Article By: Mark Bryson
KITCHENER — The future looks bright for the Grand River Renegades ... and so does the present.
The Renegades, a squad that is loaded with
Grade 11 talent, opened their Waterloo County senior girls basketball
campaign on Tuesday with a thrilling 56-54 victory over the visiting
Waterloo Vikings.
Nancy Michael and Maya Day led Grand River
with 17 and 14 points, respectively, while Kaylee Anagnostopoulos was
spectacular in pacing WCI's attack with 26.
The Vikings (1-1) twice rallied from
second-half deficits and had an opportunity to win or force overtime on
their final possession but were unable to connect on an in-bounds pass
with six seconds to play.
"Both teams fought hard but we got the 'W'
and that's all I wanted. We need to work on our patience a bit when
teams start to come back on us but we'll get better," said Renegades
captain Nyamuoch Teny, who had eight points.
The Renegades started four Grade 11 players
against WCI, and the young squad held its own from the opening tip. Teny
and Tara Deboer both played senior ball while in Grade 10 last year,
while Michael and Day were part of the Grand River squad that won WCSSAA
and Central Western Ontario junior championships.
A potential fifth Grade 11 starter, Nyasha
Mombeshora, wasn't in the lineup for Tuesday's game. Caroline Lorkovic
was the only Grade 12 player to start for Grand River.
Teny, whose brother Chuder was last year's
recipient of the MVP award in the WCSSAA boys league, was all smiles
when she considered the possibilities for the Renegades this year and
beyond.
"If we can do it this year, we'll do it, but
we've still got two years with this group, so who knows ... just don't
underestimate us because we're young," she said.
The Vikings started five Grade 12 players and definitely didn't underestimate their opponents.
Anagnostopoulos, Isabella Kellerman,
Danielle Sauve, Jessica Roes and Olivia Bender gave every bit as they
got, and the teams were tied 24-24 at the half.
The Renegades opened the third-quarter on a
17-5 run to take a 41-29 lead before Anagnostopoulos took over. A
potential MVP candidate, she scored eight straight points to trim Grand
River's lead to 43-40 after three quarters.
The fourth quarter was similar to the third
as the Renegades went on an early run to build a 55-46 and then held on
for dear life.
"It was a good fight ... and we hope to meet
them again in the WCSSAA final with a different result," said
Anagnostopoulos. "They were good, but I know a lot of those girls so I'm
not surprised. I know what they can do."
Sauve added 13 points for the Vikings and Kellerman had 12.
The Vikings roster also knows what it takes
to be successful as most of the girls were part of the 2013 squad that
won a CWOSSA senior championship and followed that up by winning the
consolation title at the Ontario (OFSAA) championship.
Kaitlyn Bentz, who would be starting for
WCI, is out with a knee injury and isn't expected to be ready until at
least the playoffs.
The Jacob Hespeler Hawks would likely be
considered the team to beat but are without the services of Courtney
Wright, who is out with a knee injury. Her twin sister Candice and
Jasmine Ramcharan will be counted on to keep the Hawks in contention.
The KCI Raiders have had strong junior teams
for the past two years and will also be a factor. They lack the "star
factor" but there is balance with Frances Campbell, Alia Hazineh, Thea
Taylor and Olivia Mickie leading the way.
The Cameron Heights Golden Gaels are also
expected to contend and will be led by Nina Farkic and Hunter Johns,
while Bluevale is another team that will win games with MVP candidate
Julia Curran pacing the attack.
The Waterloo-Oxford Crusaders are the
reigning WCSSAA champions but the majority of the players from that team
have moved on.
