MONTREAL – Sophomore Vincent Dufort of Smiths Falls, Ont., and Francoise Charest, a senior from Quebec City, were named as the most valuable players of their respective men's and women's teams at the Friends of McGill Basketball awards gala, held at the Holiday Inn Midtown hotel, Saturday.

Other major awards presented to the Redmen, went to team captain Winn Clark (leadership) of Mission Hills, Kansas, Te'Jour Riley (most improved) of Hamilton, Bermuda, and Christian McCue (rookie of the year) of Hampden, Maine.

For the Martlets, honorees included Mariam Sylla, a double award-winner from Conakry, Guinea, who was named as the most outstanding defensive player as well as rookie of the year.  Marie-Pier Bastrash of Trois-Rivières, Que., was named best team player, Gabriela Hebert of Chicoutimi, Que., received most improved player honours, and Anneth Him-Lazarenko, a native of Panama City who was raised in Ste. Dorothee, Que., was recognized for dedication to the team after overcoming adversity.

Also, the inaugural inductees to the Redmen basketball Wall of Distinction were unveiled. A seven-member induction class included Montealers Denburk Reid and Pierre Brodeur, in addition to Will Hinz and Paul Brousseau of Ottawa, plus Joey Farroba, originally from Boston, along with former head coach Lionel (Butch) Staples and builder George Lengvari, both originally from Montreal.

Dufort, a 6-foot-5, 200-pound shooting guard, took home the Dr. Ross Hill trophy as MVP. He started all 16 regular season contests and averaged 9.9 points and 7.5 rebounds per game. He connected on 45.4 per cent of his field-goal attempts (64/141), shot 32.6 from three-point range (15/46) and 80.0 from the free-throw line (16/20). At the CIS national championship tournament, the 20-year-old physical and health education sophomore led the Redmen in both points (47) and rebounding (23) over three games and won the tourney's Robert Pugh Fair Play Award as the most sportsmanlike player.

Charest, a 5-foot-6 point-guard, averaged 8.2 points per game and earned second-team conference all-star status this season. The 24-year-old industrial relations senior was fourth among league leaders in three-point shooting (34.3 %), third in assists (2.6 per game) and eighth in steals (1.7 per game). At Nationals, she tallied 28 points and six rebounds over three games, to go along with seven assists and seven steals while averaging 30.7 minutes per outing.

Clark, a 6-foot-3, 190-pound guard, averaged 6.7 points and 3.5 rebounds per contest this season. A 22-year-old chemistry and economics senior and the team's only graduating senior, he shot 44.2 from the floor, 33.3 from the three-point arc and 66.7 from the line.
 
Riley, a 6-foot-4 shooting-guard, averaged 7.6 points and 4.2 rebounds per game. A 19-year-old arts sophomore, he shot a stellar 52.5 from the field (53/101), went 2-for-10 from three-point range and sunk 13 of 22 free-throw attempts from the foul line.

McCue, a 6-foot-2, 180-pound guard, averaged 5.9 points and 1.6 rebounds per game. The 19-year-old arts freshman shot 27.4 from the floor, 25.4 from the three-point arc and 71.4 from the line.

Sylla, a native of Conakry, Guinea, captured RSEQ and CIS rookie-of-the-year honours. The 20-year-old pharmacology freshman also merited all-conference status and made both the RSEQ and CIS all-rookie teams. The 6-foot-1 centre was third among the league's scoring leaders and second in rebounding, with an average of 14.6 points and 9.8 rebounds per game, respectively. She ranked fifth in field-goal shooting (39.6 %), seventh in free-throw shooting (71.7 %), second in blocked shots (17 in 16 games), first in offensive rebounds (4.4 rpg), and second in defensive rebounds (5.4 rpg).

Bastrash, a 5-foot-8 guard, averaged  8.4 points per outing. The 21-year-old freshman in pre-med had the second-best field-goal shooting percentage in the conferene (43.8%) and was second in three-pointers at 44.1 per cent, draining 15 of 34 attempts.

Hebert, a 5-foot-8 guard, averaged 5.8 points and 4.1 rebounds per game. A 22-year-old physical education sophomore, she shot 45.5 from the field, 35.3 from three-point range (12/34) and 71.4 from the charity stripe. At Nationals, she led the Martlets and was ninth among tourney leaders with 36 points in three games, despite coming off the bench in each contest.

Him-Lazarenko, a 5-foot-10 forward who returned unexpectedly for a fifth season, had a solid campaign despite battling injuries and earned first-team league all-star honours for the fifth consecutive season. The 25-year old elementary education senior was seventh in league scoring (12.1 ppg) and fourth in rebounding (6.2 rpg). Over her McGill career, she served as team captain and won numerous awards, including conference player-of-the-year and all-Canadian honours in 2010-11. She previously received the University's Mac Teskey Award and the CIS Tracy MacLeod Award for overcoming adversity, after bouncing back from a career-threatening knee injury and the loss of her father to cancer.

 
SOURCE

Earl Zukerman
McGill Sports Info Office
514-398-7012