Andrew Baron’s first three years on the Douglas College Royals men’s basketball team were certainly challenging.
Challenging because the team struggled to find its form, losing a lot of games and not gaining any traction.
But this year, the fourth-year guard and former Elphinstone Secondary School Cougar has helped the Royals to their best start in those four years.
After a weekend split with Quest University (a 98-85 loss last Friday) and a 79-59 win over Capilano University, Douglas is 4-3 in conference play as they head into their extended Christmas holiday break.
“We were leading throughout against Quest, but we lost our range in the fourth and it cost us,” said Baron. “We have some really good shooters, and we kind of live and die by shooting the three. When we are hot, we can beat anyone. We were hot for three quarters against Quest and then we went cold in the fourth.
“But it was nice to rebound against Capilano. We played a solid game. It was never in doubt.”
Baron said the team set a goal at the start of the season to win 15 out of 21 conference match-ups.
“The first step was to be 5-2 at the break. We fell short a bit on Friday, but we bounced back, so to be 4-3 at the break is pretty good,” he said. “This is the first time in four years that we have had a winning record at the Christmas break, so that feels really good.”
Baron said the team is more rounded this year, with several guys who can shoot the ball from anywhere on the court. That has allowed Baron to move into a more comfortable roll of passing and rebounding.
“I was never a big scoring guy, but up until last year it seemed like if I didn’t score 20 points we’d be losing,” he said. “That is not my game. I’ve never been a scorer and the last couple of years I’ve had to force a lot of stuff. Now we have a solid group of guys and guys who can score. There is no question that this is the best team I’ve been on since I’ve been here.”
Baron sits fourth on average rebounds per game (6.6) and is fourth in average assists per game (4.2).
While Baron rests up during his holiday break, he won’t be getting too far from the gym as he is helping to host an alumni tournament at Elphi on Saturday, Dec. 13.
“We always try to get together with former Elphi players for a game over the Christmas holidays, so this year we wanted to go a step further and try to put on a one-day tournament,” Baron said.
“So far interest has been pretty good and we will hopefully have four or five teams. It’s meant to be a fun day, but I’m sure it will be pretty competitive, too. I’m hoping that more past Elphi players will want to come out, not just the guys from the past five or six years.”
The tournament runs from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. and will be a fundraiser towards helping this year’s senior boys team with travel costs for their upcoming season.
Fee is $10 per player and you can either create a team (minimum of eight guys) all within 10 years of your graduation year or sign up as an individual and be placed on a team.
To register or for more details, email Baron at ahdbaron@yahoo.com or check out the link on Facebook: www.facebook.com/events/366562036848204/?ref_
dashboard_filter=upcoming.
“We’re hoping this will just be a first of an annual thing. I think it’s going to be a fun day,” he said.
