Rebounding to the Max
Wednesday was another day at the office for Lakeshore Catholic senior boys basketball player Max Annunziata.
The Grade 11 player scored a team-high 10 points while adding 14 rebounds and a blocked shot as the visiting Gators dropped a 54-29 decisions to the Holy Cross Raiders in Niagara Catholic Athletic Association play.
“He has heart. He hasn’t been playing basketball for too long but he has great athleticism,” Lakeshore assistant coach Leif Bishop said. “His dad (Sandy) played in the CFL and his mom played college ball so he’s a natural.”
Heading into Wednesday’s game, Bishop said Annunziata has been averaging 12 rebounds and 10 blocks a game and is putting up triple doubles almost every game.
The 16-year-old Fort Erie resident is playing basketball at the high school level for the first time. He played a little bit of basketball at the YMCA in Grade 5 but not much else.
“I played in the summer with my friends and I knew I could play basketball. So why not try it and I ended up making the team.”
He has quickly come to love the game.
“It’s fast-paced and it is enjoyable,” he said.
Annunziata has discovered that he has a knack for rebounding.
“You need to get up there and you have to say to yourself that you are going to be the first one to the ball. You have to tune everyone else out and just look at the ball.”
His father is a huge influence in his sporting endeavours.
“We go to the gym a lot and any time I want, he will go practise football or basketball with me.”
Annunziata was a starter on the varsity football team at Lakeshore when he was in Grade 9. He lost his Grade 10 year to COVID and was unable to play again last fall because there weren’t enough players to form a senior team.
“That was tough,” he said.
He likes basketball and football equally and each provides excellent training for the other.
“Basketball helps give me power in my legs and gives me speed,” he said.
Holy Cross head coach Randy Conlon was happy to see his team win its first game of the season and improve to 1-4 in league.
“I don’t think the kids won a game in junior last year and that’s why you saw the celebration at the end,” he said.
It wasn’t a pretty game but Conlon will take the win.
“They’re rusty and we’re rusty.”
He feel his team had improved quite a bit since the beginning of the season.
“We lost our big man (Jake Bechard) and the five kids who start have to play a ton of minutes but the development has been great,” he said. “Most of our kids are in Grade 11. They play hard and they listen as well as if not better than any team I have coached in the past. They’re getting it, they try and they work their butts off. As a coach I couldn’t ask for anything more and it’s awesome.”
Lakeshore fell to 0-4 with the loss and the Gators, like all teams, haven’t been helped by the stops and starts thanks to COVID.
“They are playing and then they are not,” Bishop said. “They haven’t had the chance to have a stable environment and system but what can you do? It’s COVID.”
STATS PACK
Raiders 54 Gators 29
Cat’s Caboose Player of the Game: Holy Cross’s Lucas Muon with 15 points.
For the Holy Cross Raiders: Muon 15; Arin Sayeigh 13; Greg Wenglowski 9; Dwayne Osborne 9; Gorazd Bojcev 4; Pawel Waszak 3; James Martinelli 2; Marcus Torres 2.
For the Lakeshore Catholic Gators: Max Annunziata 10; Dylan Lubberts 6; Damian Spiteri-Johnston 3; Seth Cornwall 3; Lucvens Jean Baptiste 3; Allan Buri 2; Simon 2.
