2016 CAIS U13 National Basketball Champions - Hillfield Strathallan College

TEAM ROSTER - Jacob Rudolph, Dino Bontis, Quinn Levinson, Myles McArthur, Charlie Bontis, Ethan Mendes, Troy Line, Kishore Jaiswal, Robert Doman, Daniel Ajani, Ethan Sohal, Joel Asindi, Coach Jeff Bera, Coach Bryan Simmons, Coach Tom Stanton

On January 28-30, 2016, the Hillfield Strathallan College U13 boys’ basketball team travelled to Collingwood School in Vancouver, BC to compete among the top 16 teams in Canada for the CAIS (Canadian Accredited Independent Schools) national championship title. HSC won the tournament on three previous occasions – 2002, 2006 and 2009 – and hoped to reclaim the national title.

On Thursday HSC won all first round games: 53-4 v Ashbury (Ottawa), 52-22 v St. George's B (Vancouver) and 41-10 v Holy Trinity (Richmond Hill). The team’s strong play continued on Friday as teams were realigned between championship and consolation pools: 49-30 v Selwyn (Montreal), and 43-10 v Southridge (Surrey).

In the final game of round-robin play, HSC lost to St. George's School (Vancouver) with a triple overtime score of 34-33. HSC’s results in pool play set-up a semi-final clash against Crescent School (Toronto), the defending national champion, on Saturday morning. HSC was hungry for victory and beat Crescent 44-40 to set up a rematch against St. George's School for the national championships.

An estimated 400 spectators cheered on the two teams in the final. St. George's took an early lead and HSC was forced to play catch-up for much of the first quarter. HSC coaching staff made tactical adjustments during the break to help the players close the gap and secure a two-point lead into half-time. In the second half St. George's pressed hard for the lead, but HSC held strong under intense pressure. With a combination of swarming defensive and team-based offensive plays, HSC was able to avenge the earlier loss and take home the national title with a final score of 37-30.

This outstanding result is even more remarkable considering many team members also took home the U13 boys’ soccer national championship title a few months earlier. These exceptional student athletes achieved the rare feat of two national titles, in two different sports, in the same academic year.

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