Tribune tournament preview
Kennan Larmand (1) and his Centennial Cougars teammates are one of the teams to beat when the 63rd Annual Welland Tribune Basketball Tournament opens on three fronts Wednesday. Photos by BERNIE PUCHALSKI and BILL POTRECZ.
The 63rd Annual Welland Tribune Basketball tournament, the oldest high school basketball tournament in Ontario, kicks off on three fronts Wednesday.
Games will played at: 3:30 (Holy Cross vs. Governor Simcoe), 5 (A.N. Myer vs. Saint Michael), 6:30 (Thorold vs. Eden) and 8 p.m. (Notre Dame vs. Westlane) at Notre Dame; 1:30 (Centennial vs. Lakeshore Catholic) and 3 p.m. (E.L. Crossley vs. Greater Fort Erie) at Centennial; and, 3:30 p.m. (Jean Vanier vs. Sir Winston Churchill) and 5 p.m. (Denis Morris vs. Port Colborne) at Jean Vanier.
The tournament wraps up Saturday at Notre Dame with the consolation final at 5:30 p.m. and the championship final at 7:30 p.m.
Following are profiles of the 16 teams that will be competing in this week’s 63rd Annual Welland Tribune Basketball Tournament:
A.N. MYER MARAUDERS
Coaching staff: Dave Shaw; Terry Thomson; Joanne Thomson.
League record: 2-2.
Tournament record: 2-4.
Starting five: Gs Noah Sharp and Tom Rigas-DiDomenico: Fs Nick Murdaca and Ryan Shannon: C Dennis Lescombe.
Key bench players: Adam Lamb; Caleb Kim; Jorge Rodriguez.
Strengths: Team defence; transition offence.
Weaknesses: Undersized; rebounding.
At last year’s Tribune Tourney: Lost in semifinals.
CENTENNIAL COUGARS
Coaching Staff: Phil Mosley, Tony Ferrusi and Craig Maltais.
League record: 5-0.
Tournament record: 8-2.
Starting five: Gs Connor Joliffe, Reese Radabenko and Kennan Larmand; Fs Carl Paulemont and Jacob Bray.
Key bench players: F Tyler Dilts and G Nick Yioldassis.
Strengths: Balanced scoring; team chemistry.
Weaknesses: Size; physical strength.
At last year’s Tribune Tourney: Lost in finals to Notre Dame.
DENIS MORRIS REDS
Coaching staff: Randy Conlon and Austin Anderson.
League record: 2-2.
Tournament record: 1-3.
Starting five: Gs Noah Honsberger, Zubeer Liban and Max Grant; Fs Mitchell McArthur and Michael Cassidy.
Key bench players: G Michael Conlon.
Strength: Basketball IQ.
Weakness: Youth.
At last year’s Tribune Tourney: lost to Westlane in opening round, beat Ridgeway/Crystal Beach in consolation quarter-finals and lost to E. L. Crossley in consolation finals.
EDEN FLYERS
Coaching staff: Brian MacIsaac and Jonathon Thorpe.
League record: 1-2.
Tournament record: 2-2.
Starting five: Gs Ryan Gilbert and Charlie Edgar; C Ryan Ghosh; Fs Josh Robins and Micah Nieuwets.
Key bench players: G John Tolentino; C Trevor Heidi; F Eddie Zhou.
Strengths: Athleticism; team work.
Weakness: Experience at senior level.
At last year’s Tribune Tourney: Didn’t participate.
E.L.CROSSLEY CYCLONE
Coaching staff: Jamie Shepherd, Jamie Birrell, Emily Bonisteel (manager).
League record: 0-3.
Tournament record: 3-3.
Starting five: Davis Shepherd, Liam Milan, Evan Dobbie, Durieal Bell, Owen Dobbie.
Bench players: Tyler Dobbie, Ryan Dykstra, Josh Lahn, Dalton Malashenko, Graeme McKinley, Ethan Mergl, Hayden Milan, David Nunn, Frederico Roman-Holt, Remington Sturdy.
Strengths: Defence, pressure and hustle.
Weaknesses: Team cohesiveness and offence
At last year’s Tribune Tourney: Consolation champions.
GOVERNOR SIMCOE REDCOATS
Coaching staff: Shaun Feor and Hayden Starc.
League record: 3-0.
Tournament record: 11-2.
Starting five: Gs Mason MacEachern and Darren Johnston; Fs Alex Cochrane, Dainon Bango and Rahim Bardi.
Key bench players: Gs Cal Andersen, Sean Climenhage and Steve Christie.
Strengths: Experienced guard play; scoring; intensity.
Weaknesses: Slow starts; defensive lapses; size.
At last year’s Tribune Tourney: Lost to A.N. Myer in the quarter-finals.
GREATER FORT ERIE GRYPHONS
Coaching staff: Ian Longmuir and David Adamek.
League record: 3-2.
Tournament record: 5-2.
Starting five: Gs Austin Ladouceur, Bailee Wangler and Ethan VanNatter; F Joel Coopman; C Liam Allcroft.
Key bench players: F Donovan Morgan; G Riley Mitchell.
Strengths: Speed; ball handling.
Weaknesses: Lack of height.
At last year’s Tribune Tourney: Didn’t participate.
HOLY CROSS RAIDERS
Coaching staff: Michael Hendrickse and Walt Szpilewski.
League record: 1-3.
Tournament record: 5-7.
Starting five: Gs Matt Ferron and Adrian Waszak; Fs Patryk Solomin, Tinashe Dandato and Sebastian Balsom.
Key bench players: G Isaiah Amio; Omer Omer.
Strengths: Unselfish play; communication; hard work.
Weakness: Experience.
At last year’s Tribune Tourney: Lost to Sir Winston Churchill and Thorold.
JEAN VANIER LYNX
Coaching staff: Eric Labonté.
League record: 2-1.
Tournament record: 2-4.
Starting five: PG Philippe Angervil; SG Jacob Labonté; SF Ian Hauber; PF Yannik Hurtubise; C Stephan Legagneur.
Key bench players: Jacob Fontaine; Raymond Tellier; Maxwell Hurtubise.
Strengths: Very athletic group; outside shooting.
Weaknesses: Confidence in team concepts; presence in the paint.
At last year’s Tribune Tourney: Lost in the consolation quarter-finals.
LAKESHORE CATHOLIC GATORS
Coaching staff: Wade Pychel, Dustin Wiley and Andrew Boon.
League record: 0-4.
Tournament record: 1-4.
Starting five: PG Allan Pambianco PG, SG Isaac D’Amico; SF Aidan Plante; PF Nick Qua; C Quinn HIll.
Key bench players: Chance Beauregard and Caleb McLean.
Strengths: Quickness; experience.
Weakness: Bench depth.
At last year’s Tribune Tourney: Lost to A. N. Myer and E.L. Crossley.
NOTRE DAME FIGHTING IRISH
Coaches: Mark Gallagher and Chris Biggar.
League record: 3-1.
Tournament record: 3-3.
Starting five: PG -David Jones; SGs Jonah Gruarin, Brandon Graziani and Braidon Moore; C Jaeden Petti.
Key bench players: Anthony Cimino; Rovenston Jean Baptiste; Andrew Zezela; Shamar Campbell.
Strength: Good guard play.
Weakness: Rebounding.
At last year’s Tribune Tourney: Tournament champions.
PORT COLBORNE BLUE BEARS
Coaching staff: Scott Vanderlee and Barclay Walker.
League record: 2-4.
Tournament record: 1-5.
Starting five: Gs Stephen Kapellas, Baxster Pearson and Mitchell Sider: Fs Thomas Slater and Devon Doolittle.
Key bench players: Riley Lannan and Dean Miller.
Strengths: Quickness; shooting; hustle on defence.
Weaknesses: Shooting; turnovers when passing.
At last year’s Tribune Tourney: Lost to Saint Michael and E.L. Crossley.
SAINT MICHAEL MUSTANGS
Coaching Staff: Keith Bomberry.
League record: 1-3.
Tournament record: 1-3.
Starting five: F Oreyn Hall: G Cole Callahan; G Dusan Krkljus: G Steven Cabrara: G Jomer Mateo.
Key bench players: Hayden Spelier; Ben Lockhart; R.J. Mateo.
Strengths: Speed, half-court defence; ball handling.
Weakness: Rebounding.
At last year’s Tribune Tourney: Eliminated in second round by Denis Morris.
SIR WINSTON CHURCHILL BULLDOGS
Coaching staff: Gregg Loucks, Greg Miller and James Scott.
League record: 2 -0.
Tournament record: 3-3.
Starting five: PG Mo Esseri; G Diego Ruiz; SF Ahmed Mohammed; PF Asim Serri; C Matt Johnston.
Key bench players: G Noah Garnace; Fs Chris Smith and Andres Sanchez.
Strength: Experience, returned eight players from the 2016 squad.
Weaknesses: Game experience; bench strength.
At last year’s Tribune Tourney: Lost by two points to Notre Dame in the semifinals.
THOROLD GOLDEN EAGLES
Coaching staff: John Kwiatkowski and Marc Dupont.
League record: 3-1.
Tournament record: 6-3.
Starting five: Lani Babijide, Braydon Harietha, Alec Young, Jake Stirtzinger and Devon Maltby.
Key bench players: Yvan Canlas and Elijah Patterson.
Strength: Height.
Weakness: Experience.
At last year’s Tribune Tourney: Lost by two to Denis Morris in consolation semifinals.
WESTLANE SPARTANS
Coaching staff: Jamie Coull, Jordan Jenkins, Christian Anderson.
League record: 0-3.
Tournament record: 2-4.
Starting five: Changes game to game and is based on a combination of matchups, work ethic and defence.
Key players: C Hussein Sheikh-Ali; Gs Taz Cain and Dudley Kou .
Strength: Can score inside and outside.
Weaknesses: Inexperience in certain situations; YMCA-ball fundamentals.
At last year’s Tribune Tourney: Beat Denis Morris and then lost to Notre Dame.
