ST. PATRICK’S SECONDARY — Averaging five-feet-eight with their tallest player just edging in at six feet, the St. Patrick’s Celtics know they’re distinctly disadvantaged on the basketball court.
But like the best competitors, these ballers are determined to find other ways to win in a sport that benefits athletes who seem to get taller every season.
“What we represent is heart over height because we feel that we play with more heart and we don’t have any height,” said Celtics shooting guard Daniel David. “No matter the size of our opponent, we will be fighting against them.”
David was named the MVP of the senior boys AA Lower Mainland tournament last month when the Celtics claimed the regional title in a 70-66 win over Richmond’s Cambie Crusaders. Both teams advanced as the two Lower Mainland representatives at provincials this week in Langley.
It was a huge feat for the shorter team, which is drawn from a small school that typically plays at the single-A class where they have a long-standing rivalry with cross-town opponent, West Point Grey Academy.
“In the beginning of the season, knowing we were going up to AA, it was a big change,” said David. “We knew it would be and that [opponents] would be bigger and more difficult to beat. The competition was much greater, but all we want to do is come out and be able to compete with other teams. It’s a good challenge for us and the way for us to get better.”
At the start of the season, 15 boys tried out for the team. The coach took 13 players and offered the remaining two a spot on the bench as managers.
The Celtics’ strategy is straightforward: be fitter and faster than every opponent.
“Our style of play is to run,” said Derick Gonzales, a Grade 11 guard who will be back next year. “We can’t really get inside so we take advantage of our team shooting. Everyone can shoot so whenever someone has an opportunity for a three, we give it.”
Head coach Coach Nap Santos sums it up with one word: “Quick,” he said. “We’re very, very fast and we can shoot.”
Santos, who was honoured at this year’s Lower Mainland tournament with the Mike Potkonjak Award as the coach of the year, trains his team to play larger than their stature and inspired their heart-over-height mantra.
Sharing his first name with a famous French general, Nap Santos has spent most of his life on the hardwood for St. Pat’s. A graduate of the school in 1989, he was enrolled since kindergarten but wasn’t there every year through Grade 12. In his senior years with the basketball team, the Celtics finished second in the province in back to back years.
He competed at university in the Philippines and played two years in semi-professional leagues in Manila before returning to Vancouver in 2000 to take over the basketball program as a volunteer. The school covers his gas money.
He inherited a successful program from Bill Anderson who led the Celtics to class-A provincial championships in 1990 and ’95. Santos followed that with a third class-A B.C. banner in 2010. (Class is determined by the school’s number of Grade 11 and 12 boys. Santos said St. Patrick’s tipped over by six seniors.)
Seeded fourth at the 16-team provincial championship which started today at the Langley Events Centre, the Celtics will put their tenacity to the test in an attempt to win the school’s first AA title.
Along with their heartfelt mantra, the Celtics have embraced another tradition inspired by their coach: they end each practice applauding their traditions and their teammates.
“At the beginning of the year, Nap told us that after every practice we want to bring the energy together again,” said David. “That’s why we started off with a slow clap and come together to high five. We start off working hard and we end up working hard.”
The Celtics play their first game at 3:30 p.m. today against No. 13 Delview secondary from Delta. A win would put them into the quarterfinals at 3:30 p.m. Thursday, likely against No. 5 St. Michaels from Victoria.
Follow the complete, updated draw here.
Twitter: @MHStewart
