BSSI PREVIEW: Nohr extends hoops tradition into 22nd year

Brett Nohr was determined to keep the Brandon Sun Spartan Invitational tradition alive.

When longtime Neelin Spartans athletic director Don Thomson retired in June, the Vincent Massey Vikings head coach stepped up to take on the challenge of hosting one of the largest varsity boys’ basketball tournaments in the country.

The format remains the same for the 22nd annual BSSI, with all three Brandon schools hosting their pool-play games today and Friday.

The original host Spartans kick off the 32-team tournament today at 4 p.m., against the Glenboro-Baldur co-op team.

“This is what I would call a legacy tournament,” Nohr said. “Don put so much time into this, and I was always on the back side of it, helping him out, just looking after a venue. Now looking after it all, it really shows the magnitude of it.

“It’s a great event for the city, it’s a great event for the kids to participate in, they look forward to it.”

The three-day event takes place at Neelin, Massey, Crocus Plains, and Brandon University’s Healthy Living Centre, with each team guaranteed five games.

The Vikings and Plainsmen are in the Victoria Inn Division (Tier 1), with the Spartans in the Source for Sports Division (Tier 2), predominantly made up of A-AAA schools.

After Friday evening’s pool games wrap up, teams are slotted into four-team brackets with the other teams who finished in the same position. That means only the pool winners have a shot at the championship games, which are at Massey on Saturday at 5:10 p.m. (Tier 2) and 7 o’clock (Tier 1).

All in all, 80 games will run over the next three days.

The sheer size of the event makes for a demanding job on Nohr’s end.

“It’s the little things,” he said, “like getting the scorekeepers ready, getting the venues ready, getting all the score sheets ready for the games, making sure it’s organized.

“Making sure the draw is correct — if you make a mistake on one thing, it affects so many other things.”

SPARTANS RIDING VOLLEYBALL HIGH

The Spartans basketball team is a little behind other programs, as usual, since it had to wait for the last day of volleyball season.

Neelin won its third straight AAA provincial volleyball crown less than two weeks ago.

A year ago, the Spartans were heavy favourites to win the volleyball title but didn’t have high expectations in hoops. However, they ended up winning gold in both.

For senior Sam Rempel, who moved from Alberta for his Grade 12 year, basketball is his main sport. But he shocked himself with a graduating all-star selection and provincial tournament all-star nod.

The six-foot-six forward is eager to get after it.

“I was decently good at sports, but never a leader or an all-star or anything. Being able to get that title and having all that recognition was kind of crazy,” Rempel said.

“The bar I set with volleyball, I don’t know if I can really pass that with basketball, but I really hope I can.”

While the Spartans volleyball and basketball rosters typically look pretty similar, it’s just Rempel and volleyball provincials MVP Aiden Moore on both teams.

Moore is confident it’ll be Rempel in the spotlight this season.

“He’s going to be our go-to guy, most likely 75 per cent of the shots,” Moore said. “Everyone else, I feel, will be able to pull their weight and do well.”

Former Spartan Dayton Black, who has played sparingly in the Canadian Football League over the past two seasons, has taken over the head coaching role from Adam Philpott this year, and will lead the group through the weekend.

On Friday, the Spartans host Russell’s Major Pratt Trojans at 9 a.m., then the Neepawa Tigers at 4 p.m.

Rempel expects plenty of effort from the guys in green.

“It was a struggle finding a lot of people, but we definitely have a lot of hustle,” Rempel said. “We got a lot of guys who can run the floor, guys who really care about the sport. I think everything else comes with time.”

» tfriesen@brandonsun.com