Touchie follows in father’s footsteps
Oak Bay’s senior point guard hopes to repeat history by leading his team to tourney title
This is a story of what happens when something as simple as a basketball tournament is allowed, like the best-tended gardens, to keep coming back season after season.
Before you know it, a generation has passed and, quite suddenly, tangible ties between the past and the present reveal themselves, adding a dimension of depth to the proceedings.
That’s the revelation that hit me hardest this week as I prepared to preview Terry Fox Secondary’s annual Legal Beagle boys’ basketball tournament, an event that was in its infancy when I started on the high school sports beat in 1990.
Every year, the Beagle never fails in its quest to bring B.C.’s top-ranked boys teams together for three days of spirited competition in Port Coquitlam.
This season’s 28th edition, which opens play Thursday, is no exception.
So, as I thought about a preview topic, and which competing player might best exemplify the gritty work ethic of the host school’s iconic namesake, Terry Fox, I immediately figured it was time to place a call to Oak Bay senior point guard Jaden Touchie.
In an era of scoring, stats and numbers, Touchie has stood out the past few seasons because of his penchant to play the game the right way. Last season, at provincials, I wrote a piece specifically on his passion for defence.
Yet, as I did more research for my latest interview, yours truly realized I had reported on Jaden’s dad, Evan Touchie, during his own high school days in the early 1990s with the Alberni District Armada. Ahh, that’s why the surname was so familiar.
Twenty-five years ago, back in December of 1991 when the Legal Beagle was still being played in the week before Christmas, Evan Touchie, a hard-nosed guard, and talented forward Patrick Cannon, came to PoCo and led the No. 10-ranked Armada on a dominant run through the field, including an 89-67 win in the final over No. 2-ranked Vancouver College.
Alas, Jaden and his family have endured their own tragedy since. Evan Touchie died of a heart attack at the tender age of 33.
When I told Jaden earlier this week that his dad hit four treys and scored 17 points in the 1991 Beagle final, I could sense his pride. It was a pleasure to ask him to describe his dad as a basketball player.
“He was a really aggressive guy on offence and guys didn’t really know how to guard him,” says Jaden, just seven when he lost his dad. He was celebrating his 18th birthday when we spoke on Tuesday.
“He wasn’t really big but he was a heavy dude. He was 6-foot-1 but like 200 pounds, and he could shoot and run. It gets hard to guard a guy like that.”
As a Grade 10 student, Jaden drew the task of guarding Yale Secondary’s sparkplug guard Jauquin Bennett-Boire in his B.C. MVP year of 2014-15. He figures if he had to guard his dad in his prime, that’s what it would have been like.
And without question, there hasn’t been a defensive assignment handed Jaden that he hasn’t embraced.
“There are some players who struggle in that environment, but Jaden thrives in it,” says Oak Bay head coach Chris Franklin of the 6-foot-2, 175-pound Touchie, who averages about 18 points per game.
“He just won’t give up easy shots, he understands angles and he moves his feet so well. Really, he epitomizes our team. His personality is imprinted on us.”
At last weekend’s Vikes Alumni Invitational tournament held at the University of Victoria, Touchie led Oak Bay to a third-place finish, including a 79-78 overtime win over No. 1-ranked Walnut Grove of Langley. He was the only B.C. player selected to the tournament allstar team. His most immediate goal? That would be helping the Bays win the B.C. title this March, something that hasn’t happened in the 40 years since Oak Bay last won in 1977. Next season, he’s set to begin a university career with his hometown Vikes.
“Losing my dad pushed me to try and get to that (university) level,” Touchie says.
“He raised a family and he didn’t get a chance to, so now I’m going to pursue that dream. But to me, it’s bittersweet that I can, but he couldn’t.”
Still, ask Jaden Touchie what he’s doing and he’ll tell you he’s following in his father’s footsteps. And this Saturday at the Legal Beagle, he has a chance to stand in the same shoes his dad did a quarter-century ago.