Bears guard aiming to finish with a flourish
Gagnon leads hosts into Fekula tourney after rebounding from serious injuries
Jake Gagnon was sporting a tie while hoping for a victory.
A few hours before Gagnon and the other well-dressed members of the Balfour Bears senior boys basketball team faced the Saskatoon Bishop James Mahoney Saints on Friday, the 17-year-old guard sat down and discussed his love of the game.
“You don’t fully appreciate things until you’ve lost them,” he said during Day 2 of Balfour’s 29th annual Fekula Senior Classic. “When you get them back, you appreciate them that much more.”
Injuries sidelined Gagnon for a considerable portion of the 201617 athletic year.
For starters, he suffered a concussion during physical education class, when someone accidentally undercut him while he was jumping. He landed on the back of his neck.
Subsequently, during an informal shootaround in the Balfour gym, the six-foot-two Gagnon landed awkwardly after dunking the ball and tore the anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments in his left knee.
The injuries were separated by about three weeks.
“Rough month,” he recalled, managing a chuckle.
The back-to-back injuries forced Gagnon to miss most of the senior boys volleyball and basketball seasons. This year, he’s back on the court — and loving it — despite some after-effects from the knee injury.
For the time being, dunking is not part of his repertoire.
“I used to have a 43-inch vertical. Now it’s only 28,” Gagnon said. “But dunking isn’t that big of an aspect of the game. I’m a guard, so it’s more about seeing the court than about finishing.”
Now the priority is to finish his final few months of high school with a flourish. The Fekula Classic is one of the major events on the calendar.
“It’s amazing,” Gagnon said. “The whole school gets behind our teams and supports them. Our girls team usually plays during the day and the gym is packed.”
Gagnon is savouring the school spirit while enjoying his graduating year.
“I’ll miss being here next year,” he said. “I’m going to try to stay in touch. I’ll come back here whenever I can.
“Being a Balfour alumni is an amazing thing. Lots of people come back and support the school because they enjoyed it so much.
“The teachers are really supportive all around. You can walk around the school and high-five anybody. Everybody loves everybody. It’s such a great community around here.”
Gagnon is also familiar with the community from a business standpoint.
He spends weekends and summers working for KA Genuine Inventory Services, a family-owned business that was founded by his parents — Ken and Wendy — in 1997.
“We’ve got a printer running to create tags 24/7,” said Gagnon, who first pulled an inventory tag off the printer when he was eight years old.
Naturally, Gagnon plans to study business in university.
“My dad talked about it a lot,” he said, “and I wouldn’t mind experimenting in that field myself.”
The immediate priority, however, is this weekend’s tournament.
The event is named in honour of its founder — recently retired Balfour teacher and coach Glen Fekula. Since 1989, the tournament has attracted many of the top senior girls and boys teams in Saskatchewan.
Friday night’s schedule included the invitational shooting and slam dunk competitions. While in Grade 10, Gagnon won the junior dunk contest.
Saturday’s tournament finals are set for 6:45 p.m. (senior girls) and 8:15 p.m. (senior boys).
You don’t fully appreciate things until you’ve lost them. When you get them back, you appreciate them that much more.