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In what may well turn out to be the final basketball action of the 2023-24 season, your Spartans travelled to Centennial Regional High School to take part in the annual MacLeod Provincial Tournament. The MacLeod is as storied a tournament as there is, with the inaugural event taking place way back in 1953. 71 years ago! In all that time, Stanstead College has emerged as champions four times (2017-2019, and again last year in 2023). It was a hard tournament to win. But as we’ve said before, worthwhile things are never easy.
A Grade 11 student from Sherbrooke, Quebec, Noémie Cloutier was the heart, soul and rock of the prep girls hockey team all through last weekend's JWHL playoffs. With the team down two defenders all weekend due to injuries, the team’s captain played every second shift on defence. Not only did she perform her regular duties of shutting down the opposition’s offensive threats, but she also contributed offensively by scoring her first goal of the season in the opening game. She played through the pain of badly bruised ribs and never complained about it. Wanting a championship so badly, she showed up three hours early at 6:00 am to prepare for the big game. The girls could not have pulled it off this weekend without her leadership and unconditional dedication to a team-first attitude. Congratulations, Athlete of the week Noémie Cloutier.
Congratulations to our varsity boys and prep girls hockey teams, both of whom came from behind to earn their respective league championships this past Sunday.
Words are hard to find right now. It is hard to try to write something as if it is in the past, when I want to keep this amazing feeling present, I want to stay in this moment. My sense of joy for our boys, pride for our program and school and personal relief for feeling that our job was done well are all working together to make waking up the last couple days to be extra special.
The last RSEQ game of the year, against Le Salesien on their home floor, was one of those games I just don’t like that much, i.e. non-stop full court pressure with loose reffing. Which means our ballhandlers are constantly being ridden downcourt and there is body contact on every single play. Which means every time you have the ball you have two to four hands reaching in to grab it from you with no fear of a foul (in fact, Clara’s father spent most of the game yelling “Hands! Hands!” from the sideline). Which means the game is a haphazard track meet where everything is rushed and improvised and messy, the way basketball is probably played in prison. And the main problem with prison basketball is that you don’t learn very much in terms of technique or strategy. It’s a battle of athleticism. It’s roller derby.
This past weekend, your Stanstead College Spartans travelled to St-Jean-sur-Richelieu to participate in the first of our two most important events of the year, the 2024 Bailly Small Schools Provincial Tournament. As defending champions, and ranked #1 going into the tourney, we were looking to take care of business and bring the championship plaque back home.
This Grade 11 student-athlete from South Korea has been in the curling program for two years. Over time, she has emerged as quite the player. Kayla was a dominant force in the team’s game against Richmond this past week. Coach Planetta describes Kayla as a “smiling assassin” -- taking out opposition stones with a devilish grin on her face. Kayla looks to lead her team as they play for the ETIAC championship tomorrow in North Hatley. For her overall progress and amazing performance this past week, congratulations to Athlete of the Week Kayla Lee.
I can’t say for sure how all of their games have gone this season, but I’m pretty sure that La Ruche, undefeated and undisputed league leaders in RSEQ D3 this season, haven’t had many games as tough as their game against your Stanstead Spartans last Wednesday.
Athlete of the Week is co-awarded to two linemates from prep girls hockey. Laurie Aubin has been at the top of her game all season and did not disappoint this weekend at the JWHL Challenge Cup. She scored the overtime winner to advance the prep girls to its first championship game in program history. She finished the tournament with 5 goals and 5 assists in 6 games which was good for fourth overall in the tournament. Laurie’s overtime goal was assisted by Zoé Charland, who has been an equal force the entire season. Zoe scored 9 goals and added 3 assists for 12 points in 6 games this weekend and good for second overall in the tournament. Like Gretzky and Messier or Lemieux and Jagr, these two linemates lead on the scoresheet but also with their work ethic and never-quit attitudes. Congratulations, Laurie Aubin and Zoe Charland.
The halftime buzzer goes. The players trudge to the bench, heads down, shoulders slumped. Demoralized. I can’t exactly remember the score, but it was ugly. 36-11 or something like that. It felt like more. Laruche’s full-court press was debilitating, no let-up at all, never letting us get comfortable on offence, and their fast break was killing us. Even if we got a couple bodies back in transition, they would stay in fifth gear, attack downhill and finish anyway, contested or not. Even when we forced them to play in the half court, they dropped threes like it was nothing. They were fast, athletic, deep, they were shooting well, and they were on their home floor. Laruche was rolling. Stanstead was not going to win this game.
“That was the best team basketball I’ve ever seen you guys play.” – Mr. Andrew Blair, head minor official, giving his thoughts to me after the game.
And he was not wrong. Because not only were we going up against a fast, well-coached Triolet team hellbent on revenge (we’d beaten them 10 days earlier), but Trio full-court presses every second of every game, and we were going to be without our point guard (as Melissa was out with a concussion). Nothing is harder in girls’ basketball than bringing up the ball vs pressure without a true dribbler. Not only is it difficult, it can be demoralizing. I’m not gonna lie, I was concerned coming into this game.
This Grade 12 student-athlete from Ayer's Cliff, Quebec earned 3 points in two games against a tough Le Boisé opponent on Saturday. The U18 hockey captain followed up these performances by helping lead his team to a 7-3 victory over Frontalière on Monday by scoring 4 goals and adding 3 assists. William always plays the game the right way, is a natural leader on and off the ice and is a pleasure to coach. Congratulations, William Towner!
Twelve days ago, in our first game back from the Christmas break, we travelled all the way to Victoriaville to play our worst game of the year versus Le Boise, a listless 33-24 loss. This past Tuesday was our chance at redemption. At home this time.
This past weekend, varsity boys hockey won both of their games, the first against the #3-ranked Kimball Union Academy and the second against New Hampton School. Leading the offensive charge in both games was team captain Jaxon Pierce (Grade 12, Fredericton, NB). Jaxon scored on the first shift of the game against Kimball Union and scored both the first and second goals against New Hampton school on Sunday. Besides finding himself on the scoresheet for 3 goals in 2 games, Jaxon’s work ethic was on full display all weekend. Congratulations, Jaxon!
This past weekend your Spartans travelled to the big city for the annual Montreal Independent Schools Tournament, always a highlight of the year. We were hoping to build upon the progress we made in our last league game vs Salesien, and build we did. We haven’t quite returned to our best form of the season (which was at CAIS last November), but we made real strides.
Well, that was better. Much better. Starting right away with the warmup, we looked faster. More athletic. Ready to go. Passes were crisp, hands were sure and cuts were sharp, the kind where you hear the sneakers squeak on the floor. All of which carried over to the first quarter, and honestly, to the whole game. Last Thursday, we looked like we were moving in quicksand, but this past Tuesday vs Le Salesien we were purposeful for the full 32 minutes.
Charles Genereux of U15 hockey had a tremendous day this past Wednesday at Cardigan Mountain School in New Hampshire. A Grade 9 student from Lorraine, Quebec, Charles scored the tying goal in the last three minutes of play in the third period, and then, with 54 seconds remaining in the game, he scored the game winner on an outstanding end-to-end rush. The Spartans staged the late-game comeback against a big, strong and fast Cardigan Mountain team to pull off the 3-2 victory. For putting the team on his back, your athlete of the week is the U15 hockey team captain, Charles Généreux.
Saturday, December 2, 2023, the CAIS Tournament in Winnipeg. Not only was that the last basketball game your Spartans played before this past Thursday’s RSEQ trip to Le Boise in Victoriaville; that was also the last day the whole team even practiced together. Immediately upon their return from CAIS, our Grade 12s started preparing for exams, i.e. no athletics, just studying.