Boys’ Showcase Basketball

28 February 2012Jonathan B.E.

In a well-established boarding school like ours, tradition runs rampant. Some are forgotten while new ones are created, and some remain ingrained in the sense of Brentwood’s community. One of the most important is Brentwood’s traditional rivalry with Shawnigan Lake School, and this rivalry extends itself most specifically through our sporting teams. The hockey teams face off, the squash teams face off, and on even grander occasions, the rugby teams meet in a clash of Titans. But on Wednesday, the 8th of February, Showcase Basketball took over Brentwood’s court. Brentwood versus Shawnigan: a game that is always guaranteed to entertain. The schools’ basketball teams met to amaze and entertain the school wide attendance in one of the most exciting showcase games yet.

Our boys started off strong, under the brilliant coaching staff of Mr. Felix and Mr. Gage, and, with the leadership of Captain Chris W, they quickly began to vie for control of the court. Point guard Shalev S had the crowd roaring with excitement on every one of his three point shots that never seemed to miss.

Brentwood College School has a very strong boys’ basketball program. For several years in a row, the basketball team has played at the top of the league. This year’s team is no different, but in a showcase game, the whole atmosphere is different. The crowd is screaming, the stands are shaking, and the universe seems to be centered on our high school gymnasium.

Brentwood had established a sizable lead when the game began to change. In the third quarter, the rebounding seemed to be off. Three point shots were missing, and our lay-ups did not quite land in the hoop. In my mind, this was simply our boys giving Shawnigan a chance to catch up and make the game a little bit more exciting. Everyone loves a close game, right?  

By the end of the third, Brentwood points were suffering a drought. Nothing was going in, and Shawnigan was mounting a comeback. In fact, they had tied the game up.

In the fourth, Brentwood was making hard cuts and rebounding well again, but now Shawnigan had a burst of confidence. They saw their chance to beat us on home hardwood, and they were playing with vigor. The points were going up slowly, alternating by ones and twos and threes for each team. Nails were being bitten, and every fan in attendance was on their feet, screaming for their team’s victory.

With equal points on the board, the last minute of time was ticking away. The game was going back and forth, back and forth, the pounding of legs and the ball passing from hand to hand the only thing that mattered. And then the clock ran down. A game that Brentwood had appeared to have in the bag was going to overtime: the perfect ending for a match-up of rivals.

The game was predicted to end by 9pm, which was important as the school was going into a midterm break the next day. Dorms needed to be cleaned, and some unlucky individuals had last minute homework to finish.

But no one left.

How could they? This was going to be the most entertaining Showcase basketball yet.

An overtime win against our rivals, or a bitter loss.

The minutes went by at an excruciating pace. Fouls, free throws and lay-ups. Screaming fans. And then we did it. Shalev S and Jason T put away the points that would win us the game. The stadium was filled with noise and red and black as Brentwood, once again, stood victorious over our traditional rivals.

Jonathan B.E.