It was a great weekend of basketball action as Trinity College School’s Bigside boys team hosted its annual invitational tournament. The Bears welcomed York School, Appleby, Cobourg Collegiate, O’Neill Collegiate, Bayview Glen, Thorold SS and St. Peter CSS for two days of competition, January 19th to 20th, in the Arnold Massey ’55 Athletic Centre. And, in the end, it was the Bears who came out as tournament champions!
The “Friday Night Lights” game saw Bigside face Appleby in a rematch of last year’s CISAA finals, when TCS fell in overtime. But this time it was the Bears who came out on top, posting a 62-45 win in front of an enthusiastic home crowd. Lana Agbelese led the Bears in scoring with 28 points and 10 rebounds, and produced a highlight reel of monster dunks. Cheuk Lam showed great leadership, and added eight points, with nine rebounds, five assists and six steals.
The win put the Bears into the A-side of the draw, where they faced O’Neill Collegiate, the winners of last year’s TCS tournament when they beat the Bears. Despite facing an excellent defensive effort from O’Neill, TCS was able to pull off the win, 47-33. Shout-outs go to Xyon Johnson, Lasse Pommer with four huge three-point shots, and Lana Agbelese who once again led the scoring with 20 points.
TCS headed into the final hungry to win its own tournament for the first time since 2012. The Bears came up big, besting York School 56-42 to take the title. Lana Agbelese scored 33 points with nine rebounds, and Lasse Pommer had another huge game with 10 points and eight rebounds. Randy Noel and Jonathan Lolomari provided excellent defence against York School’s star point guard, making his life very difficult.
Overall, Lana Agbelese led the way as top scorer for TCS throughout the tournament, as well as posting the most blocks and tying with Lasse Pommer for most rebounds. Lasse was the leading three-point shooter, and Cheuk Lam led in both assists and steals.
Sincere thanks to Mr. Will Salvarinas, Mr. David Brown, and Grade 10 student Peyton Marsden for organizing and helping run the tournament. A shout-out to DJ Joel Wesley, the TCS Drumline and TCS Dance Troupe for creating an awesome atmosphere Friday night. And thanks to Sam Saturno ’24 for filming the games and Chris Robert (retired staff) for taking photos.
