Gators make first trip to Coal Bowl

BY JOHN DECOSTE

jdecoste@kentvilleadvertiser.ca

NovaNewsNow.com

The Central Kings boys’ basketball team is in Cape Breton this week, making the Cambridge school’s first appearance at the prestigious Coal Bowl Classic.

This is the 26th edition of the nationally-known week-long tournament hosted annually by Breton Education Centre in New Waterford.

“The kids are pretty excited and so am I,” Gators’ head coach (and Cape Breton native) Stan MacVicar said last week. “I grew up going to the Coal Bowl, but due to injury I never got a chance to compete as a player. Now I’ll get to experience it as a coach.”

Traditionally, the Coal Bowl features a quality field of teams from across Canada and this year’s event is no exception. Central Kings is in a division with schools from Calgary and Quebec as well as Bluefield, P.E.I. and Glace Bay.

“We’ve played Bluefield once this season and lost in overtime in what wasn’t one of our better games of the season,” MacVicar said.

Has a legitimate shot

MacVicar was pleased to be chosen to compete at this year’s Coal Bowl. “We have a solid base, though we lack the depth of the past couple of years,” he said.

The Gators, he said, “have improved a lot since the start of the season and beat Bridgewater (one of the top D-2 teams in Nova Scotia) in the final of our tournament. I feel we have a legitimate shot at making the crossovers the way we’ve been playing.”

Central Kings is scheduled to play its opening game at the tournament Monday afternoon against Glace Bay.

The Gators then play Notre Dame from Calgary Tuesday at 1, Ecole Secondaire Mont Saint-Sacrament from Quebec Thursday at 9 a.m. and Bluefield Friday at 11 a.m. Crossover semi-finals go Friday evening at 7 and 9, with the consolation and championship games Saturday at noon and 2 p.m.

In-between their games, the players will get to be part of the experience, which is such a major part of the Coal Bowl, including learning about Cape Breton history and culture. “It’s more than just basketball,” MacVicar said. “It’s a real cultural experience.”

The Gators finished play in the Valley D-2 league undefeated at 6-0 with two wins apiece over NKEC, West Kings and Middleton. That record earned CK the chance to host the Western Region tournament Feb. 15-16. That tournament will be a six-team affair, featuring the three top teams from the Valley and South Shore leagues.