We’ve hit the tail-end of the Basketball Ontario provincial championship lineup and fittingly, we are also wishing good luck to those athletes who are at the tail-end of their youth basketball journey.

On the weekends of May 22nd – 24th and May 29th – 31st, the final four teams representing Greater Sudbury Baseball Association (GSBA) will make their way to Welland, Niagara Falls, Baden (just outside of Kitchener-Waterloo) and Ottawa to participate in their divisional year-end tournaments.

In his own words, head coach Anthony Church describes his GSBA Storm U19 boys entry as a bit of a mixed bag of talent, built around a pair of athletes who have spent a decade or so together (Will Church; Brayden Legendre), welcoming in the influx from early high-school years (Zeb Aulenbach, Cade Kirwan and such) and rounding out the 2025-2026 roster with some newcomers to the program.

“It’s a different group,’ said Aulenbach with a smile, the Lockerby Composite grade 13 star hopeful that his broken hands heals quickly enough to suit up in his final Storm tournament.

“We’ve learned to play together. As we get closer to provincials, we’re just going to get better, as a group.”

In a sense, that always describes the pathway of the 6’6” versatile talent who gave the city champion Lo-Ellen Park Knights fits with the SDSSAA banner on the line in late February.

“I started when I was about 12 years old with SYBL (Sudbury Youth Basketball League) and had a growth spurt in grades nine and ten,” said Aulenbach. “We had bigger guys and better guys when I was going into high-school, I would say. But then I think I picked up more of the game in grades 11 & 12 and started being that guy they wanted to give the ball to.”

As was the case in the city final, Aulenbach is at his best slashing to the basket. “I wouldn’t say that I was much of a shooter when I was young,” he recalled. “I was better at going to the rim. Now, I’m a versatile player. I can play outside; I can play inside – and the height helps me all over.”

Cade Kirwan has no choice but to look up at his teammate – but he more than makes up for a few inches less in height with a fierce intensity to his game, one that is often showcased with his ability to score at least as well in the paint than from the perimeter.

“My slashing ability; my ability to get to the rim; my ability to beat defenders off my first step – that’s been the area of my biggest progress as I became faster and more agile,” said Kirwan, the product of a highly sports-minded family.

The 17 year-old soon to be graduate of École secondaire catholique l’Horizon also recognized early that if pure physicality is not the route one is about to travel, then anticipation and basketball instincts might go a long way in levelling the field of play.

“When you are playing basketball, you have to think a step ahead,” said Kirwan, who has not finalized his post-secondary plans but remains eligible to squeeze in one more year of club ball, should he so choose.

“When you are dribbling up the court, you have to read the defense. You’ve got to be aware of who is where. If two guys come at you, there has to be someone who is open.”

While one and all are holding out hope that Aulenbach is on the court come the end of May, Kirwan suggested that there is still a game plan aimed at success, even in his absence. “We’re a small team (without Zeb), probably one of the shortest,” said Kirwan. “We would have to box out a lot more and move the ball.”

Joining those already mentioned on the Storm U19 roster are Keelan Donnelly, Dean Pandi, Greyson Seifert, Keiran Adams, Adama Krubally, Keenan Eristhee and coach Logan Lafleur.

Like their older counterparts, the 17U Storm lads are also dealing with a key injury, though the odds of starting guard Carter McLennan being ready to go for provincials are between zero and none. The 17 year-old grade 11 student at Espanola Secondary suffered a bruised femur and grade two sprained ACL – sidelining him for a few months but thankfully avoiding surgery.

The timing is unfortunate given the improvement that the young man who first began travelling back and forth for Sudbury Jam / Sudbury Storm practices all the way back in grade five has made under coach Josh Brohart.

“I could always get to the rim and score pretty easily, but one of the things that Josh has emphasized with me is taking that to the next level and looking for teammates as you head to the rim,” said McLennan. “That’s where I really elevated my game.”

“When I attack, if it’s one on one, I can score – but if another defender jumps in, that’s when you have to kick it out.”

The 17U Storm represent a big of a merging between some players who played with differing clubs and even differing age groups within the same club. This created something of a challenge to team unity, one that the team has dealt with very successfully this year.

“One of the things that we started with was everyone knowing their role,” said McLennan. “On their own team, everyone was the big guy, everyone was the all-star. We had to put our egos aside and learn that if we wanted to win, we had to play as a team. If we move the ball around, we can be really, really good.”

A senior at Lockerby Composite, Hudson Duhaime has long enjoyed the opportunity to better himself as a player solely by virtue of playing alongside some very talented teammates, dating back to the summer of grade eight when an OSDP (Ontario Summer Development Program) camp offered by Basketball Ontario provided a chance for betterment.

“Just having the chance to play a lot, practices and games, you grow a lot as a player – and even just watching your teammates,” said Duhaime, who noted that his prior basketball experience was pretty much limited to house-league play.

Over time, he has expanded almost every single facet of his skill sets, allowing him to slide in and fill whatever need the Storm might identify for the 6’1” athlete who sees himself as a three or a four (in basketball positional vernacular). “I kind of try and do a little bit of everything: slashing, getting rebounds, passing, a little bit of shooting,” said Duhaime.

And like McLennan, he has no issue putting his faith in the hands of coach Brohart. “He likes to stick to the fundamentals,” said Duhaime. “He just trusts us to do what we know how to do. We’re really starting to come together as a group.”

Rounding out the Sudbury 17U Storm lineup are Noah Skrobot, Judah Brohart, Adrian Aho, Yug Patel, Lunden Campbell Runia, Deran Cooper, Holden Beange, Kaiden McFarland, Monjed Hussam Eddin and Noah Wilson.