Bulldogs punch ticket to semifinals
Jared Cook can’t imagine being coached by another other than his father.
The 17-year-old, Grade 12 guard for the Sir Winston Churchill Bulldogs has been coached by dad Martin Cook since he was in Grade 2 and appreciates the arrangement which also sees mom Wanda Cook act as assistant.
“It could be on and off but at the end of the day it means a lot to have them there,” Jared Cook said. “I’ve done it since I was little. I’ll look back on it, it’s a pretty cool experience to have both of them there.”
Jared Cook made his parents proud Thursday, pouring in 16 points as the Bulldogs defeated the Governor Simcoe Redcoats 65-43 in a championship round quarter-final game at the 67th Welland Tribune Basketball Tournament.
Martin Cook has enjoyed watching and aiding in his son’s progress on the court.
“I have seen his growth and development come a long way. He’s a guy who loves the moment, loves the pressure. He’s a winner, he’s gritty and tough and a guy you want on the floor in any situation.
“I’m really proud of how he’s playing this year.”
Martin Cook said the family normally is able to separate sports from family life.
“I think it’s gone very well,” he said. “There have been some discussions in the house about father versus coach but he’s adapted to that very well. He has the additional pressure that his mother is my assistant and she’s a guidance teacher so he does have it a little harder at times than others but he’s earned every minute that he has this year.”
The Bulldogs raced out to 23-5 lead after one quarter and led 41-20 at halftime.
Martin Cook was pleased to see his charges jump out to such a quick start.
“We’ve been in the position before where we’ve come out a little bit flat this year specifically, not a feeling we enjoy,” he said. “I’ve got some confident kids but we have to start off on the right foot to bring that confidence out. Today it felt really good coming out and I was pleased with that.”
The huge lead offered the Bulldogs a chance to experiment, but Martin Cook didn’t vary the game plan much.
“We really didn’t change anything. We basically kept doing what we were doing. We didn’t have to panic. Our man-to-man defence was pretty good. We’ve got five tough guys on the floor at all times so the luxury is that it makes my job a lot easier. The boys just keep playing hard.”
The Bulldogs now square off versus the Eden Flyers in semifinal action Friday.
“We didn’t play well against Eden last week and we know they’re arguably the best team in the region,” Martin Cook said. “It’s going to be a tough matchup for us and hopefully we’re going to bring forward some of the lessons we learned today and what we learned from playing them last week.”
Redcoats coach Shaun Feor lamented his club’s poor start.
“It definitely changes the game plan for sure. We go from a more patient approach to now you need to pick up the pace in order to close that gap,” he said. “Sir Winston is a well-coached team. They beat us twice and we’ve beaten them once. There is a lot of parity in AA public. Anyone can beat anyone but they wanted it more today. Whether it was guys being sick or whatever, effort was a bigger issue. Effort over ability for sure.”
Bulldogs 65 Redcoats 43
Mountainview Building Group Players of the Game: Sir Winston’s Will McAlpine and Simcoe’s Lochlan Belliveau
Sir Winston Churchill: Will McAlpine 18; Jared Cook 16; Sawyer Neufeld 9; Matteo Scaglione 8; Owen Scott 7; Victor Obanure 7.
Governor Simcoe: Noah Budgell 22; Lochlan Belliveau 10; Anderson Blanchard 5; Ari Steenhuis 2; Noah Mills 2; Austin Haggarty 2.
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