Sacred Heart Buffalo celebrating banner year
School’s gymnasium completed in time for basketball team to win title at home
The 2017-18 Sacred Heart Buffalo lit up the new scoreboard, whereas the old one once fell off the wall.
The boys basketball team at Sacred Heart Community School recently punctuated a banner season by winning the Regina separate elementary schools title — in a new gymnasium.
“It was full,” says school principal Dave Magnusson, flashing back to the March 20 city final. “All the bleachers were packed with staff and students and family members. The gym was loud and it was rockin’. It was a pretty neat atmosphere.”
Especially when contrasted with the team’s previous environs.
The school’s original gymnasium was condemned five years ago, after the aforementioned scoreboard catastrophe.
“You could see the light of day through the wall,” says Magnusson, who coaches the boys basketball team with Dan Koskie. “And one of the lights fell from the roof.”
Between gymnasiums, the school improvised as far as a sporting facility was concerned.
“We cleaned out the old Sacred Heart church and the boys practised there,” Magnusson says. “We used two portable basketball nets. The surface was a snap-tile floor.
“We didn’t have any home games for five years for basketball, because the court just wasn’t big enough and wasn’t conducive to having a game there.”
The makeshift facility was dubbed the “chym” — a combination of “church” and “gym.”
Resourcefulness was no longer necessary late in the 2017-18 season, when the new gymnasium opened just in time for a March 1 playoff game.
Nineteen days later, again on home court, Sacred Heart defeated the St. Gabriel Guardians 67-60 in the city final.
“It was once in a lifetime,” says Jalen Funmaker, one of the play- ers. “It was probably the best night of my life.”
On that evening, Sacred Heart won its first sports championship since the 1986-87 academic year.
“We had to bring one back for Sacred Heart,” says another player, Victoire Tumba.
“When you win something for the first time in 31 years, now you know that you can win other things,” Koskie says.
The long-awaited conquest was celebrated during the school’s 80th year.
“This has been good for the school in the sense of helping to establish our identity as a school and a culture of being successful,” Magnusson says.
“Our future looks good. To be able to put up a banner right away in a new gym is pretty special for the kids and the community.”
Located in the North Central area, near Scott Collegiate, Sacred Heart has 436 students — 75 per cent of whom are First Nations. Another 22 per cent are from immigrant families.
“For the school and for North Central or for our community, it’s a chance to celebrate success,” Magnusson says. “We help (the players) out in any way that we can and provide that opportunity for success for them.”
The school’s Dream Broker, Alyssa Strasser, has also played an instrumental role in the team’s success by helping the players with finding funding to help them pursue their interests. Dream Brokers is a Sask Sport Inc. program that helps inner-city youth participate in athletic, recreational and cultural activities.
The emphasis on culture is evident upon entering the new gym, which highlights the school’s logo — a buffalo — at centre court.
“It gives us that sense of pride and sense of ownership,” Magnusson says. “It became a centrepiece for the boys.”
For the playoffs, the boys’ basketball team consisted of nine players. Funmaker, Tumba, Jomel Bacor, Dettrius La Rose and “Big X” (whose full name cannot be published for privacy reasons) are in Grade 8. Legacy Kahnapace, Frankie Clampitt, Nymuel Pujanes and John Nepomuceno are Grade 7 students.
“Playing here with these guys was a lot of fun,” Tumba says. “We worked together, as friends and family, and our coaches helped us as a team.”
“We’re all friends,” Funmaker agrees, “and we all love each other as brothers.”
“And we trust each other,” La Rose adds.
It all added up to a historic season for the Buffalo of Sacred Heart.
“Any time you win a championship, you have that enduring bond with your teammates,” Magnusson says. “It’s something you remember for the rest of your life.”