Jack Gillespie has had a busy few days.
First, the Grade 11 Westgate Collegiate and Vocational Institute student travelled to Toronto for the team’s Ontario Federation of Schools Athletic Association’s football bowl game on Thursday.
Then, after flying home that night, he scored 19 points to lead the Westgate Tigers varsity basketball team to a 89-57 win over the Superior Gryphons to kick off the annual Tiger Tip Off tournament on Friday.
“Rest, lots of rest,” Gillespie, 16, said of the key to switching gears. “It was busy 11 a.m. playing football and then getting home at midnight. I stayed home for a bit, slept in, got my homework done and got ready for some basketball.”
Gillespie was one of three basketball players that pulled double duty over the past couple of weeks as the football season was extended by virtue of their city championship.
Tigers head coach Jon Krawchuk, who also served as the football team’s offensive coordinator, said they were able to get a few full-team basketball practices in before hitting the road, and that the rest of the hoops squad practiced with an assistant coach.
Picking up a commanding win was made even sweeter by accomplishing it in front of a large and boisterous crowd, as the school had a gym packed with students from the class buyout.
In addition to kicking off the hoops campaign, Tiger Tip Off is a major event on the Westgate school events calendar.
“A big win gives us a little confidence, especially since it’s Tip Off and for some of the kids it’s their last Tip Off,” Krawchuk said. “It’s important for them to enjoy it. It’s a highlight of the year.”
This year’s tournament still echoes back to last year, when the long-running event had the plugged unceremoniously after the first day of competition.
The players on the Westgate team this year remember how one of their favourite events was taken away from them, and are eager to make up for it this time around.
“It’s emotional,” Gillespie said. “You get that break last year and now you’re coming off that, and we had a good team last year.”
Krawchuk, who is also one of the two tournament convenors, said the 35-year-old Tip Off is too ingrained into the school fabric to be lost after last year’s circumstances.
“There’s a lot of kids that still understand what Tip Off is about,” Krawchuk said. “It’s not as big as it used to be, it’s only two days now, but teachers still look forward to it and the students especially after what happened last year wanted to watch.”
Westgate had control of the game nearly from the opening tip, and raced out to a 19-5 lead after the first quarter.
The Tigers expanded the lead to 43-15 at the halftime recess, and were in cruise control the rest of the way.
Eric Mantyla scored 14 points for Westgate, who also received 13 from Grade 9 Jordan Jackowski.
Action continues into Friday evening at Westgate, and then resumes early Saturday morning before finishing with the championship final at 8:30 p.m.
