, you know it’s going to be exciting.

Birthday girl Sumomo Susuta had her best game of the season against Sacred Heart, intense on defence, poised on offence and well-positioned on the defensive glass. Maybe we should sing “Happy Birthday" to her in the BCS dining hall more often?

The golden era of the San Antonio Spurs featured The Big Three, i.e. Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili. The Spartans had their own Big Three vs Sacred Heart – Elisabeth, Rosema and Mariama, who scored 34 out of the team’s 35 points (!) in the final game of the weekend.

You gotta love the way we’ve been jumping out of the gate lately: 11-1 vs WIC, 11-2 vs St George’s, 6-4 vs The Study (with three blown layups), and 15-4 vs Sacred Heart, which is a testament to good pregame warmups and focus.

I’d like to take credit for putting Mariama in the high post vs The Study and claim that I knew how good she was going to be there. But I can’t. Like so many important discoveries down through history, we just figured out something amazing by complete accident. With her instincts and vision, she is going to be spending a lot more time in the high post in the future. I agree, Mariama – “It IS fun to play there!”And we’ll finish with the Quote of the Week from Elisabeth, who when asked if she knew that the Saints had just switched to a man-to-man defence, replied; “Well, yes, I noticed, but I didn’t realize.”

Ladies and gentlemen, your 2019-20 Stanstead College Spartans!

(From the Stanstead College Website, January 28th)

SG Basketball: Carbon copy @ Marie-River

The last time we played Marie-Rivier’s second team we lost 27-19 in a low-scoring affair that saw both teams struggle on offence, but with the clear edge going to Les Riverains because of their huge advantage in toughness, rebounding and second-chance opportunities.

Unfortunately, the exact same thing happened in the rematch. And I mean EXACT. Once again we were without our top scorer. Once again our initial defence was stellar. And once again we gave up multiple offensive rebounds on almost every possession. So frustrating! In fact, it was so similar to last game that I don’t need to come up with a new way to describe it; my writeup from December sums things up perfectly. To wit:

“…our initial defence was so good that we never allowed our opponents to score on their first attempt. With the guards scrambling like mad and the forwards smartly rotating, we forced missed shot after missed shot. It’s unofficial, but I’m guessing Marie-Rivier scored all of 4 points on their initial shots…”

“…we got absolutely crushed on the boards, with our opponents regularly getting two, three, and sometimes even four chances to score each possession…”

“…we regularly let the ball, when we already had it in our hands, get tied up for loose balls, or even worse, ripped out of our hands…”

“…we couldn’t come up with any 50-50 balls; it seemed like 95% of loose balls went to Marie-Rivier...”

“…and that, folks, is the whole story. It is very hard to win a basketball game if you get out-rebounded, out-hustled and out-toughed…”

Yep. Exact same frustrating story. Kinda eerie, actually.

But to be fair, there WAS one clear difference this time around – I liked our work ethic better. Last time we spent the entire game on our back foot, surprised at how hard we were expected to work. But this time the girls legitimately tried their hardest, giving everything they had on every possession. Sometimes the other team is just more athletic than you. But that didn’t keep us from scrapping the entire game. And it’s that attitude that will serve us well the rest of the season.

Especially at the biggest tournament of the year. The Anderson-Bailly. Coming soon!

(From the Stanstead College website, February 4th)

SG Basketball: Best served cold

In another much-anticipated rematch, your Spartans travelled to Du Phare to try to avenge the

47-35 overtime loss we suffered on our home floor back on December 7.

And as if we needed any more motivation, apparently a couple of our opponents were overheard before the game confidently stating that they were not too worried about the game given that they had beaten us by 12 last time.

Nothing like a little bulletin-board material to get the juices flowing!

Or maybe not, as we inexplicably came out as flat as a pancake. A crepe, even. The warm-up was meh, and the game was worse. It was like we were moving in quicksand, with no intensity, no urgency. And with our opponents playing similarly uninspired basketball, the gym was a crypt. No energy. No fast breaks. 6-3 lead for us after one quarter. 12-7 at the half. Just boring, ugly ball from both teams.

But your Spartans turned it around in the third quarter, exploding for 19 points, including a 13-0 run to finish the quarter that effectively iced the game! Getting out quickly in transition, and working smartly through Elisabeth Shane in the low post, we consistently moved the ball and got good looks by getting the ball inside and kicking it out, with the main beneficiary being Player Of The Game Rosemary Lefebvre, who finished with a game-high 14 points.

Final score 43-25 for the good guys. From a 12-point loss to an 18-point win. A 30-point improvement. Now that’s nice to see! Especially with the highlight of the season up next on the schedule. That’s right, it’s finally here. The Anderson-Bailly Small Schools Provincial Tournament. In Quebec City. Everything we’ve worked on all season has been in preparation for this upcoming weekend.

All we’ve learned this year, from November to now, can we put it all together and bring home the championship banner?

Only one way to find out - here we go!

(From the Stanstead College website, February 19th)

Athletes of the week: Maria Casas Soto and Rosemary Lefebvre

A consistent contributor all season, Maria Casas Soto really stepped up her game, in the process helping her team win the BCS Invitational Bantam Tournament this past weekend.

Playing her best basketball of the season when it mattered most, this Grade 7 standout was an offensive threat, she ran the floor, she pressured on defence, and she was her team’s most aggressive rebounder. In fact, her performance was so good that she was named one of the Tournament All-Stars. Sweet and friendly off the court, but a fierce competitor on it, her team will be looking for another dominant performance from Maria at this weekend’s final highlight event, the RSEQ playoffs.

Simply put, Rosemary Lefebvre played the best basketball of her life this past weekend, helping lead her team to silver medals at the Bailly Small Schools Provincial Tournament in Quebec City. Throughout the tournament, this Grade 10 point guard was calm, cool and collected bringing up the ball; she finished beautifully on the fast break; AND she shot the lights out, especially from 3-pt land, scoring over 20 pts in back-to-back games. As one opposing coach was overheard saying, “Whenever #9 shoots, I just assume it’s going in.” Well, if Rosemary continues to play with the confidence and poise that she displayed at the A-B, there will be many more coaches who end up feeling the same way.

Congratulations to Maria and Rosemary, co-winners of this week’s Athlete of the Week!

(From the Stanstead College website, February 26th)

SG Basketball: Surpassing expectations at the Macleod

The senior girls basketball team travelled to the MacLeod Provincial Tournament February 21-22. Here's how it went:

Quarter-final vs J.H. Leclerc High School

Your Spartans opened the tournament with a solid team win that was not as close as the final score. Charlotte Riddell, after a prolonged absence from game play, scored the first basket of the game, Rosemary Lefebvre (on a scoring streak of late) contributed 10 pts, Player Of The Game Elisabeth Shane stuffed the stat sheet as only she can (18 points, 11 rebounds, 5 steals, 5 blocks), and the entire team played disciplined defence. The girls effectively put the game away in a dominant second quarter (shutting out our opponents 11-0) on the way to a 32-23 victory, which punched our ticket to the MacLeod semi-final. A very good start.

Semi-final vs Chateauguay Valley Regional High School

#4-ranked Stanstead vs #1-ranked CVR. David vs Goliath. Spartans vs Spartans. A mismatch on paper, with Chateauguay being the second-best team in RSEQ-South Shore and us being near the bottom of RSEQ-Estrie. And more importantly, a mismatch in size and strength. Last year our MacLeod Championship team played CVR twice, and both times we could not deal with their toughness and athleticism. They crushed us on the boards, they won every loose ball, and we COULD NOT SCORE on them. In our first matchup we lost 21-19. The second time we faced them, in the MacLeod final, we scratched out an ugly 24-20 win. Only 43 pts combined in two games, because they were tall and athletic and just so ridiculously tough. Bad news: they were only in Grade 10 last year. Worse news: their ENTIRE team had returned.

So only three instructions were written on the board for the pre-game speech. “Rebound. Everyone. Every time.” It was our only hope. If we didn’t find a way to compete with them physically, they were going to bully us out of the gym. And in the Game Of The Year, your Spartans dug deeper than they ever had before. They played tougher than I thought they could; they played tougher than THEY thought they could. Usually I pick a Player Of The Game, but I can’t for this game, because every starter played out of her mind. (All statistics courtesy of Ba Nam Incorporated)

Mariama Barry – 9 rebounds(!), 3 steals, 3 assists, 5 blocks, 8 pts

Rosema – after a rough 1st half; 11 pts, 4 rebs, 2 assists, 2 blks all in the 2nd half

Jeniva Coffee – 13 rebs(!), 2 stls, 3 blks, 4 pts

Sammy Smith – 11 rebs(!), 2 stls, 2 blks

Elisabeth – 14 rebs(!), 5 stls, 3 asst, 8 blks, 13 pts

As a team, we finished with, get this, 56 rebounds(!) and 20 blocked shots(!) against the toughest, best rebounding team in the RSEQ. I honestly don’t know what to say. The girls could not have played any harder. I could not be any prouder.

So did this heroic effort result in an epic upset? Let’s see…

We started the 4th quarter down 40-25. We’d broken their press (Elisabeth and Sam were amazing), we’d broken even on the boards, and Rosema had kept us in the game with 8 third-quarter points, but we were tired. But CVR was worse(!) – they were completely gassed. Our consistent fast break and hustle and fight for every ball had them on their last legs. The comeback was on…

Rosema splashes another three, 40-28… Elisabeth inside, 40-30… multiple defensive stops…Elisabeth again, 40-32… every player super tired but refusing to quit… Jeniva offensive rebound and putback, 40-34…

2 minutes left… and this whole time we are holding them SCORELESS!... then Elisabeth again!, 40-36… one minute left… another defensive stop… CVR is exhausted, barely hanging on…and then the most critical play of the game, Elisabeth finds Mariama with a tough pass in traffic on the fast break which Mariama somehow corrals, she forces up a floater, the whistle blows… and it goes in!... holy smokes!... And 1?!?

But no, that whistle was the ref calling a travel(!) on Mariama, a questionable call at best. So CVR gets the ball, we run out of momentum, we run out of time, and the comeback falls short.

But what an effort. What a remarkable, season-affirming effort. When it mattered most, in the fourth quarter, we outscored the #1-ranked team 11-0(!) and almost pulled off the impossible. In fact, if there’d been 2 more minutes left in the game I think we would have. But it wasn’t meant to be. 40-36 final score.

Sometimes the Game Of The Year is a win that gets you a banner and a shiny medal. But sometimes, if you’re lucky, the Game Of The Year is a battle where you worked harder than you ever thought you could, did things you didn’t think possible, and reached a level as a team you didn’t think you could reach.

3rd Place Game vs Centennial Regional High School

Final game of the tournament vs the host school, to decide who finishes the MacLeod in third place. We come out FLYING with a 13-2 run to start the game, with the defence locked in, Mariama finishing on the break, and Rosema (game high 11 pts) splashing not 1, not 2, but 3 triples. The Chargers, quick and athletic, fight back in the second quarter, and take the lead 21-18. Lea-Rose Remillard – “SHOOTER!” – hits the first three-pointer of her life just before half to tie it up, but man oh man, are we tired. After a much-needed 5-minute break we open the third quarter with 8 unanswered points, but that run empties the tank. We’ve got nothing left. Our legs are done. We don’t have the energy to fight down low. Our passes get lazy. We stop getting back on defence and Centennial makes us pay on the fast break. Just breaking their press takes everything we have, never mind trying to score. And our opponents look fresh as daisies, like they can play all day. 29-23…29-25…29-27. Elisabeth (7 pts, 11 rebs, 4 asst, 9 blks) scores off an inbounds and Mariama finds Lea-Rose on the break to make it 33-27, but the Chargers score the next two buckets. 33-31. 45 seconds left, with all the momentum with Centennial and their home crowd. But then Lea-Rose makes the Play Of The Game with her patented bank shot from the free-throw line! 35-31, and the good guys hang on for the dramatic victory.

This makes two consecutive tournaments where your Spartans played pretty much the best basketball they could play. There is NOTHING ELSE I could have asked of them.

I’m a very happy coach.

(From the Stanstead College website, March 3rd)

SG Basketball: Ladies and gentlemen, your Spartans seniors!

At forward, in her second year of Spartans basketball, this player has great basketball instincts. She sees the whole floor and reads the game quickly, making her a savvy defender and an excellent passer. And as her confidence improved, she also learned to trust her shot, which made her a more dangerous offensive player later in the season. A much, MUCH better basketball player than she will EVER give herself credit for… from Levis, Quebec… #22 …Cecilia Fava!

No one loves contact more than this second-year guard from Sainte-Marie-de-Beauce, Quebec. Despite her size, she is the toughest player on the team. There’s no floor she won’t dive on, no ball she won’t fight for and no opponent she won’t foul. But even more importantly, she has made every second of the season brighter with her positivity, enthusiasm and unconditional support for her teammates. A warrior on the floor AND the loudest cheerleader from the bench… #8… Juliette Veilleux!

This third-year forward from Ayer’s Cliff, Quebec had a great start to the season. Tough, determined and coachable, her experience and desire to improve made her a valuable contributor from Day 1. In fact, in the very first game of the year, she was the Player of the Game. And although the road hasn’t been easy since then, she never gave up, and now here she is, at Senior Night with her teammates. An inspiration to anyone who has dealt with adversity… #15 in the program but #1 in our hearts… Charlotte Riddell!

Hailing from Candiac, Quebec, this third-year guard has never, EVER given less than her best. Not in games, and certainly not in practice, where she would regularly overdo it and work so hard that she could barely breathe. Always supportive and completely unselfish, she brings positivity and a can-do attitude to everything she does, which is all a coach can ask for. A player who squeezed everything she could out of her last year of basketball… the ideal teammate… #7… Rosalie Gadoua-Giroux!

This player has spent 5 years at Stanstead College, ALL of them with the basketball program. A hard-nosed player with sneaky speed, she shines the most in game situations. Determined and confident in her abilities, she defends aggressively, shoots when she’s open and attacks the basket when she should. She improved throughout the season, and before being sidelined with injury, she was playing EASILY the best basketball of her life. All the way from Tokyo, Japan… at guard… #12… Sumomo Susuta!

From right down the road in Georgeville, Quebec, this Stanstead College lifer used to be a swimmer and only started playing basketball three years ago. And are we ever glad she did! A bench player last year in Grade 11, instead of complaining, she used every day as a chance to improve her defence, her rebounding, her shooting and her understanding of the game; so much so that she not only won a starting job, but without her athleticism and speed of play there is NO WAY this team reaches the heights that it did. A shining example of what you can accomplish when you put your mind to it… at guard… #14… Samantha Smith!

And finally, this fourth year forward from Montgomery, Vermont really came into her own this season. Always a tough competitor who never thought twice about diving on the floor, this year she became a real presence down low. She has great hands, she makes tough shots, and she fights like a maniac for loose balls and offensive rebounds. In fact, when her intensity in practice won her a starting job that she never gave up, the team immediately got tougher, and never looked back. Fearless and incomparable, no one has a style quite like her… a true original and a fierce competitor… #23… Jeniva Coffee!

THANK YOU Ceci, Juju, Charlotte, Rose, Sumomo, Sammy, and Je-nay-nay. We will miss you all!

(From the Stanstead College website, March 3rd)

SG Basketball: Anticlimactic ending

I have no objection to just forgetting that this game vs Marie-Rivier(1) ever happened. After back-to-back amazing season-defining performances at the Bailly and the MacLeod tournaments, your Spartans fell back to earth with a thud this past Saturday in the last game of the season.

Maybe we just don’t like Saturday mornings. Maybe the basketballs had been tampered with and really were too heavy (as the players adamantly claimed). Or maybe injuries, illness and the intense January/February schedule finally caught up with us. But we had no touch (it was like there was a lid on the basket), no hands (had we greased the basketballs in melted butter?) and no legs (we looked like we were running in quicksand… with shin splints). Final score 19-30. We tried, but we just didn’t have it in us.

Actually, no, that’s not completely true. Lea-Rose Remillard had a great all-around game, displaying how versatile she has become this past month (i.e. she played 4 of the 5 positions this game, AND helped break the press). And Player Of The Game Samantha Smith was her usual intense, fast and athletic self, corralling rebounds and dominating her defensive side of the court.

But besides Lea and Sam, the rest of us – including the coaches – can be forgiven for focusing our attention instead on the two fantasticoutstandingsuperbmarvelous tournaments we played the last couple of weekends, and wiping this anticlimactic game from our memory.

Game? What game?

It’s been a great season, ladies, marked by SO MUCH improvement. See you at Athletic Assembly !

(From the Stanstead College website, May 21st)

SG Basketball earns RSEQ Sportsmanship banner

The 2019-20 Senior Girls Basketball Spartans have been presented the sportsmanship banner for their league division.

The girls won the RSEQ Ethiques Sportive banner for the Eastern Townships Juvenile Girls Div. III. The RSEQ bases its sportsmanship criteria around the Three R's: respect for self, respect for others, responsibility for one’s own actions. These values must applied to all aspects of the sports, including notions of fairness, positive spirit, standing up to bullying and abuse, health and the safety of others.

"What this means is all the teams in Div III had to vote on which team they thought was the classiest and showed the most sportsmanship, which team always played their hardest but who never played dirty or whined to the referees or argued amongst themselves or disrespected their opponents," wrote Coach Erik Van Dyke to his players. "So us winning this prestigious award means that our opponents’ coaches see us as the best example of sportsmanship in the league; us, the little English private school, the newest team in the RSEQ!"

This is the second time in three years of eligibility that the Spartans have won the sportsmanship banner since joining the RSEQ in 2016-17. They won it that first year. The following year they were not eligible due to an overage player.

"Being recognized like this is a real honour, and makes me SO happy as a coach!" said Mr. Van Dyke. "I am exceptionally proud. Sometimes we go 37-4 like we did in 2018, and sometimes we go 17-21; but no matter what our record, our goal every year is to set the bar for how high school sports should be played. I could not be prouder of you girls right now. We maximized our potential this season, we worked our butts off, we improved like crazy, we almost won the Bailly, we finished 3rd at the MacLeod, and through it all we maintained our reputation for class and sportsmanship."

The banner will find a home in the Mackay Gymnasium.