Shannon plays key role in CIS' success

Angu Rajendran

The scores stood at 76-all at the end of 40 excruciating minutes of the Under 19 International School boys basketball finals. It was Colombo International School(CIS) versus Colombo International School, Kandy. One - the defending champions, the other - the favourites.

With both teams minus two of their first five, who were fouled out, they were still well-matched for extra time. But CIS had Shannon Bartlett. Shannon has been playing basketball since he was eleven years old. He has been a member of every winning CIS team since his first win at an under 13 tournament. He knew what it took to win in a crunch situation as he says of the extra time in that Under 19 final.

Shannon Bartlett who is the senior most player in the Colombo International School (CIS) team (not the oldest but the one who has played the longest he clarifies), has rightfully been adjudged the Most Valuable Player in the recently concluded Inter-International Schools Under 19 basketball championships. He took matters into his hands as he scored the match winning two baskets in the ten minutes extra time. He drove in and shot with confidence both times. "When I put in the first basket in the extra time, I just knew we could do this. I was feeling so elated. I knew I had to pump up the juniors. I was the most experienced player in the team. It all came flooding into me. All what my seniors had told us, year after year. We can do it. I knew we can. Juniors like to hear that the confidence of the senior players. And then you have to show them by example. They will simply follow. And after that there is no beating us," he says with a laugh.

Shannon has a ready laugh and answers queries without much ado. His easy going confidence when he dons his school colours of red and black comes from the years of practice that Shannon Bartlett has put into his favourite game - basketball.

About beating CIS Kandy in overtime, Shannon says, it was one of the best games that I have ever played. CIS, Kandy players are our friends. After all they are a branch school. They played a really great game. That's why our victory was that much sweeter. When you play against a team that gives up at any point, then the win is somewhat spoilt. Here we fought till the very last second. And losing sucks when the game is so hard fought. I am so happy that we won. The game could have gone either way. Both CIS teams were really well-matched. But I am so glad that we won in the end.

Shannon is still quite unsure of this wonderful victory. CIS Kandy was the favourites in the entire tournament but we were the defending champions. We did not want to give up our title. We went on court, determined to win this - our last basketball tournament in school. Our whole team pulled through. It was simply amazing. In the first quarter, though the lead kept changing hands, it was never more than two points for either side. At half time though, CIS Kandy had a lead of eleven points. I had actually given up, he says.

At half time Shannon says, the master-in-charge told his team, it takes a good team to win but it takes a great team to defend the title. You are a great team. You can do it. Shannon says at that moment, we just believed our teacher because we wanted to. We would have believed anything anybody said.

He says luckily we were playing against CIS, Kandy. They are very decent players. They play a great game. They are not in your face. They don't rattle us by yelling and shouting at us.

The CIS coach Ahmath had told his team at the start of extra time that all the CIS, Kandy players were on four fouls each, the players would try to save their last foul, it was important to drive in. Their defence would be weak. Shannon was the drive in specialist. To make up for his height, or rather the lack of it(at seventeen years, he is 5'2', through the years, Shannon had always practised driving in and taking a lay-up. Sometimes he was fancy. But he knew this was a do or die situation. It would never come back. It was the last time that he would play for his school. All those years and years of practices were to be judged in the next ten minutes.

Shannon told the juniors the other four on the court with him were all juniors although two of them were national players that they had to give their best. Don't try to save your fouls. Just defend very tight. We have enough on the bench, he told them.

"Our defence pulled through, and theirs didn't. Often our team is criticized as being made up of great players but not blending as a team. But this time, as I have noticed every time, our team just clicked during the match. Everyone did their job with only one thought in mind, the next moment. What next is what we think during the match."

Shannon is very satisfied that he managed to live up to the legacy of his seniors. In our school, the seniors play a very important role from the time you sign up for basketball, whatever your age, he says. Our school is very nice like that. All the seniors take the juniors under their wing and talk to them before matches, during practices and teach them new techniques and in the end ask them only one thing in our final year of school, you must play hard enough to win the most prestigious tournament in the International schools basketball calendar the under 19.

When asked why it is the most prestigious tournament, he says for most players in all the international schools, this will be their last tournament. Everyone is going to give off their best.

There is no second chance. The best matches are played here. And winning here is the best victory of them all. And to be at the Under 19 International tournament is the highest accolade, says Shannon happily.