The Best High School Boys Basketball Team In Atlantic Canada

Written by Andrew Sharpe

For two seasons in a row, the Citadel Phoenix, a boys basketball team from downtown Halifax, have been to the Nova Scotia provincial high school championships, and lost.  But before you start talking “bridesmaids”, check the roster.

The Phoenix are coached by Alex Petropolis, a young but experienced analytical mind, who was on staff with Canada Basketball, USports’ Dalhousie Tigers, and Basketball Nova Scotia.  The basketball gods have been good to Coach Petropolis, but this year, they downright spoiled him, in the name of one of the best prospects in Canada.

Amari Buckets.

Team Canada U17 World Cup point guard, Amari Upshaw (2027), who has been playing prep basketball with NBA hopefuls in Arizona and Ontario, has returned home to Halifax to reclass for his grade 11 season.  And he’s joined the Phoenix.

Upshaw has long been highly touted as an NCAA prospect, and when you watch him play, it’s easy to see why.  The game looks easy to him.  His thin, deceptively 6’5 frame isn’t imposing, but he floats on a sea of smooth athleticism.  He shoots the long ball, he attacks the rim, he passes.  As the kids say, he’s him.

So, you can imagine Coach Petropolis’ excitement when he learned he was adding such a big piece to his veteran team, which already features six battle-tested seniors.  But as anyone who’s coached this game knows, with talent comes challenges.  Finding enough touches for everyone, not to mention managing court time and young egos, is no easy task.

Enter Harrison Norman (2026).  On a team of cowboys, he’s the sheriff.  Calm, poised, and dependable, Norman doesn’t have the flash of Upshaw or the dominance of their fellow starter, Travarius Carvery (2026), a physical specimen capable of taking over a game.  But Norman is exactly what the Phoenix need, a risk-averse game manager who provides high-percentage scoring, but is eager to facilitate and defend, a team-first college prospect who plays with poise and joy.

The seniors Norman and Carvery are joined by a mini-Upshaw, another senior, Mukhtar Abokar (2026), a facilitator who’s a threat from deep.  We also need to mention 6’4 senior forward, Noah Gray, and grade 11 forward, Michael Tynes Jr., Upshaw’s younger brother.  Lastly, 6’6 grade 10, Zi’aez Allison, is one to watch, and his classmate, Fin MacLean, can really shoot it.

This roster isn’t the only thing that’s loaded.  The coaching staff also features Ben Johnson, an NCAA player at College of Saint Rose and OUA All-Star at Lakehead University, Will Silver, an AUS All-Star at St. FX, and Marquis Clayton, another AUS All-Star with Saint Mary’s.  A coaches versus players game is probably a bad idea.

So far, all this has added up to is an undefeated 6-0 season, including a 20-point statement win against the reigning champion Armbrae Academy, and a 14-point victory against the previous season’s champion, CP Allen.

You see where this is going.  The Citadel Phoenix are the best high school basketball team east of Quebec, and we predict their two-season run as provincial final runner-up is about to end…in a championship.

Promise and prediction ain't worth a penny.  The Phoenix need to focus on structured, team-oriented basketball.  They’re dominating Open Gym right now, but Armbrae and CP Allen will improve, and Millwood are loving the underdog role.  So the worst thing Citadel can do is watch their highlight films and start to believe their own hype.  They need to buckle down, listen to their coaches, lose the ego, and manifest their own destiny.

It’s time.