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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

Manitoba 15U powers to 2-0 record at nationals

By: Andrew Evans

Posted: 08/4/2010 1:00 AM | Comments: 0 (including replies)

Manitoba 15U player Ryan Penner goes for the basket flying past New Brunswick guard Elliot Quinn Tuesday morning. (WAYNE.GLOWACKI@FREEPRESS.MB.CA)

AT a tournament with more than 100 of Canada's best young basketball players, one Junior is making quite a name for himself.

Junior Sesay, a long-armed, 6-foot point guard on Manitoba's under-15 team, has been stellar since the start of 2010 17U/15U Men's National Championship, leading his team to an impressive 2-0 record entering today's match-up with Prince Edward Island.

In his team's first game, a 69-53 win over Saskatchewan, Sesay put up 21 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks, all team-highs, but his encore was arguably better.

On Tuesday he stuffed the stat sheet in a 95-55 blowout against an overmatched New Brunswick squad, finishing with 20 points, seven assists, six rebounds, and two steals. His length and energy on defence also gave New Brunswick headaches.

Despite often looking like the best player on the floor, the native of Freetown, Sierra Leone offered a modest assessment of his tournament so far.

"It's been good," he said after Tuesday's game, adding that the he expects this team to make some noise once the elimination round kicks off on Thursday night.

Despite only being in Grade 9 at Gordon Bell High School last year, he played on the school's varsity boys team for his provincial head coach Jon Lundgren.

"You can tell he loves to play," said Lundgren, who has also coached Sesay at the club level. "If he keeps working hard he could be as good as anybody."

As good as he might be, he certainly hasn't been the only star for this young squad. Not content to let his partner in the backcourt completely steal the spotlight, guard Evan Bruce of Glenlawn Collegiate has been shooting the lights out, draining 58.3 per cent of his three-point attempts so far and averaging 19.5 points per game.

The high-scoring duo will look to push their team to 3-0 with a win over P.E.I. at 9 a.m. this morning at Investors Group Athletic Centre.

Manitoba's 17-and-under squad opened the tournament by losing a nail-biter to Alberta 63-62 Monday night.

Team 'Toba was led by guard Amarjit (A.J.) Basi's 19 points, 7 rebounds and 4 steals. Joey Nitychoruk finished with a double-double of 12 points and 11 rebounds to go along with three blocks, but his tough shooting night -- 4 for 13 from the field and 3 for 8 from the line -- was emblematic of the team's offensive struggles.

The team will look for redemption Wednesday when they take on P.E.I. at 1:30 p.m. at Investors Group.

andrew.evans@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition August 4, 2010 C5

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