Hard-nosed guard leads Golden Eagles
Dior Arbuthnot goes where many basketball players fear to tread.
“She is the toughest kid that I have ever coached,” Thorold head coach Marc Dupont said. “She has had some serious health issues and she is the first kid that’s willing to take a charge or dive on the floor to get a loose ball.
“The girl with the most to lose is the one in there grinding it out.”
The 17-year-old had kidney surgery when she was in Grade 9 and broke her wrist taking a charge playing travel basketball in the spring of 2017. She ended up missing the entire 2017 high school season.
Arbuthnot has no idea where her take-no-prisoners style comes from.
“I just want the ball, I want to play hard and I want to play my game,” said the former travel player with the Niagara Selects, Welland Warriors and Niagara Falls Red Raiders.
“If someone has it, I want to go get it.”
The wrist injury has not altered her style one bit.
“Absolutely not,” the 5-foot-4 point guard said. “It’s the pure knowledge of knowing that I am going to stop that person and I am going to do everything I can to stop a play.”
She admits it was difficult to miss a season of high school basketball.
“The girls really helped me out with it,” she said, following a 53-38 loss to the Governor Simcoe Redcoats Wednesday in Niagara Region High School Athletic Association play. “They let me come to practice and some games because I just wanted to be involved with it.”
Dupont is glad to have Arbuthnot back on Thorold’s roster. The Grade 12 student is the only player with travel basketball experience on the Golden Eagles.
“She is a great kid and a leader on the court. She is very good at talking to players and helping to get them in the right position and encouraging them,” he said. “Having her out this year with that poise and the ability to bring up the ball and calm things down is so important.”
Thorold is putting a veteran team on the floor this season.
“We have a senior team this year and a lot of these girls I have been coaching since Grade 8 which is kind of fun,” he said. “We have a lot of Grade 12s on the team — seven of our 11 are Grade 12s — and we have three Grade 11s and one Grade 10.
Thorold came into Wednesday’s game looking for its first win in Niagara Region High School Athletic Association League play.
“Double A Zone 4 is the toughest league anywhere in the Niagara region and we know that we have some tough games and tough challenges ahead but we are going to play hard,” Dupont said. “We just get better and we enjoy it.”
Thorold won’t concede anything.
“They are not quitters, we play for four quarters and we have fun playing the sport,” Dupont said. “That’s kind of what we are looking for.”
He likes where the program is heading.
“We have a lot of kids playing junior this year and it’s great that it’s back,” Dupont said. “It’s important and it’s good to know that our program will be refuelled by the kids who are coming out to play junior.”
Last year, Thorold didn’t run a junior program.
Coming up for the Golden Eagles is an overnight tournament in Port Hope.
“It’s going to be a lot of fun for them and it’s a nice way to reward them for their commitment in the few months that they play basketball,” Dupont said.
STATS PACK
Redcoats 53 Golden Eagles 38
Mick and Angelo’s/Johnny Rocco’s Player of the Game: Thorold’s Dior Arbuthnot with a strong game distributing the ball, playing defence and grabbing offensive rebounds.
For the Governor Simcoe Redcoats: Allison Addy 17; Mia Friesen 10; Raiya Millin 6; Jennika McIntosh 6; Taylor Chira 5; Emma Parkin 2; Isabelle Newkirk 2; Lorna Rynard 2; Alicia Reid 2; Kelly McMullen 1.
For the Thorold Golden Eagles: Eryn Adams 11; Mya Conway 8; Cinthia Rougoor 7; Dior Arbuthnot 4; Mia Nicholson 3; Abi VanValkenburg 2; Riley Humaniski 1.
