Waterloo Chronicle: "Exciting To Be Back" -- Some Public HS Sports Return to Action

Article By:  Jordan Ercit

Dani Elgadi is not sure what comes next, but the fact his Waterloo Vikings are back on the court is good for now.

The fifth-year forward is one of the few public high school basketball players in Waterloo Region who gets that chance too. With WCSSAA once again up and running, four local Quad-A schools — Waterloo and Bluevale collegiates in Waterloo; Grand River and Eastwood in Kitchener — are competing for one automatic berth at CWOSSA in qualifying games this week.

The second-place team will then compete in a play-in game against the second-place District 5 team, which encompasses Brant County. The St. John’s Green Eagles beat the Assumption College Lions in their Brant County qualifier.

Sir John A. Macdonald, Waterloo and Grand River are competing for spots in the junior boys tournament, while Kitchener-Waterloo Collegiate is playing exhibition games.

Waterloo and Grand River are the only two senior girls Quad-A teams competing in volleyball. Waterloo Collegiate teams faced Southwood and SJAM in girls and boys curling respectively last Friday at Westmount Golf and Country Club in Kitchener.

There is little room for error as a result.

All four senior basketball teams play qualifying games against each other, which wrap up today when Waterloo hosts Grand River and Eastwood visits Bluevale at 3:30 p.m. Grand River and Waterloo got a head-start last Thursday with wins over Eastwood and Bluevale respectively.

But something is better than nothing as far as Elgadi is concerned, even though his Vikings were one of the favoured local teams heading into the 2012-13 season.

“We have two-plus players who can go to the next level in basketball, so it was definitely shocking,” when the season was shelved in December, Elgadi said. “It hurt, especially because it was something out of our control. It was out of our hands and all we could do was sit back and wait.

“But our coaches told us, ‘don’t give up the faith, just keep playing basketball and we’ll work it out.’ And we managed to. We got in some games and now the season is back.”

Despite missing point guard Adam Anagnostopoulos and power forward Jacob Ranton, the Vikings looked good for a team that hasn’t played a league game in two months.

Led by Elgadi’s 24 points and Zach Totzke’s 14, the Vikings pulled away in the second half of a 61-29 victory over the Knights. John Efechaobor had 12 points and Savo Krajisnik had eight for the Knights.

There is a reason for the lack of rust, though. The Vikings have still managed to play some tournament and exhibition games since the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation requested members refrain from assisting in extra-curricular activities in December.

Later that month, the Vikings took part in a tournament in Arizona, a trip that was booked and paid for before OSSTF labour action in protest of the provincial government’s Bill 115, which has since been repealed.

Since January, the Vikings scrambled to find a half-dozen exhibition games and entered a tournament at Eden High School in St. Catharines.

However, at this point, Elgadi is simply glad to be back.

Last season, the Vikings healed their wounds from a semifinal loss to SJAM on the hope that all five of their starters would be back to challenge for a WCSSAA title the following year.

Although Ranton will be out for the next three months after surgery last week to repair his kneecap, Elgadi, Anagnostopoulos, Totzke and Malcolm Piazza will again have their shot a late high school season run – albeit without a WCSSAA championship to look forward to.

“It’s a last-case scenario for most of our guys,” said Elgadi, a one-sport standout who hopes to play at the CIS level next season. “I’m looking to go to the next level. Basketball is my life – my heart and soul – and I practice every day at it.

“So it’s exciting to be back.”

Retrieved From:  http://www.waterloochronicle.ca/sports/exciting-to-be-back-some-public-high-school-sports-return-to-action/