Providence Pilots picking up early season basketball wins

After a tough exhibition season which saw the Providence Pilots test themselves against higher-level competition and come up short, the college’s men’s and women’s basketball teams have gotten off to good starts in their league schedule.

The Pilots went a combined 4-0 against Turtle Mountain Community College to kick off their home Northern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (NIAC) schedule Nov. 22/23.

The NIAC is one of three leagues the Providence basketball teams play in, including the three-team Manitoba Colleges Athletic Conference (MCAC) and American-wide National Christian Colleges Athletic Conference.

The women’s Pilots basketball team is in the third year of a completely new system, which sees unorthodox hockey-style line changes throughout a game. With energy to spare, Providence is able to aggressively press on defense and run on offense, attempting to wear down any team that tries to play a traditional basketball rotation with star players getting heavy minutes.

“I was surprised we were able to elevate our game so quickly in year two (of the system),” head coach Joel Coursey said.

“I feel like even though we have a lot of new players on our team, we’re picking up a lot where we left off… I think we’re ultimately ahead of where I predicted us to be when I started running this system.”

Coursey’s efforts in implementing the system earned him coach of the year awards in multiple places last year but he has even more on his plate now after taking over as the school’s athletic director in late-summer. The previous athletic director, Russell Willms, left to go back to Canadian Mennonite University (CMU).

“It’s been unusually busy for a transition like this,” Coursey said, noting the change came while the college is set to host the first Manitoba-based national championship in the Canadian Colleges Athletic Association.

The college also sent their women’s soccer team to a national championship in Florida this fall, adding more to Coursey’s already jam-packed schedule. Despite the busy transition, Coursey is excited for the year to come.

“I can speak for our athletic department, we’re in a really good place right now,” he said.

“We’re thriving, we’re really excited about the national tournament coming in spring. I think we’re going to be able to highlight Providence and the quality of institution that we are and the quality of athletics program that we have.”

The scoreboard against Turtle Mountain came as a welcome sight for a Providence women’s basketball team that challenged themselves with a tough pre-season schedule.

“I told the team after the game today that ultimately the goal in that is to come out tougher and test your determination, will and toughness,” Coursey said, noting he wasn’t happy with a performance against an academy team late in the pre-season.

“Now coming out of it, I feel like it’s clicked. We know what toughness looks like, we know what speed looks like and we’re in a much better place because of it.”

The format has changed in the MCAC basketball playoffs this year, with the top two teams playing in a provincial final hosted in the number one seed’s home gym, eliminating the semi-final. St Boniface University has also joined the NIAC ranks, joining their MCAC counterparts in Providence and CMU.

Both the men’s and women’s teams picked up early season wins against St Boniface in MCAC action Nov. 30.

Anyone wanting to watch some Providence basketball before the new year should head out to the Niverville Resource and Rec Centre Dec. 7, as that date will mark the final home games of the season for the Pilots before the calendar flips.