Is this the squad that will push Handsworth back to the top of the provincial senior boys basketball world?
There’s still lots of hoops to play, but the Royals have made noise not just on the North Shore but around the province during the first few weeks of play.
Their season started with a bang when they knocked off No. 1-ranked Holy Cross in just their second game of the year, winning 69-63 in the opening round of the Kodiak Classic at Heritage Woods Secondary in Port Moody. They went 3-1 in that tournament, ending with a 56-44 win over W.J. Mouat, then ranked No. 6 in the province.
The fast start carried over to the 16-team No Regrets Tournament held last weekend at gyms around the North Shore, where Handsworth romped all the way to the championship final before falling to Kitsilano, another top-10 school, in the gold medal game.
The last time Handsworth had a squad that could consistently battle with the very best AAAA teams in B.C. was more than 10 years ago, culminating in a provincial championship win in 2006 on a team fronted by NBA-bound centre Rob Sacre, guard Scott Leigh, and the late Quinn Keast.
Current head coach Cam Mowat knew those players well, having played for the Handsworth program just a couple of years before them. And this year’s group, he said, has the look of a team that could potentially get back to those elite levels.
“It’s a very special group,” said Mowat. “A lot of talented kids, a lot of basketball-primary kids. With the Grade 11s coming up there’s a lot of talent there too. We have the right recipe, it’s just a matter of what we can do with it now. I think we all believe that we can compete for a provincial title.”
Handsworth’s early season upset over Holy Cross bumped them up from an honourable mention to No. 5 in the provincial rankings.
“That was a lot of fun,” Mowat said of the game against the Crusaders. “It was a very high-paced game, it was a good win for us. We’re looking forward to competing with top talent in the province for the rest of the season.”
On Saturday Handsworth and Kitsilano took to the floor of Collingwood School’s sparkling new gym for the No Regrets final, a tournament run by the Quinn Keast Foundation. The pre-game ceremony provided some poignant moments for the players as a tribute video was played to honour Keast, whose “No Regrets” mantra has become a life philosophy for many in the North Shore basketball community.
“That was very special,” said Mowat, who played one season with Keast at Handsworth. “It’s always a special tournament, and it has a special place in the Handsworth history.”
There was also a moment of silence for Raphael Alcoreza, a Grade 12 player at Panorama Ridge who died Dec. 7, one week after going into cardiac arrest during a game against Holy Cross.
“I do think that those moments, our kids really appreciate and get motivated from,” said Mowat. “It’s also important, not forgetting Quinn’s legacy, that those moments happen before a game. They’re emotional, but it’s to remember Quinn.”
The game itself was an entertaining final, with Kits taking a 10-point lead into halftime but Handsworth battling back with a big third quarter to take a one-point lead heading into the final frame.
It was an arms race down the stretch, as Kits regained the lead and continued to pile up the points, hitting a number of big shots to match Handsworth’s comeback attempt. The game ended 67-62 for the Blue Demons, with Tyrone Asenoguan earning MVP honours.
“The guys really came out of the gates after halftime, we made it quite close,” said Mowat. “But they just kept hitting their shots and doing what they do, putting the ball in the basket. We couldn’t quite catch up to them. … Kits is a good team. You’ve got to be playing 100 per cent, you’ve got to be playing smart and hard for 40 minutes to beat them. We just couldn’t put it together at the end there.”
The Royals were led as usual by their 1-2 punch of point guard Blake McLean and forward Ben Grant, both Grade 12 players who were named to the tournament’s first all-star team.
Those two combine with Stanley Choo, Josh Butler and Nate Watters to form a formidable starting lineup for the Royals that is complemented by a deep bench.
“We don’t rely on just one person,” said Mowat. “Our starting five is a very, very good starting five and we can rely on any one of them, plus for big buckets we go down the bench quite a bit. Down to our No. 8 guy can be our primary scorer on any given night.”
Mowat was an assistant coach on the Handsworth team that went to the provincials in 2013, and last year took them back to the big show as a head coach. Last season they lost their opener in the provincial championships against Mouat, placing them on the consolation side. This year they’re hoping to get back there and push their way onto the other side of the bracket.
“We’ve set our goals, we know what we want to attain,” he said. “We’re not getting ahead of ourselves quite yet, we still have to take care of business game-by-game. But our goal is to make it back to provincials, and really anything can happen there. Just try to make a splash once we’re there. … Last year was my first head coaching experience there and it was fantastic. We didn’t do as well as we wanted – losing that first game was a big one – but we’re learning from that. It’s largely the same group of guys with some additional talent in there from the Grade 11s. We’re pretty excited, if we do make it back. But North Shore playoffs tend to be pretty gruelling, so we’ve got to make it through there first.”
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Collingwood won bronze at the No Regrets Tournament, beating Carson Graham 65-45. Collingwood’s Lochlan Collins was named a first-team all-star while his teammate Denis Tuck, Argyle’s Alex Wallace and Carson Graham’s A.J. Lartey earned second-team all-star status. Seycove’s Chris Ross took home the Quinn Keast Foundation’s No Regrets scholarship.
On the girls side Langley’s Walnut Grove Secondary dominated the eight-team No Regrets Tournament from start to finish, beating Handsworth 114-29 in the final.
Walnut Grove’s Tavia Rowell earned MVP while Handsworth’s Julia Strigl, Argyle’s Georgia Swant and Carson Graham’s Tanis Metcalfe were named all-stars.
