Hamber’s Basketball Teams Place Second and Third during Midtown
Hamber’s Senior Girls Basketball team | Photo Credit: Veronica Miranda
Hamber’s 12th annual basketball tournament, Midtown Showdown, occurred over three days from Jan. 19-21.
Eric Hamber’s Senior Girls and Boys basketball teams, in addition to seven boys and seven girls teams across the Lower Mainland, played in the tournament. With 16 teams participating in total, the number of teams participating doubled compared to last year.
Hamber’s Senior Girls placed second in a tough final game with a score of 43 to 73, while A. R. MacNeill Secondary from Richmond won first place for the girls in the tournament. Hamber’s boys’ team placed third, beating Carson Graham Secondary from North Vancouver with a score of 74 to 63. The boys' championship team was West Vancouver Secondary, who beat Seycove Secondary from North Vancouver in the final, 94 to 80.
Hamber players had a wonderful experience playing in the tournament and bonding with their teammates and other players. “It was one of the best experiences in high school that I have ever had,” shared Mary DeLeon (11). “Being there and having all the fans cheering you on is really a feeling I can’t compare to anything,” noted Alejandro Diaz-Henderson (11).
The boys played West Van—a team ranked 8th in the province, in the semi-finals of Midtown. They lost 99 to 49, which resulted in Hamber not advancing to the finals. “[West Van] was a very strong team and played really well together, and they were more organized than we were and more skilled all around. Having to face up against them and compete with them was probably the biggest challenge of Midtown,” explained Diaz-Henderson. He continued, “We may not have been the best team, but we really got along and I had so much fun this year.”
The players felt pressure in representing Hamber. Janelle Sobredo (12) stated, “I was playing, not just for myself, but for my whole school and my whole team and my coaches.” However, the players still had a great time in their representation of Hamber. “Having the school watching you was very overwhelming at first, but as the days went by and the games progressed, it was definitely more fun than anything else,” added DeLeon.
Ms. J. Polukoshko (Athletics), coach of the girls’ team, remarked, “My team is so fabulous and wonderful and kind to each other [...] They are outstanding.” When asked if there were any difficulties in coaching the team, she continued, “The word ‘difficulty’ doesn’t come into my mind with my team.”
Charlie Cassels (12) scores for the Senior Boys team | Photo Credit: Teagan Nichol
Many Hamber players recalled watching the Midtown Showdown in their grade 8 year, so they found it surreal to be playing on the court. DeLeon stated, “I remember that in grade 8, I was watching it [the tournament], and I saw the girls playing, and was like ‘Wow, that's what I want to do. That is where I want to be in a few years.’”
Sobredo agreed, saying, “I was that grade 8 watching them, and now I get to be one of them. That is a huge honour, and that is the reason I never stopped playing basketball.”
Midtown Showdown has been influential to younger grades. Charlie Cassels (12) said, “It felt great to play in the tournament, knowing that I’m inspiring younger grades to play basketball the same way Carter Oxley and Tristan Bannister did for me.”
The atmosphere of the tournament was incredibly enjoyable for the players, and the game was fun for those in the crowd watching. Cindy Si (11) remarked, “It was exhilarating and so exciting.”
For the players, the fans were a crucial part of their fantastic experience of being on the court. “The best part of Midtown Showdown was the atmosphere. Being able to have the school come out to support you even when you’re losing is a great feeling,” commented Cassels.
Similarly, Micah Andaya (12) said, “I think the most rewarding part is having people there watch us play and cheer us on. It was just nice having that audience watching us play and having everyone see all the work we put into our practices and games.”
Mr. I. Sehmbi (Athletics) noted, “This [year] resembles more of what our traditional Midtown Showdown would look like—crowds were back, no masks for the most part, full attendance—so that was great. We had a great cheer team involved and it seems like every year we are adding something so it was a bit of a splash of old and a little bit of new. Each one is so different, comparing this to our first one, our first one wasn’t even half of what this one was.”
While on the team, the players have created fond memories with each other as they created strong bonds. Andaya reminisced about their tournament in Victoria, and said, “Ms. P. [Ms. Polukoshko] really emphasized taking this time together to bond, so we were tasked with creating nicknames and handshakes with each other. I remember at night we all sat around and ate dinner in one of the rooms. Ms. P. was doing room checks for curfew and everyone hid in the bathroom and under the beds because we didn't want to get caught. It was a funny moment and Ms. P. let it slide because at least we were spending time together. We really grew closer together and became more of a family at the end of it.”
The relationship between the grade 11s and grade 12s on the girls’ team was incredibly strong, which resulted in the team being very emotional after their final game. DeLeon recalled, “On Saturday, the final day of the tournament, we were going against MacNeill, which is such a good team, and we were fighting for first place. Towards the end of that game, in the fourth quarter, all the seniors went out, and I told all the grade 11s on the bench to cheer ‘Let’s go seniors’ [...] and I started getting choked up.”
DeLeon continued, saying, “I didn’t know how to feel because we aren’t going to see them again, we aren’t going to play with them again next year, and it was just a sad moment and I got really emotional. In the locker room, after we debriefed and cheered, I just started to bawl my eyes out because it was one of the best experiences I’d ever had in high school.”
Cassels remarked, “Throughout the years, I’ve become closer with guys I wouldn’t expect to become friends with. This team has made my high school basketball experience an amazing one.” The bond and relationship that the boys’ team has formed is very strong and has greatly contributed to their ability to play together. “Throughout the whole season, we became more confident in playing and trusting each other,” mentioned Diaz-Henderson.
During the halftime show on the second day, Owen Nicholson (12) promposed to Lucy Soper (12). Sehmbi recalled, “There was a moment on the second day when the promposal happened. The band was playing and the cheer team was going, and I just felt like it was one of those great high school moments. There was one moment when I thought, ‘Wow, this is really cool that we were able to pull this off’.”
The planning of the “promposal” was spontaneous and only occurred two days before the promposal. Nicholson said, “I was super nervous when I walked out, but when I saw her, all of my nerves just melted away and it turned all into just joy and happiness.”
The work behind the scenes that gets put into Midtown is an integral part of having a tournament. Andaya found the hardest part of Midtown to be organizing everything.
“As a Leadership 12 student and a Scorekeeping [Club] executive, I was so heavily involved with the behind-the-scenes work and planning process for Midtown Showdown. I was in the gym from dawn till dusk scorekeeping, creating posts for Instagram, and playing games. I think balancing the work I put into the tournament and having fun with it was a major struggle for me.”
DeLeon said, “There’s so much effort behind the scenes that really made the tournament happen and it was really special to see.” Ms. Polukoshko’s most rewarding moment was “seeing the school so excited and seeing people cheering and supporting.” She added, “Seeing my players get excited and nervous for the event, as well as all of the hard work the tournament committee put into putting it together come to fruition is very satisfying. There are a lot of pieces at play, but when it all comes together, it’s so outstanding.”