They may have a new head coach but the players on the Collingwood senior boys team are playing like they have an old score to settle in provincial AA basketball this season.
Andy Wong moved up from coaching junior to senior prior to this season because former head coach Virgil Hill, who led the program for eight successful years, took the huge step into the NCAA ranks as head coach of the men's team at Simon Fraser University.
"It's definitely big shoes to fill," Wong said with a laugh. "I hadn't coached senior in about six years. The time commitment that goes into not just coaching senior but trying to oversee what happens in the entire program has been a lot. ... It's been a hectic year."
It's also been a productive year, particularly on the North Shore where the Cavaliers have yet to lose a game. Their resume includes not just a perfect 4-0 record so far in AA league play but also exhibition wins over AAA and AAAA powers like Windsor, Sutherland, Handsworth and West Vancouver.
"This year it seems like one of those years where AA, AAA, AAAA, a lot of teams are able to beat teams at different levels," said Wong. "It's fun being able to have those exhibition games and keep the North Shore competition up and develop some good rivalries, even if it's not in league."
Collingwood's claim to the unofficial North Shore championship belt could be solidified this week after a league game Monday against fellow AA powerhouse St. Thomas Aquinas followed by an exhibition game Wednesday against Sentinel, the first-place team in the North Shore AAAA league. Wong, however, is expecting big battles in both matchups. The Cavaliers will play STA twice in the next two weeks with the winner claiming top spot in the league and the right to host the AA playoffs.
"STA, I've seen them play," said Wong. "They look like a really nice team. I think it's going to be a pretty intense game."
The Cavaliers have made themselves frontrunners by posting a 20-5 record this season that includes first-place wins at their home tournament last week and the Okana-Qen Invitational in Oliver in Decemeber, as well as a third-place showing at the prestigious No Regrets tournament held on the North Shore in December. Collingwood is currently ranked No. 2 in the province at the AA level.
Leading the charge for the Cavaliers is Grade 12 Jaden Narwal, a 6-4 swingman who can do it all on the court. Narwal was named tournament MVP at the Collingwood and Okana-Qen tournaments while earning all-star nods at two other events.
"He honestly plays everything from (point guard to centre)," said Wong. "He's putting up some monster stats. He's really spent a whole lot of time in the offseason to transform his body so he's ready to play at the next level."
Grade 11 point guard Carter Armstrong is the other half of Collingwood's potent one-two punch. He's coming off a 32-point performance on Tuesday against Seycove, a career high.
"Like Jaden, he spent the entire offseason improving his game," said Wong. "He's getting better and better as the season goes along."
Rounding out the team's core is a group of talented athletes that includes forward Dillon Cooper, who is a scratch golfer and elite rugby player; Elias Ergas, who plays rugby in the national junior system; Brendan Artley, who is a junior national javelin champion; and Ben Basram, who is a talented baseball player and golfer.
"One of our strengths is our athleticism," said Wong. "Jaden and Carter are basketball guys, they live for basketball, but the rest of our guys are very good athletes, and that's what's helped us."
Collingwood's team leaders are all working to erase the memory of last season's AA provincial championships that saw the talented Cavaliers finish just out of the medals in fourth place. Most of the key cogs on this year's squad were on that team.
"That was the tone that we set right from the beginning," said Wong. "We had a pretty good six or seven returning players and we put the image into their minds of what it was like in the change room after having lost at provincials. We said 'this is our year where we have a chance to be able to get redemption and win a championship.' They've been thinking about that a lot. That's our end goal for sure."
The Cavaliers will look to continue their charge back to provincials Monday when they host STA. Tip-off is at 7:30 p.m. at Collingwood.
