By Nathan Hutton (The Cascade) – Email
Print Edition: October 8, 2014
This past weekend saw the Cascades men’s basketball team in action for the first time since August. It was a packed weekend with three exhibition games from October 3 to 5 against both in-province and out-of-province competition.
Probably the best part of the weekend for Manny Dulay and Navjot Bains, at least, was the opportunity to return to their old high school, Tamanawis Secondary in Surrey, and play in front of their old classmates and teachers. The competition for Dulay, Bains, and the rest of the Cascades was sub-par at best. The Kwantlen Eagles, who play the college circuit in the regular season, couldn’t stop the Cascades no matter what they tried. The discrepancy in athletic abilities and skill was apparent to anyone in the audience. The Cascades had 72 points at halftime, equal to their per-game average last season.
The Cascades saw a bevy of new talent on the floor this weekend, including big men like Nate Brown and Bains. The Cascades guards also saw an improvement when Dominique Brooks hit the court, hoping to take over the point guard position vacated at the end of last year by Klaus Figueredo. To my surprise and enjoyment, the combination of Brown and Bains on the court together was a powerhouse that the Eagles couldn’t stop. The talented hands of Brown, combined with the speed and leaping ability that Bains brought to the court, were our strongest argument to coach Adam Friesen for these two players to play together come the regular season.
Not to be outshone, Brooks showed that the Cascades will be as strong as ever this year at the point-guard position. Brooks’ leadership was impressive considering this was his first full slate of games with the team. Another quality Brooks will bring to the Cascades is his extremely vocal nature, both on and off the court.
The Cascades ended the game against the Kwantlen Eagles with a fourth quarter where they opened up for the first time and started attempting some very gutsy plays. Brooks threw a series of attempted alley-oops to Bains, who unfortunately was unable to connect. The best play came from Brown, the Cascade player of the game, who grabbed a defensive rebound under the Cascades’ basket and proceeded to outrun almost everyone on the court and take it “coast-to-coast” for the layup on the other side. The Cascades were able to easily defeat the Eagles 111-68.
After the game, Dulay commented on the surreal but positive experience playing in his old high school gymnasium.
“I walked in here and I couldn’t believe we were actually playing here,” he said. “It was fun, really fun.”
