Four North Shore basketball players will vie for a spot on the Basketball B.C. U15 provincial team this weekend.
The four players - Robert Sacre, a 6-10 post who hails from Handsworth; West Van's Darien Martin, a 6-2 forward, and Pat Clarke, a 5-10 guard; and 6-2 Chatelech forward Devan Haynes - were culled from the North Shore U15 cagers team that recently went 8-2 and won the Basketball B.C. U15 provincial jamboree in Pitt Meadows.
The team, made up of Grade 9 players hailing from Handsworth, Carson Graham, Argyle, West Vancouver, St. Thomas Aquinas, Balmoral, Mulgrave and Chatelech, kicked off the jamboree by beating North Central 62-32 and stopped Vancouver Island Central 67-45 in the second tilt. In the semifinal, the local team beat Vancouver West 49-43 and edged Surrey 53-50 in the final.
The team was coached by Carson Graham senior boys' co-coach Larry Donohoe and West Van's Tom Rippon. More than 35 players tried out for a spot on the team at an April 20 event, and the final roster took part in exhibition games and tourneys in preparation for the jamboree. The four local players will now advance to a 30-player mini-camp this weekend where they will fight for a spot on the starting roster of 12.
"There should be some pretty tough competition at the camp," said Donohoe, who will also coach the B.C. U16 boys' team this summer alongside Todd Warnick and Jeff Gourley. "I think there are a couple kids on the North Shore team who weren't selected and who could have had a chance, too, like [St. Thomas Aquinas Saints' point guard] Charlie Campbell. He was great for us at the jamboree. There were lots of kids who were outstanding in the tournament."
The only two games the North Shore team dropped in its truncated season were to Vancouver Island Central and Richmond/Delta.
Donohoe said that both he and Rippon were pleased with the level of talent they assembled on the local side this year and are hopeful that at least a couple of the North Shore players will find a slot on the provincial team that will represent British Columbia at the national U15 finals in Halifax this August.
"I'm used to coaching senior kids, and what I thought was great was that these players all accepted their roles," said Donohoe. "All of them were used to being 'the guy' on their school team, and it sometimes can be hard for kids to adjust if they are a passer or a rebounder, but they really accepted their roles and played well together as a team.
"It kinda helped that we had a 6-10 guy (Sacre) down the middle. You're a smarter coach when you have that."
