Boys' captains/veterans basketball double-header tips off April 1 at Woodstock CI Devildome

College Avenue junior Knights’ Lukas Mickevicius, shown here altering a Parkside shot during TVRA Southeast final action at CASS, will be taking to the court for the annual Captains/Veterans boys basketball game. (Jeff Tribe Photo)

Jeff Tribe, Echo Correspondent

The tricky part will be figuring out who the straight man is as the Thames Valley Regional Athletics Southeast 2026 Boys Captains/Veterans Basketball Games tip off Wednesday, April 1, at 6 p.m. inside the Woodstock CI Devildome.

Game commentators Eric Molinaro and Jason Poole don’t follow the lead of many famous comedic duos, one so-called straight man, the serious half of a pairing, setting up the humour of the funny one. Jerry Seinfeld to his sitcom’s cast for example, Dean Martin to Jerry Lewis or even further back, Bud Abbott to Lou Costello of ‘Who’s On First’ fame.

It’s not that Molinaro and Poole can’t accept differing roles, working together as part of the Woodstock CI Red Devils athletic program. It’s just maybe that on evenings celebrating both girls and boys hoops excellence, they’re simply having too much fun.

“We do play well off each other,” said Molinaro, noting if there is such a thing, he’s probably the more serious of the two, focussing on in-game stats. He makes them sound 100 per cent accurate, even if there is a sneaking suspicion there’s a little factual creativity in some, Molinaro largely reserving his public ‘chirps’ for fellow officials.

Poole on the other hand, takes a bit more of a free rein, throwing out the odd good-natured comment of a humorous vein.

“Let’s say tease publicly in a fun, professional way,” said Molinaro, who has welcomed Poole into a tandem role he played solo for years. “It’s nice to have another voice on the microphone.”

Whatever tack each takes, the energetic patter certainly adds to evenings that do have a competitive component but are far more about having fun. The tradition reaches back to Woodstock Huron Park coaching icon Bill Gillespie, in whose honour a donation from the evening’s proceeds is made to the Terry Fox Foundation.

The event certainly features many of the best basketball players in the TVRA Southeast, but by design, the games also highlight, as the name suggests, long-serving players.

“It’s not just the all-stars,” said Molinaro. “It’s about recognizing kids who put time into their programs. You can select a kid who never missed a practice, played all four years, it’s about them as well.”

The junior game tips off at 6 p.m. with Team Purple (Kameron Roos, Easton Freeman, Greyson Padfield, Lukas Mickevicius from Woodstock College Avenue, Hunter Grass, Jude Buncher and Jack Lichty from WCI, and Alro Minnaar, Nasir Haidari and Tehg Randhawa from Woodstock Huron Park) under Huron Park coaches Matt Keith and Mike Willigenburg; facing team White: Josh Morgan, Atiki Wani, Jessie Adeoye and Tristan Manalo of Woodstock St. Mary’s, James Strathearn, Junior Wiredu and Trevin Patrick from Tillsonburg Glendale, Sheridan Lincoln and Percy Gavin from Ingersoll DCI, and Ewan Gaynor from Lord Dorchester, guided by St. Mary’s coach Shayne Simpson.

In the senior game which follows, CASS’s Kaleb Krupp, St. Mary’s Warriors Kymani Small and Jeremy Zamora, Lord Dorchester Beavers Kalen Greenfield, Mason Fauker and Andrew Urquart, and Glendale Gemini Gavin Wernham, Kayden Pittao, Jacob Mogg and Kypton Lofthouse will represent Team White under Warriors bench bosses Duane Kamala-Thomas and Carlos Henao. Huron Park coaches Jag Rai and Mark Rupoli will counter with Huskies Jance Jorgensen, Joshdeep Chahal, Bakhtawar Sindu, WCI Red Devils Jack Carnegie, Preston Hilderley, Kael Wettlaufer and Nick Hagen-Johnson, IDCI Blue Bombers Zach Patton and Trestyn Veldman, and CASS Knight Devon Fordham.

Admission is $5 for adults, $3 for students, with proceeds from that and an array of draw prizes donated to the Terry Fox Foundation. The evening features a trio of popular halftime challenges, a half court shooting contest, dunk contest and popular mascot faceoff. The Oxford Basketball Officials’ Association also presents the Bill Gillespie Award, recognizing an individual who has shown years of commitment, leadership and committed to basketball in Oxford County.

“The basketball builder, pone might say in the community,” Molinaro concluded.