WATERLOO — Ian Farquharson has jumped from one basketball hotbed to another.
A five-year resident of rural Kentucky, the Grade 12 student relocated with his family over the summer to Waterloo, where he now plays a starting role with Bluevale Knights.
Farquharson has only noticed one major difference to date — a high school game in the Bluegrass State is a very big deal, while a high school game in this Canadian province without a nickname . . . it’s just not quite the same.
“It’s really big there. There would be anywhere from 300 to 1,500 people for a game,” said Farquharson.
“The crowds are obviously smaller here.”
The calibre of ball, however, is pretty much the same.
“It’s pretty good here. The high school I went to was about on par with Bluevale but they didn’t have a player as good as Stefan.”
That, of course, would be Stefan Cvrkalj, the super-talented guard who scored a game-high 28 points — including nine-for-nine from the free-throw line — as the Knights scored a 64-48 win over the visiting Waterloo Collegiate Vikings on Thursday. Perrin Smith added 10 and Farquharson chipped in with nine as the Knights pulled away down the stretch and improved to 4-0 in the Waterloo County senior boys basketball league standings.
Alex Copp and Jacob Ranton both had 13 points for the Vikings, who trailed the entire game and fell to 3-1. Thursday’s other clash of undefeated teams saw the Sir John A. Macdonald Highlanders score a 68-66 victory over the Grand River Renegades, while the Cameron Heights Golden Gaels stayed perfect with a 48-40 win over the Eastwood Rebels.
The Farquharsons spent the past five years in Hindman, a town of less than 1,000 people in the eastern side of the state that is not too far away from Hazard, the hometown of the fictional Duke clan.
They moved to Waterloo when their five-year term as missionaries ended. The family had been there repairing houses for a Mennonite organization after moving from Saskatchewan.
Farquharson didn’t even play high school ball in Kentucky, opting to play in a recreational league. He’s made the transition to the Waterloo County league with relative ease.
He possesses a good shot, sees the floor well and does a great job of finding Cvrkalj and getting him the ball.
WCI’s Alex Despotovic had the unenviable job of defending Cvrkalj and did a much better job than the numbers would indicate. The two have known each other for years — “since back in the day at Serbian school, ” said Despotovic — and Cvrkalj once again got the better of his friend on the court.
“You can’t do much against a guy like that. He’s going to score his 20 a game and you just try to make it tough on him,” smiled Despotovic, an amiable three-sport athlete who also shines on the football and soccer fields.
“It’s a testament to our team that we fought back the whole game and they only pulled away at the end. If we see them come February (in the playoffs), hopefully we can improve on that effort.”
Cvrkalj, the league MVP last year who’ll play at Lehigh University next fall, scored 15 points in the first half as the Knights built a 34-27 lead at the break. It was still a seven-point lead after three quarters before the Knights went on a 10-0 run in the fourth to settle it.
Bluevale will face Cameron Heights in its next game on Tuesday, while WCI will take on Eastwood.
Retrieved From: http://news.therecord.com/Sports/article/828283
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