Blair takes off in rookie year with Pilots

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This article was published 26/03/2020 (2228 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

If you want to know the value of one second, ask Trinity Blair.

The Brandonite’s Northern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference women’s basketball season ended with a rebound falling into her arms as the final buzzer sounded. One more second, and the Providence University College Pilot very well could have knocked down a gold-medal buzzer-beater to reverse a 72-71 overtime loss to the Canadian Mennonite University Blazers last month.

“It felt crappy because they won last year, and losing by one is so tough, especially to CMU, our main rival,” Blair said. “It was tough to see them celebrating after we lost by one point.

“But we didn’t dwell on it for very long. We had a really good talk in the locker room after. We played a really good game and CMU was a good team. We were upset with the outcome but weren’t upset with ourselves.”

Blair joined the Pilots after leading the Neelin Spartans to a AAA provincial basketball title in 2019 as part of a powerful one-two punch with provincial player of the year Assia Delingoma. Blair was named player of the game for two of the Spartans’ three victories that weekend and a tournament all-star.

She put up 7.4 points and 3.7 rebounds per game, shooting 40 per cent from the three-point line in 21 contests. Blair posted a career-high 19 points in her lone start against Red River.

The five-foot-seven guard added some more hardware this past weekend, as Providence named her its female rookie of the year across all sports, along with most improved player on the women’s basketball team.

“It was super awesome. I really didn’t expect that,” Blair said. “I thought out of all three sports, soccer, volleyball and basketball, that was really cool and I was really honoured.”

The fact that the rookie guard was on the floor at the most important point in the season speaks to her experience in big moments.

She said the group wasn’t nervous going into a five-minute overtime for the title. Considering they finished last out of three teams in the Manitoba Colleges Athletic Conference playoffs the previous week, they were playing free.

They already avenged their MCAC semifinal loss to Red River College with a 60-50 victory to reach the final, and were a point away from knocking off the defending champions.

“We all really wanted to be in that moment. It felt really good,” Blair said. “By that time all of our nerves were gone, or different nerves came. It was a lot of pressure, but we all really wanted to be in that moment.”

Blair made the choice to head to the Otterburne campus, 45 minutes south of Winnipeg, and has enjoyed the experience on and off the court. She’s back home after the school asked residents to leave dorms and shifted classes online due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Pilots coach Joel Coursey was certainly impressed with Blair’s rookie campaign, and is looking forward to the coming years as she continues to grow.

“Trinity came here with a high skill level and an even higher ceiling of potential. I am happy to see the progression that she has made over the course of the season,” Coursey said in an email. “… Trinity has put countless extra hours into improving her game and becoming a valuable contributor on the court. I knew she was going to fit in at Providence but I had no idea of the impact she could have on our team and the entire Providence community.

“She is kind-hearted, thoughtful, and hardworking, making her the ultimate teammate. Trinity truly embodies what we value in an athlete at Providence and she represents what we look for in a first-year player.”

From opening the pre-season with games against talented Northern Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) schools including Mayville State and Valley City State in North Dakota to starting post-secondary classes, Blair realized there were big adjustments.

“It was kind of what I expected and kind of not. I didn’t expect us to play so many games, playing every weekend. It was six days of a basketball in a seven day week, which was awesome,” Blair said.

“It was a huge step up from high school, but as our regular season came it was pretty even competition.”

“I learned that I’m more independent than I thought it was, and it really tested my faith,” she added of her first year of classes.

While Blair’s former teammates had their provincials cancelled, she encourages younger athletes to continue putting work in if they want to keep playing after high school.

“In terms of athletes going to school, have confidence in school and in your sport,” she said. “Also, work on your own time. Practise definitely pays off.”

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