Kennebecasis Valley High School (KVHS) is off to the national Reach for the Top championship once again.
KV High’s senior team beat Rothesay High 370-270 at this weekend’s tournament in Fredericton.
The provincial championship completed an undefeated 20-win season for KVHS at New Brunswick in-person events.
Jason Thorne, who coaches the team, described this weekend’s event as a “very challenging” competition.
“Just behind us in the round-robin, there was a three-way tie for second place, so it made for some really, really exciting games,” Thorne said in an interview Monday.
“We had five really good teams on the weekend that really, in any given game, could have beaten each other, so it was a really good competition.”
This is not KV High’s first win at the provincial championship. In fact, it is their ninth consecutive provincial title and 16th over the last 17 seasons.
Thorne believes the secret to their success is a lot of hard work throughout the season.
“I think that’s kind of our recipe each year is just putting in the time. A lot of hard work and dedication from the students, and we’ve got a number of coaches here at KVHS that help out,” he said.
This year’s senior team included Kyle DeLong, Avery Dion, Kate Griffin, Quinn McElman, and captain Eli Nason.
After a year full of virtual competition during the 2020-21 season, Thorne said they were glad to get back to in-person events this year.
“I think playing in-person, getting a chance to interact with the other teams and the other coaches, I think the kids really enjoy that interaction,” he said.
“From a competitive standpoint, it’s also a lot easier just to communicate with your teammates and work together as a team if you’re sitting next to each other. When you’re consulting on answers, doing that virtually is just very, very challenging.”
Next up for the team of students is the national championship, which will take place in late May.
While provincial tournaments returned to in-person events this year, Throne said the nationals will once again be held virtually.
“It is just not possible for teams across the country to plan that type of travel at the moment,” he said.
KV High will be joined by Rothesay High, which also received an invitation to the nationals.
Meanwhile, Rothesay Netherwood School won the provincial title in the Grade 9-10 division and Nackawic High School was the winner in the intermediate division.
