Akweks basketball completes dream season

At the beginning of the school year, after years of being at the bottom of the standings, Kahnawake Survival School (KSS)’s Juvenile basketball team was an underdog in the battle to win the Greater Montreal Athletic Association (GMAA) championship.

On Wednesday, a gym full of supporters at KSS became believers when they did just that, taking down the Royal Vale Dragons 73-55 for the school’s first ever banner in boys’ basketball.

“It’s crazy. Even in the beginning, I didn’t believe,” said Matthew Kyer, the Akweks head coach for the past four seasons.

“The way these kids played was just outstanding.”

The first half was very hotly contested between the division’s two top teams, with each showing their strengths: KSS with its constant ball movement, fast pace, strong inside presence, and smothering defense; Royal Vale with crisp passes to the open man, great positioning, and high skill.

KSS finished the second quarter on a bit of a run, going up 38-30.

That’s the closest the game was from there, with the second half being all Akweks, starting with a huge run in the third that saw KSS score 20 to go up 58-44 by the time the fourth quarter started, with KSS smothering Royal Vale with its speed when the other team was getting tired.

“I told them not to let up. We had them, but keep your foot on the pedal. Keep the gas up. At the end of the day, these boys are lacrosse players, hockey players. They have the stamina to keep going all day,” said Kyer.

“Being up the floor before half their team was really helped us get those quick buckets in transition, which ultimately led to us winning the championship,” said Tioháhes Morris, one of KSS’s starters, who often was the one to get those transition buckets, thanks to one of his and captain Jackson Norton’s favourite moves.

Morris is behind all the defenders, Norton shoots him a long, almost hail Mary-esque pass, Morris gets the easy layup.

“I kept going to it because a lot of times the guy I’m guarding is so focused on getting the ball or the rebound, and he just ultimately forgets about me,” said Morris.

“You can tell them 100 times that I’m going to keep doing it, and they’re going to keep forgetting.”

The gym was rocking, and the momentum felt like it was on KSS’s side the whole second half, with each bucket and defensive stop being accompanied by cheers from community members.

KSS did not let up on offensive and continued to smother a Royal Vale team that looked gassed, and with a minute left and up 20, KSS pulled their starters, sealing the deal.

Power forward Raniatarine Martin had a dominant game on offense, successfully causing Royal Vale defenders to bite on his three-point shot to blow past them and score inside on multiple occasions. He hit threes too, making the pump fake that much more effective.

“That’s one of my favourite moves. I like to get them to bite, and then I just go right past them, and then I can get a foul or a bucket, it doesn’t matter,” said Martin.

Kyer said that when Martin first joined the team, he would just go for threes.

“I told him, ‘listen, look how much bigger you are than every other guy. Look how much stronger you are. You go inside, hit a couple of layups, then your threes are going to be so much easier,’” said Kyer.

For his efforts, Martin was named the finals’ most valuable player (MVP) by his coach.

“I feel truly honoured. I honestly didn’t think I was going to get MVP, and I feel like everybody should get MVP. It’s a team effort,” said Martin.

It really was a team effort, with strong offensive and defensive contributions from every starter – Martin, Morris, Norton, Slade Two-Rivers, and Kasyn Moses.

“We all upheld each other and really had no negative energy going into the season. We knew negative energy is cancer, and it really weighs the team down,” said Morris.

Their strong inside presence on offense, a huge factor in the finals game, comes from getting open thanks to strong ball movement from Norton.

Our ball movement helped out a lot, just to get an open look for all those open shots that we made,” said Norton.

“He’s giving 110 per cent every time he’s on that court, he never gets off the court. Jackson plays every minute of every game because of his will to do that. They all feed off of him and that’s why they get it done,” said Kyer.

Once the game was done, each player immortalized themselves into KSS history by signing their names on the banner and taking part in a longstanding basketball tradition: cutting the netting on the hoop and each getting a piece, with Martin receiving the biggest part as finals MVP.

Everyone, from the fans in the gym to the players to the coaches, knew that this was a huge deal for KSS and Kahnawake as a whole.

“I feel amazing, truly proud, because, I’ve been here five years, I’ve been on the basketball team all my life, and we had to work really hard to get here. I just feel like we worked really hard all season, and we really, truly deserve this,” said Martin.

“I’m super proud of them. I love these guys,” said Norton.

“Our whole time here, we never won more than four games consistently, to go undefeated at home is just something super insane, and something I’m grateful for,” said Morris.

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