SB Basketball vs BCS: This Man's a Fan

 

So no, I am not Victor's dad. Nor do I have a daughter that plays for SC. Because again - true story - one of your parents assumed that too. Begging the actual question: "Who is that guy?" Allow me to introduce myself. Jeremy Stuart. Stanstead College Class of ‘05. Pleasure to meet you!

 

Why am I the one writing this? Another good question. You see, back in the early 2000s at SC when I wasn't putting together the school play, working on the yearbook, or leading up the debate team I was on the basketball court.

 

Eating Skittles at the minor officials table. And drinking Brisk iced tea.

 

Because while I was just barely good enough to make the junior boys team (and didn't even try out as a senior), I spent years watching basketball at SC from behind the scorer's table, running the scoreboard, shot clock, or score sheet for almost every SC game for years. Mr. Denney bribed us with Skittles and cola to score the games, and I loved basketball. In the 20 years since I graduated, Mr. Van Dyke has posted game summaries for the senior girls and I continued to follow along. But with Mr. Van Dyke now coaching the senior boys and no one posting recaps of the girls games (looking at you Mr. Kulakowsky!) I have to follow the team that gets all the press. Mr. Simard will never forgive me if I don't mention that he posted recaps of the boys games last year (thanks, sir!) so I’m already familiar with our returning players.

 

In the last two weeks I've managed to attend SC's awesome performance at the Anderson tournament, and our frustrating weekend at the BCS tournament. Over both weekends I scoped out the competition, in particular our arch-rivals, Bishop's College School (BCS). Knowing this critical Monday night RSEQ league game was coming, I wanted to see what we were up against. It was intimidating. BCS set a chaotically fast pace and punished any team that couldn't keep up. I wasn’t sure we could sustain that pace. They capitalized off every mistake. One notable BCS player could - and did - shoot from anywhere. "Gonna have to shut that down..." I whispered to Van Dyke, watching this maven drain twos and threes anytime he was given the chance. Confusingly, we’d shellacked BCS at the CAIS tournament in November 53-27. They’d found their game since then, because this didn’t look like a team we could double! I actually asked Mr. Van Dyke if he was sure this was the same team he’d beat. BCS was undefeated in their RSEQ league games coming into tonight's match, and if what I’d seen was any indication we were going to have to dig deep to best them. If that wasn't enough, our starting point guard was out this game. I'll admit, I didn't like our chances.

 

I made notes throughout the game. Comparing them against the score sheet surprised me. Stats tell one story: shots, fouls, free throws. But it completely misses the real story: strategy, steals, rebounds, grit, teamwork, discipline, and our theme for this game: patience.

 

BCS comes out swinging with a quick 3 and then 2 to take a 5-0 lead. Here's the fast team I worried about. But what happens next surprises me. We don't take the bait. We don't try to match their pace, answer their 3's with our own, or out pace them. We slow it down on offence, passing around the outside, and letting their impatience create openings for us to exploit. And that's not all your Spartans are doing to elevate their game, because we start making bounce passes inside their defence to create opportunities. We'd been making these slow, lobbing overhead passes all weekend at the BCS tournament that caused turnover after turnover. That’s done. No more slow telegraphed passes for BCS to intercept. And it's all working for us as we go on a 6-point run that gets capped off with a 3 from Daniel to go 9 unanswered points. We trade a few with BCS before they go on a 6-point run (their longest uninterrupted streak of the game) and it looks like we'll end the quarter behind. But offensive patience pays off again and two buckets put us ahead after 8 minutes of play.

 

15-13 Stanstead

 

Our defence is tight in this game. Anything inside the 3 line was getting covered, and we weren't being tempted out of place. Again, patience is paying off. A usually aggressive BCS couldn't seem to figure out how to work inside. But defence alone doesn't win, we need buckets. So we go on an 8-point run that includes my favourite play of the game, and a real demo of why we're winning it. As BCS comes down the floor on the attack, Josh robs their point guard so cleanly that I wondered if Josh also got his wallet. On a breakaway now, Josh takes it to the hoop with an angry BCS point guard catching up as Josh goes for the layup. But it doesn't fall. No problem though, Luke is hot on Josh's heels to finish it with the easy rebound. It would have been easy to assume the play was over, but hustle and follow through like that kept us on top. Awesome work finishing it, Luke!

 

Shortly after, Josh commits another blatantly criminal act by relieving the already frustrated BCS point guard of the ball. Josh races down the floor, passes to Daniel who gets the basket and draws the foul. Daniels plunks the free throw to end a 9-point run and we've got the big mo'!

 

Patient, but that does not mean slow! It means self-discipline and our fast break up the side is making them run and our shooting game is on point. No player in a Spartans jersey is hesitating to shoot. If our boys had half a second to themselves and the ball in their hands, it was mailed home. Bo - with a lockpicker's touch - made three such field goals just outside the key and made it look so easy that I wondered if I might have a future in basketball. (I don’t, I’m about as on the ball as a dead seal.)

 

In another of my favourite plays of the game, Jeremy takes one of these no-hesitation shots but misses the mark. No problem, because there’s Jeremy with his own rebound. And misses. But fret not because Jeremy swoops in with the rebound - AGAIN - and lands it for both redemption and 2. I'll remind you there were 9 other players on the floor; 2 of whom - in BCS purple - battled Jeremy for both rebounds. Jeremy had them seeing red (in more ways than one).

 

We have a bit of a wobble midway through the second and start passing into BCS, but shouts of "PATIENCE!" from Van Dyke and things slow down again and swing back our way. And that BCS shooter that had to be shut down? He only managed 2 points the entire first half (and only 4 the entire game). Incredible work, guys! They get more frustrated and rack up so many fouls that we get into bonus, netting 2 invitations to the charity stripe and go 4/5 in free throws for the quarter. We beat them 16-11 in the second and are up 7 after 16 minutes.

 

31-24 Stanstead

 

BCS comes out with a new game plan, picks up the pace, and manages a few early baskets. Our defence adapts quickly and BCS decides to switch it up by throwing 3s. This has sunk us a few times in the past two weeks. One or two guys with hot hands just raining triples down from outside can wash away leads. But BCS can only find the rim. No one's interested in something you didn't do, but shout out to Jeremy (not just because his name is my name too) for multiple 3 attempts when given the opening; they didn't find their way home, but they were the right call in the moment and were plenty close. Kudos on the confidence!

 

Some suspect foul calls for both sides throw the momentum off and we start to fall behind on rebounding, leading to BCS going 6 to our 2. Again, we answer as Victor starts finding rebound after rebound on both ends of the court. There are normal rebounds and there are rebounds that break teams. Tonight, Victor is the breaker.

 

BCS subs in a noticeably tall line, but it has no effect. In another highlight play of the game, Daniel decides to plow through their defence in a hard drive to the hoop. He's had a great night and BCS is so convinced he's going to make it that three guys move in to try to stop him. All eyes are on Daniel as he goes 1 vs 3 into the paint, but with all the attention Daniel is attracting, we have an open man under the basket. Daniel passes as he fakes the layup and we get the easy 2. (I can't remember who made the actual shot, sorry!) Despite being our top scorer this game with 14 points overall, this play - recorded as a basket for someone else - was my favourite 2 points Daniel made happen all night. Such a smart play. Another story the stats don’t tell.

 

24 minutes of play done and despite BCS changing up we still manage to outscore them 16-13.

 

47-37 Stanstead

 

Before 1954 there was no shot clock in the NBA. It was a different game. And there's no shot clock tonight, meaning the only pressure to make plays is the pressure you put on yourself. If you can resist that you can control the pace. BCS assumes that faster play is optimal play, so they don't know what to do with our patient game. We've pulled it off masterfully for 24 minutes now: keeping our emotions and anxiety in check, minimizing mistakes, disrupting their shots, passing around the outside and cracking their defence again and again. They want fast, they want chaos, and they want the resulting mistakes because they thrive on it. They want to set a tempo so fast that we cannot play as a team and then beat us 1-on-1. But we are not obliging them. And this slower and calculated play has an interesting side-effect: it frustrates them. Not only have we neutralized their strengths, we've turned it into their weakness! And it starts to show in the fourth quarter.

 

Our patience is paying dividends. As we keep the ball around the edges passing around, they aren't sure if they should challenge and open up gaps in their defence or wait for us to come to them. They break rank trying to smother us and we keep nailing the smart passes, seeing the openings, and making it count.

 

BCS can't figure out how to attack us when they're on defence. So they drop defence entirely and start to press us...hard. Once or twice we make the weak passes they're looking for and they exploit. But we adapt again, figure out our passing, and before long the press begins to crumble. In fact, after a few minutes it's completely ineffective. It's not fazing us at all! Their frustration and sense of urgency get worse. They need the ball to make baskets, but we’re not turning it over. With 3:19 left on the clock they call a timeout. We're up 53-42.

 

Anxious to close the 11-point gap and unable to break our defence, BCS decides to win it with artillery. Every shot is now a 3. But they can't sink it, and we fight them on every rebound. Every BCS rebound is back out to try for another 3. No dice. They manage to sink just two of their 3-point attempts with only 4 other points to add. We outscore them 11 to 10. A big “attaboy!” to Augie for making 8 of those 11 in a hard-fought finish to make sure we out scored them every single quarter!

 

Final Score: 58-47 Stanstead

 

BCS walked in undefeated in league games and walked out with their first league loss. We called the tune and they didn't know the dance. They’re a great team but they couldn’t figure out how to play us tonight. I can’t imagine how infuriating it must have felt for them.

 

Not to be forgotten, shout out to Jeremiah and Emilio who were also grinding out there and making plays happen. I love watching our team because there’s no weak link in this chain. Every sub in brings players I know can get the job done.

 

I’ve seen a lot of barn burners and nail biters but in 25 years of following SC basketball I've never seen such a combination of strategy, skill, adaptation, self-discipline, and teamwork. It was a treat to watch. I cheer for Stanstead for the completely arbitrary reason that it's where I went to school, but games like tonight make me proud that I still bleed red! Congratulations, Spartans, you earned that one!