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Thursday, February 23, 2012

Kitchener Post: Late Start, But Hannah Ready To Help Eagles at CWOSSA

Article By:  Jordan Ercit
 
Zak Hannah was starting to become known as the part-timer.

The first half of the District 8 Athletic Association boys’ basketball season wasn’t kind to third-year St. Mary’s Secondary School senior, who missed plenty of court time with the Eagles before Christmas after three separate surgeries on his throat.

It wasn’t exactly what Hannah pictured when he decided to return to St. Mary’s for one final year, deferring his graphic design studies at Conestoga College for a couple of semesters in order to chase down an elusive District 8 title.

The only reason he came back for a fifth year was the lack of a District 8 championship title, Hannah said last week at the University of Waterloo, the host site of the 2012 District 8 title game.

“When I came (to St. Mary’s) in Grade 9, we were CWOSSA champs. But since then it’s been second place, second place, second place.”

But Hannah’s patience paid off.

Shortly before Christmas, he was able to step on the court with his teammates for the first time.

“To be honest, at first I was worried about being able to connect with the team,” he said. “The first couple practices after coming back, I didn’t even know who had been picked for the team.”

And last week, he was finally able to pin down a slippery District 8 championship along with teammates Ben Bankazo, Alex Thompson and Isaac Lance, all of whom had tasted defeat at the hands of the Resurrection Phoenix for three straight seasons heading into the 2011-12 school year.

It was that same Resurrection team — featuring plenty of familiar faces in Tyler Schneider, Mike Pereira, Cam Gibbs and John Moi — that the Eagles were able to take down in the Feb. 17 final at Waterloo’s Physical Activities Complex as Adam Voll scored 19 points despite sitting for most of the second quarter in foul trouble for a 61-5-1 St. Mary’s win.

It wouldn’t have felt right if the final didn’t feature Resurrection, Hannah said.

“There was debate whether they’d be in the finals, but I kind of needed it,” he said in reference to a potential threat to Rez from the third-place St. Benedict Saints from Cambridge, who came close to knocking off the Phoenix in the semifinals.

“If it had been someone else, I don’t think the feeling would have been quite as great.”

It’s been quite a year for St. Mary’s, which capped off a perfect District 8 regular season and an unblemished playoff run with its first senior boys’ basketball title in more than a decade.

The Eagles came close last season, too, forcing overtime against the Phoenix before Pereira put Resurrection on top of a 68-64 decision that players and coaches on both teams have called one of the best games they have ever been a part of.

At least, for the Eagles, that was until last week.

“To be able to do this with guys I’ve struggled so long with is something I will really remember,” Lance said of winning a District 8 title. “Five years practicing with the same guys is a lot of sweat, a lot of hard times and a lot of good times as well. To be able to get it finally feels pretty good.”

And now they have a shot at a second CWOSSA quad-A title starting Friday in Guelph, with J.F. Ross Collegiate hosting a tournament that includes Kitchener’s Forest Heights Trojans and Waterloo’s Sir John A. MacDonald Highlanders — who duked it out Wednesday for the WCSSAA championship at Preston High School in Cambridge.

The winner in Saturday’s CWOSSA championship game moves on to the OFSAA quad-A tournament March 4-7 in Ottawa.

“Obviously it’s going to be tough to do it,” Lance said. “There’s going to be a lot of great teams there, but that’s our goal. We go into every game and every tournament wanting to win.”

In the junior final, Nathan Riley had 21 points as the Eagles junior boys beat the St. David Celtics 79-54, capping off an undefeated season of their own.

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