Neelin claims AAA provincial hoops crown

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This article was published 20/03/2022 (1538 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Neelin Spartans walked away from their 342nd practice since the COVID-19 pandemic started knowing nobody could have outworked them.

No guard could contain Zerek Menard, no forward would beat Max Winters on the glass, and there was no chance anyone would out-coach Don Thomson — with the help of Brandon University Bobcats legend Jerry Hemmings.

The Spartans rode seven minutes of shutout defence to an 84-66 win over the top-ranked Louis-Riel Voyageurs in the varsity boys AAA provincial basketball final at Vincent Massey on Sunday.

“We knew the chance would come and we were just getting ready for that day to come,” said Grade 11 guard Jeremy Slomiany. “It came, we’re here, we won it.”

Menard went nuclear in his final two games as a Spartan. The six-foot-three guard, who transferred from Dauphin three years ago, put up 27 points and 24 rebounds as Neelin beat Churchill 83-73 in the semifinals late Saturday night. The game started almost two hours late after a few delays, including Louis-Riel’s double-overtime win over Westwood. The Voyageurs were naturally low on energy and shorthanded after one starter got injured and another had to miss the final due to a course conflict.

Menard posted 21 points and 23 boards in the final and was named MVP.

“It feels pretty good but for me personally, I don’t feel fulfilled. I want to do more,” Menard said, redirecting praise to tournament all-star Max Winters. The six-foot-five forward dominated with 12 points and 14 boards in the semifinal and chipped in nine points in the gold-medal game.

“He’s really good, there’s a lot of potential in him. Phenomenal rebounder, good footwork, he’s going to be a good offensive player.”

Winters scored his 21 points on just 17 shots, shooting almost 60 per cent from the field. Almost all of them were contested, but never in danger of being blocked.

“It occurred to me after a few plays … who can really handle me?” Winters said. “But I gotta respect the rest of the players on the court too, they’ve got athleticism, they’ve got strength on me. I don’t think it’s as black and white as I’m the best big on the floor, I’m taller than them but they might have the strength, skills and athleticism to combat my length.

“Coming off my screens, coming off my handoffs and looking for me when I’m diving for the rim after an action, and just having myself at the back of the boards ready to grab a rebound, put it back up … I couldn’t do anything I did this weekend without (my teammates).”

The first quarter was close as all-star Cabrel St. Vincent got the Voyageurs’ offence going. The Spartans led 19-17 after 10 minutes when Thomson switched to a box-and-one defence, which is like a 2-3 zone but with two defenders at the top, two at the bottom and one shadowing a top scorer. That one was Slomiany, whose contributions went well beyond the 15 points he scored on just 10 shots.

After two scoreless minutes, all-star Wyatt Greer banked home three of his game-high 22 points on a buzzer-beater. Then players’ choice award winner Irie Taylor drilled another three-pointer. Menard hit another, then found Greer and Winters on back-to-back beautiful assists as the Spartans went on a 16-0 run to lead 35-17. St. Vincent scored Louis-Riel’s first field goal of the quarter with just over two minutes left in the half.

“We got some great play out of some kids,” Thomson said. “Jeremy Slomiany … took the role for two nights in a row of taking the best kid and making them work hard. I’m proud of him and proud of all the kids.”

Neelin led 42-28 at the break and kept its foot on the gas offensively. Mohamed-Omar Zellama heated up for the Voyageurs, however, knocking down three treys. Thomson shifted to a triangle-and-two — now shadowing two players — and silenced the sharpshooter to stay ahead 68-48 entering the fourth.

The Spartans watched a 20-plus point lead evaporate to just seven against Churchill and knew not to ease up. Thomson took timeouts any time the Voyageurs got on any sort of offensive roll, maintaining the big lead right to the final buzzer.

“It’s exhilarating,” Winters said. “This was obviously the end goal after the shutdown, even before the shutdown and it’s a great feeling to have all the work we put in pay off.”

The Spartans were in the same position two years ago at JV provincials, with the No. 2 seed when they got the devastating call that the event was cancelled. This was the group’s only shot and they made the most of it.

“We have 16 really coachable kids. When they finish, they’re better people than they are players,” Thomson said. “When you can get 342 sessions and get kids to commit to just wanting to be better, wanting to have fun, that’s a whole lot of work. A lot of kids just did nothing over the last two years and these kids really worked hard, they appreciated coming to the gym.

“Really happy with them. They earned the opportunity to be here and fortunately (Sunday) the game went our way.”

ST. JAMES DOWNS DAUPHIN IN GIRLS FINAL

The No. 1 seed St. James girls entered the final brimming with confidence. So much confidence they painted a 12-foot-long banner reading “House of Champions” and stored it under the bench.

When the final buzzer sounded after their 51-35 victory over the Dauphin Clippers, they rolled it out and hoisted it above their heads, chanting “undefeated.”

Tournament MVP Kristine Navea dropped a game-high 19 points.

“Our chemistry (is the key). We’ve been playing together since Grade 7 and we have this great bond,” said Navea, a five-foot guard on easily one of the shortest teams in the province. Their tallest player stands just five-foot-seven.

“We always tell each other ‘Heart over height.’ Even though we’re short … we have the speed, we have the communication, we have this bond that no team ever has.”

The Clippers overcame a gigantic hurdle to reach the game. They were down 53-30 entering the fourth quarter against Neelin in the semifinals before the comeback of the year to win 59-57.

“Our coach always says ‘Why not us?’ Considering we’re just a small-town team, no one expects us to do that good. We changed our mindset and our confidence got up,” said Calista Hudyma, named an all-star after dropping 13 points on Sunday. “It was really exciting for us. The crowd was really loud … it felt like a dream, it was crazy.”

“This one was definitely our hardest game but we did put in all out on the court,” Hudyma added of the final. “I was very proud of all my teammates and them keeping their heads up and all the work we put in.”

NEELIN SETTLES FOR BRONZE

The Spartans bounced back to beat College Beliveau 54-34.

It wasn’t easy after what coach Carey Lasuik called an “absolutely heartbreaking, wrenching loss” that left him up until 4 a.m. replaying the final frame when the Clippers outscored the Spartans 29-4. But looking back, he said he wouldn’t shift his strategy to milk the clock.

“Slowing the game down, no, that’s not something I want to do, especially after COVID,” Lasuik said. “You spend so much time teaching the team how to play the game and when you have a tempo that works for you, to say ‘Let’s slow the tempo down’ can take you out of your rhythm, slows your brain down and when your brain slows down it slows down on defence and doesn’t make good decisions.

“People say sometimes you need to slow the game down and work the clock. In theory that’s absolutely, 100 per cent true. The reality of it is you have to read your girls, have to read your team.”

“We have five Grade 10s on the team, seven girls that have never played basketball before, three girls that have played and a Grade 10 girl that starts but has never played at this level,” Lasuik added.

“… There’s a lot of strategies we had to discuss as a coaching staff before the game and it was one of those things, risk-reward. We felt the direction we went was the right direction to go with the group we had, knowing if it gets tight late in the fourth quarter it could be tough. We played four girls a lot in a very high-intensity, high-paced game and it gets tiring in the fourth quarter.”

The Spartans went out with a medal and seniors Kassidy Loewen (all-star) and Milaina Nachtigall (HARV award) were recognized after their final games in green and white.

Loewen led the team with 17 points while Tyra Lasuik added 13 after posting a team-high 19 in the semifinal.

“It was a good character reflection and building for the girls because we are a young team and education is always the priority when you’re working with high school sports kids,” Carey Lasuik said. “They wanted to make sure they ended the year with a really positive note and they went out there and did it.”

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