After competing against some of the country’s elite young basketball talent, Liam McChesney knows he has a lot of work to do to accomplish his basketball goals.
But the Prince Rupert basketball player also knows that he can compete at the highest level, and that knowledge gives him condifidence.
“I know that I can compete with the best athletes in the country so that gives me some confidence,” he said. “So just taking that and putting it into my game is a big thing.”
McChesney represented B.C. as a part of the province’s under-17 basketball team in the Canada Summer Games. The team brought home 4th place after losing to team Quebec in the tournament’s bronze medal game.
The team finished the tournaments round-robin stage 1-1 after losing to team Ontario 73-92 and defeating team Nova Scotia 87-64.
The B.C. team scored a close, four-point victory over team Saskatchewan 69-65 before losing to team Alberta 71-56 in the semi-finals.
McChesney said the disappointment from the defeat carried over into the bronze medal game against team Quebec, which the team lost 56-77.
McChesney described the tournament as the best basketball he’s ever played, and despite the disappointing finish, he learned a lot from the experience and improved as a result of playing against such a high calibre of competition.
Even though he was the youngest player on the team at 15-years-old, McChesney earned more playing time as the tournament progressed, eventually earning a spot on the court during important moments of the tournament’s critical games and finishing with a 7.4 point-per-game average.
McChesney said it took him a little bit of time to get used to the increased level of athleticism of provincial level play, but eventually he was able to adjust.
“You have to work your way up,” he said. “By the end I was getting a lot of minutes, and by the last few games, I was able to fight through it.”
McChesney said playing against older, stronger athletes forced him to address some of the weaknesses in his game. He pointed to his aggressiveness attacking the basket as something he had improved.
“I learned that I need to get out of my comfort zone, and take it to the rim or not be afraid to shoot when I can,” he said.
The summer season is now over, but McChesney said he’s going to get back to work preparing for the upcoming high school season and next summer’s national team tryouts.
“I just need to take small steps and work on my game and my frame,” he said. “I’ll take this as far as I can.”