With the recent graduation of basketball players like Erin Simpson, Katarina Schwabe and Tiye Traore from the high school ranks, there comes a need for a new wave of youngsters to take up the charge.
Few exemplify this group more than Lo-Ellen Park point guard Marianne Alarie.
Despite being in just her second year at the South End school and playing senior ball this year for the first time, Alarie is making her presence felt.
She brings with her a slightly different background in the sport.
The youngest of three children in the family (she has two older brothers), Alarie is a graduate of the French public elementary system, opting to cross-over to Lo-Ellen, despite the fact that much of the family roots still lie deeply engrained in the province of Quebec.
“My brothers started at CND (Collège Notre-Dame), but Antoine changed to Lo-Ellen for the IB (International Baccalaureat) program,” Alarie said after a recent league game.
“That’s mainly why I went to Lo-Ellen — and Ms. Bourget is there as basketball coach, so that’s obviously a really good thing.”
Taking up the sport as an eight year old, somewhat in the footsteps of her older brothers, Alarie quickly moved from the Sudbury Youth Basketball League through to both club and school ball.
“I think there is always a shock when you first start any sport, but I think I understood basketball fairly well,” she said.
Now stretching her frame up to 5-7, (she teases about working on her post moves), Alarie is more than comfortable with her role on the court, in spite of her youth.
“The point guard usually brings the ball up, sets up the plays,” she said. “Often times, they’re the most vocal player. I like settling things down out there.”
Though the first instinct, with many sports, focuses on offensive skills, Alarie knows all too well that versatility and a rounded skill-set positions her much better for long-term success.
“When you’re young, you think all you have to do to win is score and score and score,” Alarie said. “But if you better your defense, you can get steals, you can get turnovers and get a nice assist or something.
“My defense wasn’t always that great, but I think this year, I’ve really started getting better at it,” she added.
“I’m concentrating on just being intense, being low and denying the ball a lot.”
The approach seems to be paying off. Trying out for the provincial team for the first time this past summer, Alarie advanced through to the final set of cuts.
“For me, it was a big step because it was the top 30 girls from Ontario, and Ontario, traditionally, has the strongest provincial basketball teams,” she explained.
She attributed her continual improvement, in no small part, to a string of good coaches, including her current mentor, Lo-Ellen bench boss Jennifer Bourget.
“I find that she gets intimate with every player, she really connects with everyone, lets them know what they have to work on,” Alarie said.
“I feel special any time Ms. Bourget tells me anything, and I’m sure all the girls feel like that, too. And she really knows her basketball.”
Just how far the helpful guidance will take Alarie is too early to tell. But there are some very special signs, including a breakthrough performance at a triple-overtime club basketball game down south last year.
“There were a lot of people in the stands, it was really exciting and exhausting, a really close game,” Alarie said. “I scored 44 points. For me, that was something big.”
To win, dream big.
“I’m hoping to play university basketball and maybe, some day, make the provincial team,” she added. “I would rather go out of town for university, because my family is all from Quebec, so I would like to go to university, potentially, in Quebec.”
Reuniting with her family ancestry and pursuing her basketball dreams — a definite win-win for Alarie.
Randy Pascal is the founder of SudburySports.com and a contributing sports editor for Northern Life.
Posted by Laurel Myers
