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| Via @DarrenStevenson / Twitter |
Article By: Mark Bryson
WATERLOO
— Sir John A. Macdonald Highlanders head coach Steve Maloney calls his
star player Mr. Double-Double and it has nothing to do with coffee.
What we're talking here is consistency, as
in Nedim Hodzic's ability to consistently record double-digit points and
rebounds during the recent high school basketball season.
"The beauty of Nedim is he performs the same
game-in, game-out, he's just so consistent. That's why I call him Mr.
Double-Double," said Maloney.
"He did that (double-digit points and
rebounds) in 25 (of 38) games this season and he could have had more had
I not pulled him (out of lopsided games)."
The six-foot-six Hodzic was rewarded for his
consistently outstanding play on Wednesday night when he was named this
year's winner of the Mike Moser Memorial Award as the most valuable
player in the Waterloo County senior boys basketball league.
Hodzic said he was flattered to receive the
award that was presented during the halftime break of the annual WCSSAA
all-star game at Waterloo Collegiate Institute.
"I feel like it's a testament to my hard
work. I'm always practising and always in the gym trying to get better,"
he said.
"And I compete as hard as I can every game,
so to get the MVP award at the end of the season, it means a lot."
The Moser award caps a memorable season for
Hodzic, a Grade 12 player who led the Highlanders to WCSSAA and CWOSSA
championships and a strong showing at the OFSAA quad-A championship in
Windsor. In those 38 games that included tournament play, Hodzic
averaged 23.2 points and 13.3 rebounds game.
"He leads by example with his effort. He's
got an incredibly high motor – he never stops – and you see that when
he's on the glass," said Maloney.
Hodzic has yet to decide on what he'll do
next. He has offers to play university ball in Canada and is also
considering returning for a fifth year at SJAM.
The Moser award is named after the Forest
Heights grad that died suddenly while travelling in Florida with the UW
Warriors in 1975.
Hodzic was joined on WCSSAA's first-team
all-star unit by SJAM teammate Simon Petrov, TJ Lall of Galt, Nikola
Farkic of Cameron Heights, and Stefan Simic of KCI.
Earlier in the evening, WCI Vikings guard
Kaylee Anagnostopoulos became the first recipient of the Julie Devenny
MVP Award as the top player in the WCSSAA senior girls basketball
league.
Anagnostopoulos has committed to attend the
University of Windsor next year and will suit up for the five-time
defending national champion Lancers.
The girls award was named after former WCI
standout Julie Devenny, who went on to an outstanding basketball career at
the University of Waterloo that included being named Canada's top
rookie in 2002.
Diagnosed with lung cancer before her 25th
birthday, Devenny battled the disease into remission once but was unable
to beat a second attack. She died in 2012 at the age of 29.
Anagnostopoulos was joined on the first
all-star team by Nyamuoch Teny and Maya Day of Grand River, Taylor White
of Southwood, Candice Wright of Jacob Hespeler, and Julia Curran of
Bluevale.
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