Cavs, Warriors are the best here, too
PWC, Waterford Valley High are tops on the high school hardwood
One team is 26-0 on the year, and the other hasn’t lost in 24 games. Each have won every tournament they’ve entered this season, meaning anything but a provincial 4A basketball banner for Prince of Wales Collegiate and Waterford Valley High, both from St. John’s, will be considered a monumental upset on the high school basketball circuit this season.
And the PWC Cavaliers boys’ team and WVH Warriors girls’ squad took very different paths to perfection this season.
The Cavs are 26-0 this year, the dominant team in the boys’ high school loop, winning the PWC Carl George Classic, Elwood 40th tournament in Deer Lake, Gonzaga Invitational, Keith Keating Memorial, Legend City Classic and Hall of Fame Cup tournaments, the latter coming last weekend at the Newfoundland and Labrador Sports Centre.
It wasn’t always so bright and sunny around PWC.
When current assistant coach Darrin Greeley took over the boys’ program at PWC five years ago, he asked that the Cavaliers, in a lull and not quite ready to compete with teams like Gonzaga, be relegated to Tier II.
“It would have been too demoralizing, beaten by 50 or 60 a game,” he said. “We had to start from scratch.”
The first step was getting Dave Chafe on board as coach. Chafe, a tactician in every sense, continues to guide the Cavs.
“I said to the guys, ‘I promise we’ll get to 4A provincials if we work harder and harder every day in practice, we make a commitment to conditioning, that we make a commitment to the program,” Greeley said.
“It’s about attitude. Some kids were getting away with too much stuff. Rules were put in place. If you don’t follow them, you don’t play.”
This is the third year the Cavaliers are in Tier I play. In 2015, their first season removed from Tier II, PWC reached the semifinals of the provincial 4As before losing to Corner Brook. “It’s been a total rebuild.” A big part of the rebuild has been the play of the Ring brothers, from the Sudan.
Deng Ring starred at PWC, and is now a member of the Memorial Sea-Hawks. Younger brother Emanuel Ring is currently the best high school player in the province.
“When he wants to turn it up,” Greeley says, “no one can stop him.
“He’s a good kid, who’s working hard.”
Emanuel Ring is graduating this year, one of seven players on the 12-man roster to close out their high school careers.
Two of the five returnees — James Wiseman and Mitchell Hand — are starters, however.
Still, it appears the Cavs are in for a rebuild again.
“That’s a challenge we look forward to again,” Greeley said.
As for the Warriors, the Geoff Moore-coached Waterford Valley squad is 24-0 with wins at the Gonzaga and O’Donel Invitationals, Keith Keating Memorial and Hall of Fame Cup.
Moore purposely cut back the Warriors’ schedule a bit this season after playing 40-plus games last year.
In the past four years, the Booth Memorial /Waterford Valley program (Waterford Valley was opened in 2015, taking in Booth and Bishops College students) has gone an incredible 140-3.
The Warriors have produced university varsity players: Kelsey Moore to the Memorial Sea-Hawks two years ago, and Lauren Shallow to the UPEI Panthers and Claire Hickman to the Dalhousie Tigers last season.
So what’s the secret to the Warriors’ success? Can it be a deeper talent pool, given the size of the school, one of the largest in the province in terms of student population.
Perhaps, but not entirely so. If that was the case, the Warriors’ boys teams would be ranked No. 1.
Rather, like the pro teams who boast depth in the organization, Moore credits a strong junior high feeder system that’s led to the Warriors’ string of wins.
“You need support at the junior high level,” he said. “If the clubs and schools that feed into the high schools have quality coaching and strong programs, you’re going to see that at the high school level.”
In the case of the Warriors, the Beaconsfield junior high program, Moore said, has a “nice continuity” with Waterford Valley. Coaches who have worked with Moore, a Newfoundland and Labrador Basketball Association provincial team coach, and know the systems he chooses to run are now working with Grade 8 and 9 teams.
Hence, when the players graduate from the Saxons program and move into the Waterford Valley fold, they have an idea of the systems Moore likes to run.
“Coaching is critical,” he said. “Not only at the high school level, but junior high as well.”
4A tournament qualifying tournaments are scheduled for the next two weekends. The boys’ qualifier is this weekend at Holy Heart, while the girls’ qualifying tourney is next weekend at Waterford Valley.