The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Canadian import fuels Cornerstone Christian
Cornerstone Christian welcomes Nova Scotia native Saunders with open arms
Cornerstone Christian coach Andy Weybrecht remembers the first time he, alongside assistant Jesse Ashenfelter, laid eyes on Kendall Saunders.
“My goodness,” Weybrecht thought. “We’ve got a good one here.”
A 6-foot-5 forward, Saunders was a new arrival at Cornerstone last summer. Unlike his teammates who hail from near Willoughby and the Cleveland area, Saunders emigrated to Northeast Ohio from Canada.
A native of Nova Scotia, Saunders learned of the school from a fellow countryman — Adam Lambert, a sharpshooting wing who played for the Patriots last season.
Saunders and Lambert were AAU teammates, and their AAU coaches had connections with Cornerstone’s staff. When Saunders looked for opportunities to expand his academic and athletic horizons, Cornerstone was a familiar, obvious fit.
Although Saunders is more than 900 miles from home, he quickly became accustomed and comfortable with his new classmates.
“I didn’t really miss back home,” Saunders said. “It’s been sort of like the same transition, I left one family and I came into another one.”
Saunders says the weather in Nova Scotia is similar to Ohio’s, but he’s seen more rain in his new home. Nova Scotia is a peninsula surrounded by a handful of offshore islands, and its southern territory lies off Maine’s eastern shore.
Saunders says he doesn’t miss the place as much as the people, where he stays in touch with his friends and siblings, sister Latoya and brother Stefano. But he’s quickly made strong relationship with his classmates
and teammates.
“Ever since Kendall’s been here, it’s been like he’s part of the family,” senior forward Jeremy Owens said. “I’m going to miss him when he leaves. I’ve been telling him to stay with me. We can go to college next year together.”
Saunders has been an important piece on the court alongside Cornerstone’s leader and Ohio Mr. Basketball finalist, Michael Bothwell.
But he’s also meshed well with the Patriots, some of whom are friends dating to elementary and middle school.
“He just fit in from Day 1,” Bothwell said. “It’s just been like having another brother in our group.”
Saunders hopes to pursue a career in law if his basketball career doesn’t pan out.
He’s been in touch with a handful of Division II programs, namely Alderson Broaddus, Urbana and Cedarville.
“I want to get involved in this because sometimes people get put in jail for some things that they didn’t do,” Saunders said. “It’s justice — that’s all it is. I want justice for people that really need it.”
Between Canada and the United States, Saunders hasn’t noticed many cultural differences. As a part of his AAU play, Saunders spent time in Maine, New York, Boston and Kentucky prior to his move to Ohio.
If anything’s different, it’s basketball.
Saunders is now used to workouts before and after school. In Canada, he recalls, his school’s team practiced twice a week — maybe.
“We lock it in in practice,” Saunders said. “Everybody competes, everybody tries to get everyone better, everybody’s always at Mike’s neck and it’s just been a surreal experience for me, especially for my first year being here and we’re going for the state title. It’s something special.”
Weybrecht and Ashenfelter each thought Saunders could become an allstate player. March 19, he was a third-team All-Ohio selection. Saunders was the Patriots’ second-leading scorer at 12.1 points per game during the regular season and second-leading rebounder with 6.8 rebounds per game.
He’s been instrumental in Cornerstone’s return to the state level, especially in matchups against Rittman’s 6-foot-10 Justin Flaisman
and Mansfield St. Peter’s All-Ohio forward Jared Jakubick.
“He’s had his best two practices of the year the past two days,” Weybrecht said. “He’s obviously a very strong kid, has got good size, he’s finishing inside now, which we’ve been working with him all year. It’s finally starting to come to fruition a little bit.”
After his academic and athletic pursuits end in the United States, Saunders isn’t sure where he’ll go. Either way, he’s found a fit in more than his high school.
“It depends on what God wants from me, honestly,” Saunders said. “If he calls me back to Canada, I have no problem, I love my country. But America is basically the place for me. I’ve loved America since I’ve been here.”