Basketball creating a buzz at Churchill

Fort Rouge

Basketball is a huge deal this year at Collège Churchill High School.

There’s a huge buzz going around the Bulldogs’ hallways regarding the varsity boys basketball team, coached by teachers Roman Meyer and Don Fuentes. There are many talented players on the team – E.J. Hernandez, Waris Njoya, Shadrak Lasu and Mason Chartrand to name a few.

“Size, talent and coaching are the three main factors attributing to our success this season,” said Mason, when asked what has made the team so successful this year. With a 14-1 regular season record there’s no doubt this group has talent.

The varsity girls’ team is made up of nine players ranging from grades 10 to 12. They are led by Grade 11 point guard Abbey Shand (who recently reached the 1,000-point milestone), Grade 11 forward Phebean Olujobi and Grade 12 team captain Cadence Dela Paz. At the end of the tournament and regular season, the girls have registered 18 wins – a record for varsity girls at CCHS.

In addition, the girls finished first this year in the Winnipeg Tier 2 division while also being awarded a first-ever AAA Provincial ranking (at press time they were No. 5). The team is coached by Kevin Shand and Kendra Klick and recently captured the Winnipeg Tier 2 championship, defeating John Taylor to win CCHS’s first title since 2005.

The junior varsity boys are also having an excellent regular season at 9-0, led by Kobe Alejo, Jeffrey Ghabr, Ngor and Chan Agu. Coached by Adam Masi and Tyle King-Binguis, the team finished third in the Tec Voc tournament, fourth at the Sisler tournament and are ranked in the Top 4 of the AAA class.

The Grade 7/8 boys are coached by Kirkland Harper and Davelyn De Lande. They are working hard this season and, as I wrote this, they were looking forward to the playoffs.

The Grade 9 girls, coached by Nathan Leitao, are undefeated this season and are the No. 1 seed in the Winnipeg School Division heading into the playoffs

The Grade 9 boys, coached by Wally Chubaty, were set to host Elmwood in the first round of playoffs at press time.

Finally, the grade 7/8 girls are coached by Cheryl Hill and were slated to meet Stanley Knowles in the first round.

We wish all the teams the best of luck in the playoffs.

Go Bulldogs!