Alex great for Bulldogs
Alex Ruiz is described as the most unique basketball player his coach has ever seen.
“He’s an under-sized point guard and you might not think of all the damage he can do but opponents know he is frightening to play against,” said Sir Winston Churchill senior coach Martin Cook, moments after the Bulldogs opened the Niagara Region High School Athletic Association season with a 91-27 road victory over the Thorold Golden Eagles.
“He is the toughest player than I have ever seen but he is also extremely talented. He can shoot the ball, he can handle it and he can break a press on his own. Defensively, he is a team leader and a communicator and he is a joy to coach. He is like having another coach on the floor.”
The Grade 12 student showed off plenty of skills during Monday’s game, which is a little surprising considering he stopped playing travel basketball once the pandemic hit. He has no plans to take it up again.
“During games, I try to work on aspects of my own game, getting stronger, more physical and quicker,” the 17-year-old said. “We practise a lot through Sir Winston so that keeps me sharp too.”
Away from school, he tries to get in a little extra gym time but only when it fits his busy schedule.
“With work and school, I try to stick to my priorities.”
Ruiz was thrilled to be finally playing a basketball game again.
“It has been two years and I have been grinding away. I am excited and I am hoping for a great season.”
He missed the team aspect of the sport the most.
“It’s being out with my friends playing, the competitive aspect of having teams to play against and having things close to normal.”
He isn’t thinking about playing basketball at the next level.
“High school is one chapter of my life and I have many more to go so we will see what happens after that.”
Ruiz will be heading to university next fall and is looking to leave on a high.
“The main goal that is on the minds of everyone on this team is an OFSAA (Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations) championship,” he said. “We want to bring an OFSAA gold back to Sir Winston and I don’t think it has been done in a long time.”
Ruiz and his teammates are drawing inspiration from the Churchill girls squad that recently won an OFSAA AAA bronze medal on their home court.
“They did a great job and I couldn’t be more proud of them,” he said. “A bronze medal is a great accomplishment and seeing them is really driving us to get a tiny bit better than them.”
Cook was excited for his team getting back on the court after missing last season because of the COVID pandemic.
“They are a bunch of basketball junkies and it was really hard on them having almost two years off,” he said. “They were itching to get going again and we have been working really hard in practice. We were excited to be on the floor playing but we have a long way to go and we have to work on a lot of things.”
Against Thorold, the Bulldogs showed off the depth of their roster.
‘We can pretty much go one through 14 and the school right now is loaded with basketball talent,” Cook said. “I had the luxury of picking between 20 good basketball players and I believe we came up with 14 really good ones. Getting them all in is a good problem to have.”
Cook doesn’t expect any issues with his squad.
“They’re an energetic team and they all love each other and I think that will go a long way.”
Double A Thorold was in tough Monday, opening the season against a team expected to be one of the best at the AAA level in Niagara this season.
‘They looked like a really seasoned team and they came out and they were more aggressive than we were and they were more organized than we were,” Thorold coach Marc Dupont said. “It was a good learning experience for our guys and we obviously have a lot to work on. We have a lot of time to work on that and a lot of time to get better. They got to see what elite basketball looks like and what we need to do try and get there.”
Thorold substituted five players on and off for most of the game.
“We want to start with that because what we want to do is get as many guys as we can experience, especially with our first game against a team that is not in our (AA) league,” Dupont said. ‘We want to roll guys out there and get the ball in their hands playing in a game with high intensity.”
STATS PACK
Bulldogs 91 Golden Eagles 27
Cat’s Caboose Player of the Game: Churchill’s Alex Ruiz with 21 points and multiple assists.
For the Sir Winston Churchill Bulldogs: Ruiz 21; Brady Pupek 16; Alexien Evyesev 13; Mazen Yagubi 11; Gary Lin 8; Nate Rose 5; Owen Cuthbert 5; Luca Namestnik 4; Nick Rawsthorne 2; Mujeeb Omar 2; Quinn Johnston 1; three points not accounted for on game sheet.
For the Thorold Golden Eagles: Isaac Walker 8; Nick Wuhlar 5; Nate Miller 4; Elijah Cosby 3; Hunter Fluellon 3; Adnan Awan 2; Nolan Tanham 2.
