On February 27 and 28, Chateauguay Valley Regional high school (CVR) hosted the Quebec Secondary School Sports Association (QSSSA) provincial basketball tournament for the first time in over 20 years. Schools from across the province, both public and private, visited the Valley to participate. This is a cadet-level tournament (Grades 8 and 9) and is referred to as the Davis Tournament for the boys’ teams and the Dunn Tournament for the girls’ teams. 12 teams in total participated: eight on the Davis side and four on the Dunn side. CVR had three teams competing.
CVR’s athletic director and physical education teacher, Terri Marino, says, “CVR has not hosted this in a number of years, so it’s quite an honour; it’s a prestigious tournament.” Though this is a provincial meet, teams have to qualify before they can be eligible for the Davis/Dunn tournaments. Marino explains that they qualify through their performances in their leagues, for example the SSIAA (South Shore Interscholastic Athletics Association), the ETIAC (Eastern Townships Interscholastic Athletic Conference) or the GMAA (Greater Montreal Athletics Association).
CVR had two teams that qualified, one in the girls’ division and one in the boys’. However, since there were seven teams in the boys’ round-robin, it was decided to divide the CVR team into two (by grade) and add a few players to each, since eight teams are much easier to schedule. The grade 9 team was CVR 1, and the Grade 8 team was CVR 2. Each team in the tournament is guaranteed to play in at least three games.
Something important to note is that this tournament historically involves only anglophone schools. Marino says that it has “been running for decades and everyone thinks it’s important to keep it going.” Since this is such a significant tournament, organizers at CVR were thrilled when they were asked to host it by the conveyor of the SSIAA at the end of last school year. “People like coming out to the Valley, and they think that we’re well organized doing these tournaments,” Marino says. Though the school had not hosted this particular tournament in over two decades, it has hosted many other events.
Getting to host a tournament like this was exciting for the students. “We’re often the ones travelling to other schools, so this was a way for the students to show off our school, our Spartan spirit, and their friends were able to watch them play, which doesn’t often happen,” Marino says. The CVR gym is adorned with banners from many championships – some from this very tournament – of which students and teachers are very proud. Marino adds that “We have a pretty strong basketball legacy, so I was looking forward to schools coming in and seeing what this school is about!”
The tournament went very well. Cindel Chartrand, a coach for the boys’ teams, says, “CVR 1 showed great skills during their games against Quebec and St John’s high schools. CVR 2 played against Loyola and Centennial high schools with amazing teamwork and determination and had the refs and coaches talking about how impressed they were with such a young team.” In their final game, CVR 1 played CVR 2, and had the entire gym riled up. “It was an amazing way to finish the season watching these humble, hardworking, talented cadet boys play together with amazing sportsmanship and dedication. Their coaches were extremely proud of them.”
The girls’ team placed third in the tournament, and coach Lisa Evans gives shoutouts to “Mikayla Reid for being named as a tournament allstar, Karsen Cosgrove for impressive shot blocking, Jalyn Furey for outstanding defensive play, Elizabeth Renaud for excellent ball-handling under pressure, and Hailey McAdam for competitiveness and rebounding.” Chartrand recognizes game MVPs Nathan Brown and Brandyn Hallé for CVR 2, co-captains William Chandler and Jesse Bryson for CVR 1, and to the tournament MVPs Ashton Bryson and Lachlan McFarlane.