Jonas Emilsson
www.KramMag.com

Last week the Sir Winston Churchill Bulldogs senior boys’ basketball team began their quest for a third straight city championship.

Gone are several players that played a massive role in capturing the first two titles, leaving a new troop of ballers with some pretty heavy legacy to live up to.

And it’s not like their first test of the regular season was an easy one. The Bulldogs went up against the Bishop McNally Timberwolves, a team that entered the Calgary Basketball Classic tournament ranked No. 2, right behind the Bulldogs.

For the greater part of three quarters, the Timberwolves were giving the Bulldogs everything they could handle with a fast-paced run-and-gun style of game that forced the Bulldogs away from their usual controlled, aggressive and precise game that they’ve perfected over the last few years.

But midway through the fourth quarter the Bulldogs took control of the game’s pace and pulled away from the Timberwolves for an 82-63 victory. If one read the score in the newspaper, one would assume that the game was an easy victory for the Bulldogs, but in reality, the Bulldogs were a play or two away from perhaps losing their season opener.

A major reason for the Bulldogs taking control of the game was the play of Stephen Booth, a senior guard who will be relied heavily upon to lead the Bulldogs this season.

Booth was particularly effective in the deciding fourth quarter, where he came up with several key plays on both ends of the court that helped the momentum permanently swing in the Bulldogs’ directions.

“Stephen is our stopper,” said Bulldogs’ coach Morgan Tudor after last week’s game. “We assign somebody every year and tell them that they’re going to be the guy that goes against the other team’s best player. Stephen is our defensive stopper and tonight he led the charge on defense for by working extra hard and the rest of the boys followed along.”

But the most impressive plays came on the offensive end when Booth converted on back-to-back three-point plays with just over five minutes to play in the quarter.

“My style of game is to be aggressive and take it to the hoop and maybe hit a pull-up,” said Booth, who finished the game with 16 points.

Those two plays gave the Bulldogs a double-digit lead, and the comfort level that they’d be able to close out the game with a win.

“At a time when the game was very tight he probably broke it open by taking it to the rim and turning them into three-point plays,” said Tudor.

Those aggressive plays are something that the Bulldogs’ coaching staff has been asking Booth to take when the opportunity arises, instead of relying his jump shots to put points on the board.

“I do know that when we needed a big basket he took it hard to the basket, and that’s something we’ve been preaching with him,” said Tudor. “Sometimes he settles too much for his jump shot, and we would like him to take it hard to the rim because he has very body control and he’s a good athlete. I thought he did that tonight – he took it hard to the rim and got some buckets when we needed them.”

With one game under their belts the Bulldogs are, like everyone else, using the Christmas break to gear themselves up for the winter grind of the season. With strong teams like the Western Canada Redmen, the Centennial Coyotes and the Timberwolves looking to knock them off their pedestal, three-peating will no doubt be a daunting challenge.

But that’s a challenge the Bulldogs are ready to face.

“I would like to win Provincials,” said Booth. “That’s our goal every year so I think we’ll work our way towards that.”

KRAM 5 with Stephen Booth
What are your sneakers of choice? Jordans
Who is your favourite NBA player? Chris Paul
Who is your favourite NBA team? Los Angeles Lakers
What is your favourite movie? Star Trek
What is your must-have pre-game meal? Pasta