“Tournoi Franco”.

In these parts, it’s a pretty big deal.

An annual ritual, to be sure, these sporting events bring together French-language elementary and secondary schools student-athletes from right across the province.

Given the preponderance of local institutions that fit the bill, it only stands to reason that these playdowns occupy a spot on many a school calendar in Sudbury – with the added bonus that unfamiliar opponents can create a whole new challenge.

“We’ve been together for about two years now,” suggested 13 year-old Blake Rettig, a key returnee with the Ecole secondaire Toronto Ouest crew at the school that runs grades seven to twelve. “We all came together last year for the seventh grade tournament. We lost last year, but it’s chill; we’re here to win this year.”

So far, so good.

A solid victory over Ecole secondaire catholique E.J. Lajeunesse in Windsor on Wednesday morning improved the Dragons record to 3-0 as Rettig and company ride the benefits of an entrenched commitment to team defense.

“We’ve been starting really strong and finishing really well,” Rettig noted, his team one of 16 in the boys grade 7/8 draw, with an equal number of girls teams also in action at four sites across Sudbury. “We have great bench depth; I’m really happy about that.”

“We’ve got five guys on the bench who can really play defense – and offensively, we’re going to develop them. They’re going to be really good in the future.”

Sounding very much like a true hoopster, Rettig was swooped up in recent years in the basketball momentum that blanketed much of the GTA – and beyond.

“I’m full basketball,” beamed the grade 8 student. “I watched the Raptors win the championship when I was younger and thought it was really cool.”

“That was inspiring to me.”

From that start, Rettig has continued to evolve, now one of the many contributors to a Toronto Ouest team that is very well positioned as playoff action kicked off Wednesday afternoon.

“My decision making and ability to analyze the game deeper than just a spectator has really improved,” he said. And as a group, he suggested the pathway to success is one we have likely heard before.

“We have to be really physical and we can’t be afraid of a challenge,” said Rettig. “We’ve just got to push through.”

Closer to home, success has also been prevalent, so far, for the Jean-Paul II Comètes girls and well-versed basketball point guard, Brielle Legault Corriveau.

“A few of the players from last year who were in grade 8 have graduated so we have some new girls who are developing,” noted Corriveau, a grade 7 student who fills her calendar with time spent on the court with both the Sudbury Jam as well as the Kia Nurse program, in addition to helping out her school team.

“Most of them played with us in grade five and six. Whenever we have the ball on the offensive side, if the girl makes a back door cut, you just know that they are going to catch it and they’re going to make it.”

Comfortable with a ball in her hand since the age of four, Corriveau drew on some family inspiration in first taking to the sport that is now her passion. “My older brother Logan played basketball when he was young,” she explained. “I kind of started liking it because I looked up to him when I was younger.”

Over time, however, the attraction has been far more innate, the well-spoken youngster clearly a student of the game. “My brother is tall, so he plays post, but I’m a point guard,” stated Corriveau. “You have to keep your head up and make sure that when you dribble, that you dribble low and stay low.”

And for as much as her brother might have been the starting point, current role models such as Olympian and local product Syla Swords provide an example of what is possible, even for kids from northern Ontario.

“I like how she moves the ball so well, it’s always really good,” said Corriveau, who has also seen Savannah Swords (Syla’s younger sister – should be an NCAA commit this summer) play in the past. “They make a lot of their shots from far.”

Twelve year old Cruz Serre also need not look far for basketball support, his stepfather (Noah LaPierre) having played both at Brock and Nipissing. Yet for as much as LaPierre was far more well known, at this age, for his offensive skill-set, his words of wisdom to the grade 7 lad at Ecole St Denis actually covers both ends of the court.

“He told me not to get too close to the offensive player or he will go right by you when you are defending – and don’t take shots that you don’t think can go in,” said Serre. Now in his second year with the Tigres school team and in year three with coach Derrick Hartley and the Sudbury Storm, Serre is enjoying the rare opportunity to face out of town opponents right in his own backyard.

“We don’t have to travel far and we’re playing with our friends from school – and playing against some of our teammates from rep backetball,” said Serre, noting the attracting of the Tournoi Franco.

“The competition gets harder every year,” added Brielle Corriveau. “We get to see some better teams and it’s more competitive.”

Tournament play runs through to Thursday with all semi-finals and finals set to take place either at Ecole secondaire Macdonald-Cartier or at Collège Boréal, with the championship encounters slated to take place between 2:30 p.m. and 5:00 p.m.