Having the distinction of being the team that travelled the furthest to attend a tournament that is one year shy of celebrating a half century of existence is kind of cool.

Winning the tournament on your first trip there is icing on the cake.

The GSBA (Greater Sudbury Basketball Association) U13 Storm Boys (coach Nelson Celtus) ticked off both boxes at the recent Paul Mitchell Invitational Boys Basketball Tournament in Brantford.

The northern lads overcame a 37-36 loss to the Malton Sting in their opening game, bouncing back with victories over both the St Catharines Rebels (78-58) and the Huron Lakers (52-51) to earn their berth in the final.

Very much in line with the majority of games at the event, the gold medal encounter produced another nail-biter as Sudbury slipped past London Orion 61-58, making a long trip home that much more enjoyable.

Proudly representing the Nickel City, the lads were excited to sport new customized sweathers and track pants as the Storm partnered with Ryan Benoit and The Positive Inception to create very memorable outfits.

The 2023-2024 edition of the U13 Storm Boys team is: Eli Purdy, Drayden Musenga, Cedric Daoust, Desmond Barhydt, Isaiah Kamuntu, Carson Cook, Al-Amin Adeoti, Henry Welsh, Carter Larochelle, Landen Del Mastro, Ohm Patel, Tim Bourget, head coach Nelson Celtus and assistant coach Freeman Kamuntu.