Pinky Lewis Tournament Final Day Under Way, Tevaun Kokko and Vedran Dmitrovic’s Stock Rising

HAMILTON, ON–The  Pinky Lewis semi final match-ups have been decided and will take place at McMaster University in Burridge Gymnasium. Newmarket will be facing their biggest test yet in this tournament at 10 am when they tip off against Westmount. Up until now Newmarket’s perimeter shooting has been blazing hot and have been blowing by defenders in transition. Westmount has a slight advantage in the post where James Miles will likely go to work and not be contained by a guard heavy Newmarket team.

Following this game, Villanova will go up against the only nationally ranked team in this tournament, Holy Trinity. The guard play of Villanova’s Gene Spagnuolo and Gianmarco Luciani will have to be primo for the team to make it through this game and pick up a win. The supporting cast will be occupied trying to guard HT’s three point shooters which is just about everyone who steps on for the Titans, including 6’8 forward Nick Ernest.

Vedran Dmitrovic
Vedran Dmitrovic splitting defenders and getting to the rack.

The CIS and CCAA future prospects in this tournament by representation from UofT, Laurentian, Brock, Lambton College and of course McMaster.

From the teams that were eliminated there are many prospects from the Tri-County region that had eyes focused on them. TJ Lall, Jack Simmons and Vedran Dmitrovic were three that showed great strides in their development, both physically and in their skills.

Dmitrovic, for example while playing with the Waterloo Wildhawks during OBA season was a game changer in many matches where he would knock down three after three. This hasn’t changed, he continues to be a consistent shooter but moreover has showed elite defensive skills and body control, as well as being able to create for himself off the dribble and be the general for Cameron Heights.

Claiming his legitimacy as a scoring guard throughout the first two days, Tevaun Kokko who was featured in yesterday’s story, will be welcomed by NPH into the national rankings for the class of 2014. In a quarter final game against St. Martin he dropped 38 points, 24 of them being from three point land where he rarely missed. This will be a huge mismatch issue for Westmount in today’s semi final game.

As mentioned in a previous article, the most striking characteristic about the teams that participated in the Pinky Lewis is their youth, which was evident by looking at their bodies, their frustration levels when things weren’t going smooth and their overall knowledge of the game. For most teams this was their first tournament, which means things will only get better from here as the season progresses.

Improvement is inevitable considering these student-athletes approach each practice from here on out with a positive mindset and a willing manner towards learning.

 

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