Trinity College School’s Bigside boys basketball team geared up for the coming season with a strong showing at the CAIS National Tournament, hosted jointly by Lower Canada College and Selwyn House, November 23rd to 25th in Montreal. This is the first time the tournament has been held since 2019, and the event featured its largest-ever field: 24 teams from Ontario, Manitoba, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, British Columbia and Quebec.

The Bears had a gruelling schedule of six games in three days, beginning with a loss to Ashbury (the eventual tournament runner-up) by a score of 65-46. The team rebounded to post back-to-back wins to close out the round robin, beating Stanstead, 60-25, and then Gray Academy, 69-40.

This placed TCS into the silver division for the playoff round, where the team showed its mettle. A quarter-final win over Loyola, 70-39, set the Bears up for a semi-final against West Island College where they again posted big numbers, winning 88-51. The silver division final turned out to be a great game against Selwyn House, however, Bigside fell in the end, 79-71.

Coming in advance of the CISAA league season, the CAIS tournament provided the TCS players a chance to work on their skills and bond as teammates. Leading the team in scoring and blocks was Lana Agbelese, with Cheuk Lam posting the most assists and steals. Top three-point shooter Lasse Pommer was also strong on defense, along with Jonathan Lolomari, while Ayanfe Agbelese and Chike Ugori led the team in rebounds.

Special thanks to the host schools, and congratulations to tournament champions St. George's (BC). The Bears are now looking ahead to the CISAA league season which kicks off on Saturday, December 2nd when TCS hosts Ridley College.