DRIVE Basketball :: Team Spotlight : WRCA

(Pictured: Left to Right, Sr. Adam Stewart takes the ball to the hoop at the RCMP tourney. Sophomore stand out Nick Dekoster brings the ball up the court during the RCMP tourney.)

Keeping the Tradition Alive

White Rock Christian Academy senior boys basketball team has become somewhat of a ‘dynasty’ in the past decade in BC hoops. In their short history WRCA has won two ‘A’ provincial titles, three ‘AAA’ provincial titles, has finished bronze or better six out of the last seven years at the ‘AAA’ tourney and has produced four ‘AAA’ MVP’s. After White Rock’s title run last year, many people thought that White Rock’s reign of excellence had come to a close pointing to teams like St. George’s and Handsworth to start a new legacy, but this years Warriors squad has been quite a surprise and has rocketed to the #4 ranking as of late.

This season was to be a ‘rebuilding year’ for the Warriors. With no provincial team players or BC all-stars returning to the squad for the first time in recent memory the expectations for WRCA were quite low. The formally unranked Warriors however entered the ’05-’06 season with the high hopes of returning to the Agrodome in March and have proved the naysayers and critics that they are still an elite team to be reckoned with in BC.

After a second place finish in the prestigious Legal Beagle tournament and a first place win in Surrey RCMP Classic the following week the Warriors have jumped to the #4 spot in the provincial rankings.

This year’s team, like most White Rock teams of old, sports a roster loaded with dead eye shooters, and tenacious defenders who are all willing to do the ‘blue collar’ work like taking charges and diving on loose balls. Head coach Scott Allen has had to make some adjustments without a true star player on the squad and explains, “The main concentration was building the individuals into stronger 1 on 1 players. Our strength this year would be in the combined balanced effort in scoring production. No longer would we able to rely on a 25 ppg player. For us to be successful we must be a team where the defensive team cannot key on one player.”

Although White Rock does not possess one focal player, Adam Stewart has provided the Warriors with leadership and a solid scoring punch that utilizes both his perimeter and post skills. “Adam is a very underrated player in my eyes. Adam can be a mismatch for many teams as his perimeter shooting is amongst the best in BC and in the post he is relentless and wears teams out. As the season has gone forward so has Adams leadership abilities and his effect on the team has been contagious” says Allen.

For “Stew” as Adam is so effectionately called, this season has been challenging for him as he was moved into a more central role this year with the loss of Tyrell Mara to graduation. “This team is completely different, last year we had Tyrell as our leader and four other seniors on the team with size and experience. This year is filled with only three seniors and the rest grade 8, 9, and 10 players.” explains Adam. Of those younger players Nick DeKoster has stepped up to the challenge and has produced effectively as the starting point guard for WRCA this year. Nick has had the daunting task of following in the footsteps of former all-star point guards like Kyle Wilson, Donald Burton, Rob Thibault, and Jeron Dillon. In spite of the history Nick has picked up the slack and has taken his first steps as establishing himself as another great WRCA point guard. Nick was named all-star at both the Legal Beagle and RCMP tournaments and has shown that he is one of the top sophomores in the province. The competition has been tough for Nick and has faced some of the best lead guards in the province. “I’ve faced guys such as Scott Leigh, Ty Nurse, and Kujo Jhaj, but the toughest player I've faced this year would have to be Ryan Murray from Terry Fox”.

For now White Rock will focus on getting to the BC’s and this will be no easy task as the Fraser Valley is deep with talented and skilled teams. With no true post White Rock could be in trouble against teams with a dominant big man. However, if WRCA does return to the BC’s for the seventh time in as many years, the Warriors will be prepared as best they can for the elite teams in the province. As coach Allen points out, “You obviously have to give Saints the edge as they our the best team on paper by a landslide. You still have to play the games and winning four games in a row in the Agrodome takes a special team. Look at Argyle last year. The best team again but when it comes to injuries and responding to pressure it is always interesting. If a relative unknown team like Wellington can get to the finals it should be a motivation for all others to " dream big and don't ever allow negative thoughts to influence your pure confidence."

And dream big these Warriors shall, for this year’s WRCA squad has returned to it’s ‘David’ role to slay the‘Goliaths’ of BC. It won’t be easy, it won’t be pretty, but when March comes anything can happen, and we can expect the WRCA Warriors to be prepared and fight hard to “keep the tradition alive”.

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