Waterloo Chronicle: Cvrkalj Caps Season with MVP Nod

By:  Bob Vrbanac

Retrieved From:  http://www.waterloochronicle.ca/news/article/208589

In the span of a week he had a private workout for an NCAA Division 1 school, played in the annual WCSSAA all-star game and was named the league’s MVP after winning the Mike Moser award.

Not a bad week for Bluevale’s Stefan Cvrkalj. But he said it wouldn’t have meant a thing if he didn’t have those rings.

In this case those rings came with winning Bluevale’s first WCSSAA and CWOSSA senior boys basketball titles in the school’s 28- year history.

“I wouldn’t haven’t been able to do this without my teammates,” said Cvrkalj, who is the fourth player in school history to win the Mike Moser award. The other winners were Gord Caldwell in 1976, John Hamilton in 1989 and former national team member and University of Waterloo hall-of-famer Sean Van Koughnett in 1990.

His coach said he’s a modest kid, who elevated the game of those who played with him.

“He’s such a confident kid, and determined, that all the kids fed off of that,” said Doros Theodosiou. “He’s the first kid I can honestly say — and I’ve seen a lot of great players in this league — who made everybody around him better.”

But it was the team accomplishments that mattered most to the 18-year-old Grade 12 student who starred at point guard for the Waterloo school. The accolades that came with those championships were a nice byproduct of a year of highlights for one of the best all-around guards this area has ever produced.

Bucknell was the latest U. S. college to visit last week, scouting the potential NCAA prospect. It’s the same school, near Pittsburgh, P. A., that Waterloo St. David’s grad Bryson Johnson is starring at and could be a nice fit for Cvrkalj. He is looking for a school with a strong academic tradition in addition to a competitive basketball program.

“That will definitely be a deciding factor,” he said. “I’m looking for a program where I can get the best education.”

He’s also been scouted by some Ivy League schools, like Cornell, which would fit the criteria of what he’s looking for in his basketball future. That’s in addition to being scouted by big-time NCAA programs like Auburn and Stanford.

But if you think all this hype has gotten to the soft-spoken shooter who lets his basketball skills do all the talking for him, you’d be wrong. That’s because he hasn’t ruled out playing CIS basketball in Canada, which has local coaches at Wilfrid Laurier University and the UW hopeful that they can keep the basketball prodigy playing at home. Cvrkalj said he isn’t ready to make his great leap forward until the best opportunity to play and study presents itself. Basketball might be his ticket to an education, but he said the degree he earns would set him up for the rest of his life.

“I’m not going to sacrifice my education to play basketball,” he said.

That might mean he will be dominating local basketball courts again next season. There’s nothing wrong with back-to-back titles and perhaps an extended run at OFSAA with the Knights only graduating two starters from this year’s championship team.

Theodosiou said he’s happy to support his star player in whatever decision he makes.

“He’s ready to graduate, but his aspirations are to play Division I basketball, and that part is out of his control,” said Theodosiou, about the honour roll student with the 90 average.

In the meantime, Cvrkalj will be doing his best to improve on his already impressive basketball skills. He’s looking to play for a Toronto travel team that could give him some more U. S exposure, while continuing to improve his on-court game with his personal coach Zelimir Stevanovic.

Stevanovic, a former pro player in Europe who played at the University of Pittsburgh, has Cvrkalj working on his quickness, which should help him bring the ball up the court against smaller guards. He’s also looking to add some more muscle to his six-foot-four frame.

The one thing he’s not afraid of is hard work, especially in his pursuit of his basketball dream.

“I’ve sacrificed a lot to get this opportunity,” he said,

“I’m pretty patient — I can wait for the right thing to come along.”

All-CWOSSA Senior Boys Basketball All-Stars: First Team

Here are my "top 15" CWOSSA basketball players from the 2009-10 season. As a usual disclaimer, I don't have the opportunity to see everyone equally......but I have attempted to include players from each region in CWOSSA, at least as honourable mentions.

The breakdown is as follows:

(5) First Team "All-CWOSSAbasketball.com" selections (one CWOSSAbasketball.com player of the year)

(5) Second Team "All-CWOSSAbasketball.com" selections

(5) Third Team "All-CWOSSAbasketball.com" selections

(10) Honourable Mention "All-CWOSSAbasketball.com" selections

With that being said, let's get right to it.

CWOSSAbasketball.com ***FIRST TEAM***

Stefan Cvrkalj, Bluevale (CWOSSAbasketball.com's CWOSSA Player of the Year)

Position: PG/SG

Season Highlights: 2009-10 (Team) WCSSAA & CWOSSA champions, WCSSAA First Team All-Star, Mike Moser Award Winner (WCSSAA MVP), Scored over 1000 points including 20+ points 27 times. Season highs of 39 vs. WCI in a league game and 37 vs. HB Beal (including this shot to force OT) in the Heinbuch Classic.

Up Next:  Cvrkalj, who has a mid-90s academic average, has already been accepted to several Canadian Universities including Laurier, McMaster, Western and Ryerson.  Also has been contacted by a variety of NCAA Division I schools, including Virginia, Stanford, Lafayette, Bucknell, Lehigh, Princeton and Cornell.

Stefan Arezina, Cameron Heights

Position: SG

Season Highlights: Scored a CWOSSA high 40 points in tournament win over Kingston Loyalist (OFSAA AA qualifer) and had 11 other 20+ reported scores. Scored 27 points in a playoff game against WCI to help the #6 Gaels upend the #3 Vikings on the road. Named as a WCSSAA First Team All-Star.

Up Next: Arezina, a 4th year guard, will not be returning for a 5th year at Cameron Heights. He has an academic average in the neighbourhood of 90% and is looking at attending either Laurier, Brock or Waterloo for Health Sciences and playing varsity basketball.

Rob House, Centennial CVI

Position: SF

Season Highlights: Named to the D10 all-star team and was selected as the D10 Senior Boys' MVP for the 3rd consecutive season.  Led CCVI to an undefeated D10 regular season and the championship of the East Side Mario's shootout.  Hit for 30+ points twice in league play (36 - CWDHS 12/17, 30 - GCVI 12/8). 

Up Next: House has committed to the University of Western Ontario for next season.

Ryan Higgins, St. James

Position: SF

Season Highlights: Named to the D10 All-Star team. Hit 20+ points in seven league games, including 27 points against JF Ross in a hard fought semifinal loss. Averaged almost 25 PPG in the Knights-Vikings Classic (25 vs. Chatham-Kent, 24 vs. Brampton Notre Dame and 24 vs. GRCI).

Up Next: This high scoring and high-flying forward will be returning to St. James next season for his 5th year of high school. He has already received interest from a couple of NCAA schools south of the border, including Holy Cross and Cornell.

Dave Eves, North Park CVS

Position: F

Season Highlights: Helped guide the Trojans to their first OFSAA basketball appearance in school history.  Hit for a season-high 34 points against Hamilton MacNab in tournament play.  Had a very impressive Chancellor tournament with a 29 point performance against St. Thomas Aquinas (Oakville) and 23 against St. Augustine.  Scored 21 points against KCI in the CWOSSA final to help the Trojans escape in overtime with a victory.

Up Next:  Eves is graduating this year from NPC.  Up next for him is still to be determined.

WCSSAA All-Star Game: Light Team 112, Dark Team 109

At what is becoming a normal occurrence, both teams put up tons of points in a close game on Wednesday evening at the annual WCSSAA all-star game in Waterloo.

The Light ("home") Team, coached by Bluevale's Doros Theodosiou, ended up winning a 112-109 decision over the Dark ("away") Team, who were headmanned by SJAM's Steve Maloney.

The home squad was led by WCSSAA MVP Stefan Cvrkalj's 26 points.  Teammate Andrew Beney had a 21 point outing and KCI's Darnell Simpson put home 14 points.

For the guests, it was a couple of Cameron Heights products leading the way ---- Stefan Arezina pumped in 30 points while Nebojsa Djeric added 13.  Elmira's Eric Alderice added 13 points as well.

Bluevale's Cvrkalj Named WCSSAA MVP

As expected, 6'4" Bluevale guard Stefan Cvrkalj has been named the recipient of the Mike Moser Award, presented annually to the WCSSAA Senior Boys Basketball MVP.

The announcement was made at halftime of the WCSSAA Senior Boys' all-star game tonight at Waterloo Collegiate.

Needless to say, this was a pretty obvious selection.  Cvrkalj, who was the lone returning WCSSAA first team all-star from a season ago, was key in leading the Knights to their first WCSSAA & CWOSSA titles in school history.  Furthermore, he did so by putting up some big highlights in the process.  He had 27 games of 20+ points, 15 games of 25+ points and 6 games where he notched 30 or more points.  Plus, he didn't just put up those points against just anybody.  He scored 39 against WCI, 39 against St. Theresa's of Midland (OFSAA AAA qualifier) and 37 against London's HB Beal (OFSAA AAAA qualifier).

You hear many people in the States talking about a player hitting 1000 points in their high school career ---- Cvrkalj hit for over 1000 (1017 to be exact) in his 45 games this season, a 22.6 scoring clip.

Of course, when asked about Cvrkalj's best attributes, Knights head coach Doros Theodosiou pointed out that he did more than just score. 

Theodosiou noted that "(Cvrkalj's) best attribute is how wonderful of a person he is. He is very respectful to his coaches as well as his teammates and takes a team first approach.  He is one of the most coachable players I have ever had."

"He is a great leader and a role model for the Bluevale basketball program," he continued, "he was an outstanding leader during games and in practice. He has an unbelievable work ethic which rubbed off on his teammates --- his teammates saw what it took to be an elite basketball player and as a result they started staying extra time in the gym to work on their skills."

"He is one of those few elite basketball players who made everyone around him better. Everyone fed off of his confidence and determination. Although he knew he needed to score for us, he was never concerned about his own statistics, just whether we won", noted Theodosiou.

Cvrkalj isn't just a star on the court but in the classroom as well ---- he has a mid-90s academic average.  The grade 12 student has already been accepted by Laurier, McMaster, Western and Ryerson. Furthermore, he's being actively recruited by a handful of NCAA Division I schools including a pair of Ivy League schools (Princeton & Cornell), a trio of schools from the Patriot League (Bucknell, Lehigh, Lafayette) and a couple of schools from "power conferences" (Virginia out of the ACC & Stanford from the PAC 10). 

All that being said, Cvrkalj hasn't ruled out a 5th year at Bluevale ---- which is a scary thought for WCSSAA opponents.

Cvrkalj joins an impressive list of winners in recent memory:

Previous Mike Moser Winners:

2010:  Stefan Cvrkalj, Bluevale

2009:  Justin Tomas, SJAM

2008:  Nik Saric, Forest Heights

2007:  Zach Nagtzaam, Southwood

2006:  Cam McIntyre, KCI

2005:  Gavin Horne, WCI

WCSSAA All-Star Game Going Down Tonight

A reminder - the WCSSAA Senior Boys' all-star game is going down tonight (April 21st) over at Waterloo Collegiate.

Tip time is scheduled for 7:00pm.  Cost is $3 with a student card; $5 without.  All proceeds benefit Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Waterloo Region.

Remember to become a Fan on Facebook for all the latest CWOSSA basketball information right in your Facebook newsfeed. 

Recruiting News: Bluevale Big Man Beney Commits to Guelph

In recruiting news, Bluevale's 6'6" F/C Andrew Beney has committed to the University of Guelph.

Andrew will be enrolled in the school's engineering program while playing basketball for the Gryphons.

This past year, he was a key force down low in helping Bluevale to WCSSAA & CWOSSA championships, and the school's first OFSAA appearance.  He especially came through in those two championship games, scoring 25 (of Bluevale's 46) in the CWOSSA final and 22 points during Bluevale's 51-46 victory in the WCSSAA final against SJAM.

Beney will join 5 other current Gryphons (Danny McCarthy, Michael Petrella, Adrian Achonwa, Drew Morris and Cody Shody) that are "CWOSSA alums".

3rd Annual KW Vipers "Strike Against Cancer" Tournament

FYI - the third annual "Luke Santi Memorial Strike Against Cancer" tournament is going down this weekend at various high schools in the Kitchener-Waterloo area.

The tournament features various age divisions: U15 (Midget) & U16 (Major Midget), U17 (Juvenile) and Two U19 (Junior) divisions.

Here's some "local" (CWOSSA area) teams and their game times today:

KW Vipers (Midget) vs Milton Stags (Major Midget) - 4:30pm, Huron Hts
Waterloo Wildhawks (Midget) vs Brantford CYO (Major Midget) - 6:00pm, Huron Hts
Brantford CYO (Midget) vs KW Vipers (Major Midget) - 9:00pm, Huron Hts

Waterloo Wildhawks (Juvenile) vs Centre Wellington (Juvenile) - 4:30pm, Bluevale
Simcoe Suns (Juvenile) vs Blessed Sacrament #1 (Juvenile) - 7:30pm, Bluevale
Kingston QEDA (Juvenile) vs KW Vipers (Juvenile) - 9:00pm, Bluevale

KW Vipers #2 (Junior) vs Oakville Venom (Junior) - 4:30pm, St. Mary's CSS
Niagara Falls Red Raiders (Junior) vs Simcoe Suns (Junior) - 6:00pm, St. Mary's CSS

KW Vipers #1 (Junior) vs London Ramblers (Junior) - 4:30pm, GPSS

Please see the website for further information and playoff times.

WCSSAA All-Star Game: Upshaw Added to All-Star Roster

A recent news item to take care of with the WCSSAA All-Star game now less than two weeks away:

Preston's Abe Upshaw has been added to the Home Team roster (Jeff Robinson was originally the only Panther rep). Meanwhile, fellow Cambridge 'baller Nic Bradford, the lone GCI rep, has switched allegiances over to the "Visitors" team to keep things balanced out.

Also, league sources have informed me that there will be no Huron Heights representative in the game this year.

To recap the rosters:

Home: Stefan Cvrkalj (BCI); Drew Ballak (BCI); Andrew Beney (BCI); Arben Kalaba (KCI); Tristan Ruddock (KCI); Darnell Simpson (KCI); Jeff Robinson (PHS); Abe Upshaw (PHS); Zaman Sindy (ECI); Osama Qahwash (GRCI); Connor Paddock (JHSS); Jasper Wesson (WCI).

Visitors: Edem Ame (SJAM); Ben Reyhani (SJAM); Jake Robinet (SJAM); Stefan Arezina (CHCI); Nebojsa Djeric (CHCI); Brian Doran (SSS); Mark Stotesbury (SSS); Eric Alderice (EDSS); Taylor McNaughton (FHCI); Nic Bradford (GCI); Cory Prince (GPSS); Kyle Weber (WODSS).

WCI's Kurt Chooses Softball.....and a Canadian Education

Graduating WCI basketball star Shelby Kurt has elected to attend the University of Simon Fraser in B.C. on a softball scholarship.

Kurt, the '08 WCSSAA MVP and a first-team all-star this past year ('09), had full-ride basketball scholarships from several NCAA Division I schools including Binghamton, Northeastern, Fairfield and Kent State.

However, Kurt is still going to be getting a taste of the NCAA ---- the Simon Fraser Clan will be making their NCAA Division II debut this September as members of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.

(Photo Credit: Peter Lee, Waterloo Region Record)

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"WCI Student Snags Scholarship"

By Mark Bryson, Record staff

Retrieved From: Waterloo Region Record, 04/08/10

Shelby Kurt had a number of options to consider.

Would it be basketball or softball?

Did she want to live in Canada or the United States?

Would she rather play at the NCAA Division 1 level or would Division 2 be good enough?

What sort of scholarship would she be willing to accept?

Would she like fries with that?

When it came to picking her next school, it was a difficult decision for the outgoing Waterloo Collegiate student.

It was her desire to be educated in Canada that made the difference.

Kurt agreed recently to a four-year scholarship deal with Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, B.C., to play softball. And big things will be expected from the talented pitcher when the Clan make their debut at the NCAA Division 2 level in September.

“I had a couple of options for softball and even more for basketball,” said Kurt, who stands a titch over six-foot-tall. “But I liked (Simon Fraser) right away. I liked the girls, the campus and the coach. He coached our national team for 12 years so he knows what he’s doing.

“And getting a Canadian education is very important to me.”

SFU coach Mike Renney is thrilled to have Kurt joining his squad as it becomes the first-ever non-American school to compete at the NCAA level in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.

“As we move closer to our transition into the NCAA, she’s going to be one of the athletes that we think will be front and centre in leading the charge so to speak,” said Renney, who has been at the helm of the SFU program since 1995.

“She is a dominant, two-sport athlete and we are fortunate and we are pleased that she’s chosen softball.”

Kurt is best known around the halls of WCI as a basketball standout. The fifth-year student was part of four Vikings squads that reached the Ontario championship tournament and was the Waterloo County league’s MVP last year and a first-team all-star this year. She was also a key performer for the Vikings volleyball squad.

Her future, however, will revolve around softball. She led the Guelph Gators to an Ontario midget championship last year and was named the province’s top under-18 pitcher. She’s back with the Gators now and hopes to continue her success with that outfit before heading west in August.

Kurt said she’s been pitching since she “could walk” and has followed in the footsteps of her older sister Lindsay, who is also a good hurler.

Down the road, she would like to represent Canada on the international stage; a feat Renney believes is achievable.

“We have had 11 Olympians come out of our program including (Kitchener native) Rachel Schill in Athens. We’ll do everything we can to help Shelby make it,” said Renney.

Kurt had offers — including full-ride packages — on the table from NCAA Division 1 schools in basketball, including Binghamton, Northeastern, Fairfield and Kent State. She also had softball offers from two schools in New York and one in Missouri.

The Simon Fraser package will pay for everything except books.

Kurt said her decision doesn’t mean she prefers softball to basketball. She just thinks the softball schedule is more education-friendly and will allow her to better focus on her health science program.

“I honestly couldn’t tell you which sport I like better. I like them both and I’m going to miss basketball so much,” said Kurt.

Alumni: Burnett Caps UW Career With MVP Award

Former D8 star Dave Burnett (Rockway '05) capped a stellar career at the University of Waterloo by being named as the University of Waterloo Men's Basketball team MVP at the UW Athletic Awards ceremony held last night.

This actually was Burnett's second time winning the award as he also won previously in 2008. He was also the recipient of the "Rookie of the Year" award for UW basketball in 2006. That same year, he was named to the OUA West All-Rookie Team.

He concludes his career with 1139 points in 168 career games (6.8 PPG), 622 assists (versus only 380 turnovers), 437 rebounds and 174 steals. His 622 assists are an all-time UW career record, although recordkeeping for that statistic started about 10 years ago.

His final UW Rankings:

32nd on all-time Points List - 1139 (one ahead of another CWOSSA Alum, BCI's Dan White)

10th all-time in minutes - 4088

6th all-time in three-pointers - 161 (one ahead of star guard Mano Watsa)

1st all-time in assists - 622

4th (tie) all-time in steals - 174

Brant County Drops Consolation Final to Hamilton Public

In Senior Boys all-star play last night, the Brant County all-stars fell to the Hamilton Public all-stars by an 87-61 final yesterday at St. Thomas More HS in Hamilton.

Dave Eves (North Park) was the leading scorer for Brant County with 14 points. Top scorers for Hamilton Public were Taylor Black (Orchard Park) with 16 and Quinn Henderson (Dundas Parkside) with 14 points.

In the championship final, Halton defeated the Hamilton Catholic all-stars by a 107-91 final.