Article By: Darryl SmartAs Jordan Peever and Corey MacLean went head-to-head in Tuesday’s Norfolk Secondary School Athletic Association senior boys basketball game between the Waterford Wolves and Simcoe Sabres, they knew it was more than just a regular season game.
It may be a preview of this year’s final. It could have very well been a rematch of last year’s final. That is, if there was a NSSAA final.
“It’s awesome to be playing high school basketball again,” Peever said after scoring 13 points to lead the Sabres to a 37-35 win on home court. “I missed it tremendously. It’s just great to be back on the court with my team.
“Last year I believe we had a really good team,” he said. “It’s sad we didn’t get to finish the season. But I’d like to think we were aiming to be a tough competitor in CWOSSA (Central Western Ontario Secondary School Assocaiaiton).
MacLean, who led the Wolves with 15 points Tuesday, said his team also had high expectations before the cancellation of the season because of a dispute between the public school teacher’s union and government.
“We had a solid team last year, “ MacLean said. “We went in a pre-season tourney in Dunnville and won that, and then had one regular season game. We were hoping for a trip to CWOSSA and maybe even OFSAA (Ontario Federation of Schools Athletic Association).
“Everyone was so rattled,” he said. We knew we had a good shot last year with a solid team and we never got the change to succeed that year."
But it’s a new year, with new hopes, and both teams are eying similar goals.
“It’s awesome to get back on the court, “ MacLean said. “It’s something I look forward to every school year and it was a shame it was locked out last year. We are hoping for the same thing, like every other team, have a shot at the NSSAA title, make a trip to CWOSSA and hopefully even OFSAA.
“We have quite a few kids that stayed back a year that was on our team last year and now this year,” he said. “I know there into the sports so for sure they are looking for an another shot.”
And like the Wolves, the Sabres are very hungry this season.
“When the stoppage came it was the worst,” Peever said. “I know there is a lot of sports in high school but for some of us basketball is our sport we love and to have the taken was really disappointing. The team we have this year is still working out some kinks but were hoping to improve our game and get to the point where we just flow in every aspect of the game and hopefully take home the NSSAA title.”
