MANITOBA GETS ASSIST FROM MOM AND DAD
Games hosts leaning on duo with strong basketball bloodlines, writes Paul Friesen.
They’re calling it the biggest basketball game of their young careers.
Going into the quarter-finals Tuesday, where one win puts them into the Canada Games semifinal, Manitoba’s under-17 boys basketball squad isn’t shying away from the pressure.
They’ve got plenty of experience to lean on, too, thanks to some pretty impressive bloodlines running through the team.
Six-foot-eight forward Marcus Foreman, for example, can bend the ear of his dad Jeff, a former member of the national team, a three-time all-Canadian at the University of Winnipeg and the 1994 Canadian university player of the year.
In case dad misses anything, his mom Michelle also played for the Wesmen.
“They’ve been playing a huge role,” Foreman said of his parents’ tutelage. “They’re always pushing me to go further. It’s always positive. They’re always picking me up when I’m down, when I have a bad game.”
Foreman goes into the game for Manitoba when Kyler Filewich, another towering 16-yearold, comes out.
Filewich can also seek out his parents Keon and Arlyn for advice as both had careers with the University of Manitoba Bisons.
“They’ve moulded me into a good player,” Filewich said. “They’re always harder on me than they would be other players. But I kind of like it. I like being pushed.”
Both Filewich and Foreman have older siblings already going to university for basketball and younger ones on the way up.
So hoops is often the main course at the family dinner table.
After a two-game appetizer in their pool, Team Manitoba gets down to the meat of the Games Tuesday, facing the winner of Newfoundland’s game against Alberta.
Manitoba opened the tournament with a hard-fought 88-83 win over highly-ranked Nova Scotia Saturday, but came crashing back to Earth in a lopsided 99-58 loss to Ontario Sunday.
“In the first game, we played really well,” Filewich said. “But (Sunday) we didn’t play to our full potential and it showed in the result. They are very, very talented. But we could have put up more of a fight, I believe. “I didn’t play my best, either.” Filewich has an interesting take on Team Ontario, which went 2-0 in pool play.
“I thought they were going to be super-talented, but not care,” he said. “But they played really hard as well. In past years, they’ve showed up and been the most talented, but other teams just want it more. This year they seem different.”
Who wants Tuesday’s game more will go a long way to determining the winner and to that end coach Grant Richter has planted the seed of pressure in the minds of his players.
“Coach said it’s going to be the biggest game of our basketball careers,” Filewich said.
Richter says he just wants to get their attention.
“They need to understand this isn’t just another high school game,” the coach said. “This is a big one. It’s best they understand and can prepare a mental response for the pressure.
“When they’re motivated, they’re pretty good.”
Another good crowd is expected at the new Sport For Life Centre, including a healthy segment of the Filipino community cheering on starting point guard Shawn Maranan, a five-foot-nine sparkplug.
“I appreciate it a lot,” Maranan said. “A lot of Filipinos come out and watch. A lot of people play. I’m going to give it my all.”
Half the battle, Maranan says, is gelling with new teammates who were high school rivals just a few months ago.
“We’re starting to come together,” Maranan said. “I’ve never really played with half of these guys. It was kind of tough, but here we are.”
Most of the players on Team Manitoba have aspirations to play university ball, in some cases following in the basketball shoes of their parents.
“I want to take it as far as I can go,” Filewich said.
They’re saying the same thing about the Canada Games.
Their next chance is Tuesday.