While they narrowly missed out on the chance to represent Chestermere at the 3A provincial championships this weekend, the St. Gabriel the Archangel Guardians senior boys' basketball team is celebrating a second consecutive Division 3 city banner.
Though the grade 7-12 Catholic school is based in Chestermere, the Guardians varsity sports teams play in the Calgary Senior High School Athletic Association (CSHSAA). This year's senior boys' basketball team dominated the Division 3 standings in 2021-22, posting a 9-1 regular-season record and continuing that positive momentum in the playoffs.
After beating the Robert Thirsk Comets 88-66 in the CSHSAA quarterfinals and the Henry Wisewood Warriors 101-75 in the semi-finals, the Guardians clinched the Division 3 city banner on March 12. Playing against the third-seed Nelson Mandela United in the city championship game, St. Gabe's came out on top courtesy of a 84-73 scoreline.
Guardians head coach and St. Gabriel the Archangel teacher Darrell van Paridon said the players were elated to defend their title from 2020. (He noted there was no high-school basketball season last school year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic).
“It had been a goal in the back of their minds all year long, and I think they knew with the squad they had, it was an achievable goal,” he said.
According to van Paridon, the strength of the Guardians boys' basketball team this season was due to the familiarity the players had with each other, as most of them had played together since Grade 7.
He added this year's roster had plenty of experience, as the team was comprised of mostly Grade 12 players, along with two Grade 11s.
“There was truly no hubris,” he said. “They celebrate everyone’s success. We didn’t have to battle egos, there weren’t complaints about minutes or roles. They were a true team in every sense of the word, and it made them really easy to coach.”
Leading the team this season was senior guard Thomas Teshome, a star player who van Paridon said averaged a triple-double for St. Gabe's in virtually every game he played in.
“It’s led by Thomas, but Thomas himself is a willing passer who wants to see his teammates succeed as much as himself,” he said.
The head coach added Teshome's skill attracted attention from multiple post-secondary basketball scouts this season, both locally and from other provinces.
“We had interest from Briercrest in Saskatchewan and there was a little interest from the University of Winnipeg,” van Paridon said. “Coaches from Mount Royal have been actively pursuing him and he’s been invited to ID camps in B.C. I believe Simon Fraser was one of the ID camps, and he was invited to the University of Calgary ID camp as well.”
The Guardians coasted their way to first place in the regular season, outscoring their CSSHSA opponents 855-572 across their 10 league games.
But even though the route to the city championship game was fairly straightforward, van Paridon acknowledged there was some uncertainty as the Guardians lined up against the United on March 12. St. Gabe's and Nelson Mandela had not played each other during the regular season.
The two teams had developed a recent history of a rivalry, according to van Paridon, as they faced one another for the city banner in 2020 as well.
“We always knew they were the ones that challenged us in previous years,” he said. “Obviously, last year there was no basketball due to COVID, but the year before that, it was Nelson Mandela versus St. Gabe’s for the city finals, so we thought that pattern might be repeating.”
Thanks to a solid team showing led by a 47-point performance from Teshome, van Paridon said the Guardians managed to win the hard-fought title game.
“We said to the players, winning a banner was fantastic,” he said. “Not a lot of people get that opportunity or go that far. But doing it with your best friends is extra special.”
Provincials
Despite the high of winning another city title, van Paridon said the Guardians were hard done by when it came to their chance to compete at the Alberta Schools Athletic Association (ASAA) 3A provincial championships, which will be held March 17 to 19.
According to van Paridon, St. Gabriel was the only 3A team in their zone that wanted to challenge for a spot at provincials. Without a local opponent to take on, he thought the team would be granted an automatic berth in the tournament.
However, he said the ASAA arranged for Spruce Grove's St. Peter the Apostle Catholic High School, a top-10-ranked team whose senior boys' team had lost their play-in game to attend provincials, to come down to Chestermere on March 14 to take on the Guardians. The winner would earn a spot in provincials.
St. Gabe's fought hard in that game, van Paridon said, but fell 85-74.
“We ended up losing a nail-biter on our home court,” he said. “The controversy was the bureaucracy behind it. St. Peter the Apostle had two chances to get into provincials, and we only had the once chance. Technically, we were unchallenged and should have taken the sole spot.
“They beat us, so they’re the better team and they should know that. I just thought the controversy was them coming to our zone and taking our spot.”
Considering all but two of the Guardians graduating from high school this spring, van Paridon said next year will see an almost completely new senior boys' basketball roster.
But he added the two back-to-back city championships have created a culture of winning at St. Gabe's – a culture he expects to see continue.
“It’s hard to say because this was my first year [coaching the senior boys' team], so I haven’t gone too far down the depth charts,” he said. “It will be a completely different team, but the expectation is to compete.”
