Tricolour Tournament (2014) Standouts

The Tricolour Tournament took place in Kingston, ON during the weekend of Sept 26-27, 2014.

Hosted by Queen’s University, several standout performances that rise to the occasion in this tournament, here are just a few:

2015 Standouts

Myriam Fontaine (2.5-stars, 6’1″, F, La Citadelle)
Fontaine displayed size and good skill in her games this tournament. Finding life relatively easy on the perimeter for La Citadelle, Fontaine had her long range shooting on point and imposed her will inside the paint on her way to tournament MVP honours. She logged some serious minutes as the key player for the team, in which she made the most of, and was complemented quite well by teammate and Point Guard, Adriana Conti. I feel that adding some extra speed and working on being a bit lighter on her feet could only improver her game as she has her eyes firmly planted on playing post-secondary ball.
UPDATE:Myriam Fontaine has just committed to attend Queen’s University

Veronika Lavergne
 (3-star, 6’4″, F, St Peter’s)
At 6’4″ in height, Lavergne kind of hard to miss when she was on the court. Besides her long limbs and stature is a skilled player that has been making steady improvements in her game. Yes, she continues to block shots and put her team in the best situation to win, but what she now brings to the table is increased strength, since earlier this April. Throughout the tournament she was able to identify the position she wanted and and hold her position. Although her team had a tough go of things at the tournament, she was very much a bright spot.
UPDATE: Veronika Lavergne has just committed to attend the University of Albany

Breanna Reid (2.5-star, 5’10”, W, Carleton Place)
Located about 45 minutes west of Ottawa, ON in Ontario’s Eastern region is a town called Carleton Place, ON. The town’s population is less than 10 thousand people and the Carleton Place High School Bears team only had six players at this event. A player on the team, which included a couple sets of sisters, was older Reid sister, Breanna. She has a decent size and athletic build. She played the Wing and had an extremely high shooting accuracy. I was impressed by her capacity to reproduce the same shooting motion and effort regardless if three feet away from the 3-point line, off the dribble, or with a hand in her face. Because of her needing to play efficiently due to her team’s short bench I likely didn’t get to see her go all out by the time I was able to see her. Her team required all hands on deck for their three games on Saturday leading up to their Bronze medal overtime loss to John Paul II. Regardless, from what I saw, I was impressed and look forward to seeing how things turn out for this small town sniper.

Chuot Angou
 (2.5-star, 5’8″, G, John Paul II)
This tournament’s candidate for hidden gem is Angou. She looked very good in her games this weekend, as her game oozes with athleticism. Although she is only 5’8″, she has a very long stride that created problems for the opposition. When driving, that quick long stride of hers caught a good number of defenders off guard. Mixed in with the foundations of a pretty fluid Eurostep, and a very good burst of speed, this Guard will intrigue several coaches at the next level. I was a bit disappointed in the consistency of her finish around the basket, but this fifth-year Senior appears to be hitting her stride (pun intended) at just the right time.

2016 Standout

Shianne Riggan (2-star, 5’5″, G, Jacob Hespler)
Jacob Hespler made it to the Finals of this tournament with good Guard play and a size inside. Forward Candice Wright, a University of Vermont commit for 2015, play was a big difference maker in all of her games. A contributor to that success, was Rigan, who was also a beneficiary of the attention that Wright drew. Regardless, I found Rigan to be a strong player that knew how to pick her spots. She has a decent first step and appeared to excel in being able to make a proper entry pass, to put Wright in a position in which she could succeed. Look for Rigan along with fellow Guard, Jasmine Ramcharan, Candice Wright and hopefully a healthy Courtney Wright, to be a major impact to the Hatters’ bid for an OFSAA qualification in the Central Western Ontario region in mid November.

2017 Standouts

Michelle Istead (3.5-star, 5’8″, G, St FX)
Istead is a player…a very good one with a high ceiling. The way that she plays the game is one that is demanding of herself and results in her leaving it all on the court by the time the game is done. Repeatedly, she would do what she can in an effort to will her team to win, which would usually take the form of sacrificing her body. Istead’s father tells me that she recently gave up being a soccer goalie, which showed in the way she dove for loose balls, braced herself when taking charges and showed resolve as she played through contact. Her play was very befitting her Top-20 in Class ranking.

Mary Besselink (3-star, 5’9″, G, Holy Cross)
The Holy Cross Crusaders have some history of success in turning out solid players from the Kingston, ON region. Besselink falls right in line with tradition for Coach Dixon as a skilled player with very good shot mechanics. Besselink plays with an even disposition but allowed for a glimpse of feistiness to shine through in her epic battle against Michelle Istead, in the Holy Cross game against St FX. In that game that her Crusaders won 41-32, she showed the she obviously takes pride in the way her team plays and I hope that in the years to come, she continues to nurture her leadership skills which can only help her team’s results.