At some point in the not-so-distant past, North Vancouver's Windsor Secondary wasn’t taken seriously for its senior boys basketball program.
That's according to head coach Marco Fong, who helped permanently change that perception on March 8 when his Wolves hunted down their first-ever AAA provincial banner with a strong 66-58 victory over No. 1 seeded St. Thomas More at Langley Events Centre.
Last season, a much younger Wolves squad – with just one Grade 12 player – won the North Shore and came third in the Vancouver Sea to Sky Zone championships.
Those results sparked belief and hunger among the athletes and coaching staff at the beginning of this season, said head coach Marco Fong, that this year’s team could finally bring the banner home.
Racking up win after win this January, the team really began to feel like AAA was wide open and they had a shot at doing something special, Fong said.
The Wolves took the North Shore title with ease, and powered through the zone championships – defeating No. 4 seed Magee and No. 1 seed St. Patrick Regional Secondary.
That put Windsor in good position at provincials, as the No. 2 seed. At the Langley Events Centre, the Wolves beat Richmond 62-53 in the quarterfinals and Mark Isfeld 74-56 in the semis.
Then, with a balanced attack and disciplined defence in the final, Windsor gained a lead late in the first quarter that St. Thomas More couldn’t get back. The Wolves led for 33 minutes and 18 seconds of the 40-minute match.
Putting up 18 points, Oscar Rouillard led the Wolves with seven rebounds, three assists and three blocked shots – a performance that earned him Championship Player of the Game honours, as well as First Team All-Star.
Teammate Perrin Taylor was named tournament MVP, with 13 points and 11 rebounds in the final.
Emmet Ward – who doubles as Windsor’s star quarterback – scored 10 points and 13 rebounds in the championship game.
Team captain Lukas Chung was named Second Team All-Star.
Coach Fong said the team prided itself on its defence, “which was even better in the post season – averaging 51 points [against] per game.”
At the heart of the defensive effort was Ward, Fong said.
“Being a star on the football field, he’s an athletic kid who does all the dirty work for us,” he said.
During the regular season, Ward saw that if he could develop his jump shot, it could be a key ingredient to the team’s success.
“At lunch and after school, he would spend extra time working on his mid-range jump shot because team needed him to do that,” Fong said. “That rubs off on the other guys.”
Wolves bring home impressive three provincial banners in senior boys sports
This season, Windsor’s senior boys have brought home an incredible three provincial banners – in soccer, football and now basketball.
To bring home the first AAA basketball banner, “It means a lot for me as head coach,” Fong said.
While there’s been previous success with Windsor’s girls basketball teams, the senior boys teams have been looked down on in the past, Fong said.
“We made it our mission to change that reputation,” he said. “It motivated us going into games, and made wins sweeter to prove them wrong.... The seniors put in a lot of work to be successful, and have set an example for the rest of the school.”
In other senior high school basketball news, the Argyle Pipers 4A girls team took bronze, with a 76-63 victory against Riverside on March 1. Isabella Milijkovic was named First Team All-Star, and Sophie Nicholson a Second Team All-Star.
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