The Season That Was: Keith Gerdes

The strong play of freshman big man Keith Gerdes has won him ACAC rookie of the year honors, recording 12.6 points per game with seven rebounds per game while averaging 0.87 blocks a game.

Gerdes was part of a trio of Alain Mony'ele, Adam Boyd that would ultimately lead MacEwan's exciting playoff run, capping the season off on a six-game winning streak. Using his 6'8 frame and sizeable wingspan he corralled his fair share of second chance points and key boards.

Although it wasn't until the semester turnover that Gerdes really upped his game, the drastic roster changes put him right at home in the low post. With the loss of six players following winter break, one could imagine a team in serious disarray. Keith Gerdes would respond by becoming a leader for a team loaded with freshmen like himself.

Photo by Dat Bui

Every practice there's a bellowing voice that fills the otherwise empty gym, it's the recognizable voice of Keith Gerdes. Quite likely, it is his vocality is the trumpet that helps lead the Griffins to victory.


He would average 15.2 points a game for the entire second half of the season, compared to just 8.5 in the first nine games. The roster turnover would make him the primary post player in the Griffins rotation, and credits his success to coach Magdanz running more plays through him. His defence has helped him stay on the court this season, guarding bigger and more experienced players.


As many players were adapting to their new roles Gerdes fit right in at starting center, despite being reluctant to declare himself as either a center or power forward. The versatility has obviously treated him well.

Gerdes is a product of three-time city champion Harry Ainlay high school (Edmonton).

Gerdes, Deria Lead Griffins in Sweep of King's Eagles

The Griffins closed their regular season a six-game winning streak sweeping the 13th place King's Eagles, winning the first game 87-80 and the second 87-61.

Freshman Seaid Deria provided much of the offensive punch with 22 points seven rebounds and three assists, good for player of the game honours. Deria can be considered a success story of coach Eric Magdanz's system.

It wasn't an easy road to success for Deria, his natural position was at guard in high school. But under the leadership of coach Magdanz, he was forced to play the power forward position, a position where you don't find players of Deria's wiry physique. Although under the tutelage of assistant coach, Andrew Parker he would begin the transformation to his new position.

He would endure games in which he would hardly play before the turn of the term spelled opportunity for the Ottawa native. 

Deria would soon taking more shots per game and found himself in the starting line-up. His hard work transitioning to the power forward position came to fruition Friday night, in addition to driving the lane. He would also drop some threes to show he hasn't fully abandoned his guard-like skill set just yet.

Deria has worked to become a weapon offensively. Photo by Dat Bui

As for the game, the Griffins would fall behind in the first quarter 24-17. MacEwan would then regroup and finish the half leading 41-36, Thomas Jereniuk would again play point for the bulk of the half, finishing with five assists (six by game's end).

The second half would see a resurgent Eagles team cutting the lead to just one at the end of the third quarter, behind strong performances by Craig Batterham and Keith Marshall.

This would set the scene for yet another dramatic finish for the Griffins. Deria and Mony'ele would go to work to put the Eagles away, taking the majority of the shots in the final frame. A late three by Deria would turn out to be the dagger for the final home game of the regular season.

The pairing of Deria and Mony'ele would combine for 44 field goal attempts by game's end, which was 58% of all shots taken by the Griffins.  

The second half of the series would be an easier go for MacEwan, led by a dominant game for big man Keith Gerdes. On top of 22 points, he had his way in the paint with 18 rebounds. No Eagle would exceed 14 points in a suffocating defensive push by the Griffins. King's failed to gain their footing at virtually any point of the game, shooting a collective 31%.

The Griffins are now poised for playoff basketball, seeded 6th in the league. That will put them third in the ACAC's North Division. 

Griffins Dismiss GPRC in Home Series

An ugly --albeit gritty-- performance by both teams preceded a see-saw battle in the fourth quarter that yielded a Griffins victory, behind a once again dominant performance by leading scorer Alain Mony'ele. The second game saw the Griffins score a season high 106 points in an offensive showcase for the home squad. The two wins give the Griffins a four-game win streak and a sizeable chance at a playoff berth.

Mony'ele the focal point of the Griffins offense. Photo by Dat Bui

Although to get to the theatrics, the Griffins offense was plagued by momentum killing turnovers and a lack of execution in the shooting department. Turnovers were likely due to the inconsistency of the point guard position seeing Denhammer, Kroetsch and Thomas Jereniuk running the offense at one point.

This resulted in a second quarter where MacEwan would score just 15 points. By halftime the Griffins were down 38-36, the score not fully portraying the struggle. The Griffins are looking to buck the trend of being outscored in the second quarter, opponents are +18 against the Griffins in the second frame

After recess MacEwan would grind out a third quarter that would turn out to be the prequel of a gutsy finish in the fourth, led by none other than Alain Mony'ele. The lead changed hands eight times in the fourth quarter alone with no team gaining a lead more than five points. Mony'ele scored 13 of his 33 points in the fourth quarter alone and drew hushed remarks about another talented basketball player that dons the number 24.

First-year forward Gerdes continues to own the paint. Photo by Dat Bui 

The Griffins defence also quieted Jordan Teo in the fourth quarter, allowing him to score just five points in the final frame. A clutch lay-in and the subsequent free throw by Keith Gerdes would put the Griffs up by one, 75-74. On the ensuing Wolves possession Giovanni Shettler would grab a key steal and Mony'ele would score thereafter putting MacEwan in the lead. That bucket turned out to be the game winner despite a couple successful Grande Prairie free throws.

MacEwan would have much more offensive punch in the second half of the double-header, passing the century mark in scoring for the first time this season. Thomas Jereniuk took the reins for the Griffins offence resulting in a scoring clinic for the home team.

The road would grow rocky in the third quarter where the Wolves woke from their offensive slumber, briefly. Grande Prairie's leading scorer Nicolaos Maniatis would score the bulk of his team leading 24.

Although the Wolves would succumb to surrendering 50 points in the paint to the Griffins, the painted area bred success for first-year forward Keith Gerdes, as he'd lead the team with 20 points.

MacEwan now totes a 10-9 record going into the final series of the season. The Griffins will close out the season at home on Friday night (8 p.m.) against King's University College (6-12) following the away game at King's Saturday evening.

Griffins Sweep 109th Street Series

Despite being late to the party in both games against NAIT, the Griffins prevailed in dramatic fashion in both games against the rival Ooks.

The Griffins thrived in the second half of both games and the resulting wins put the Griffins into the eighth spot in the standings.

The first game at NAIT saw the Griffins come out with a vengeance following a lack lustre first half where the visitors went to the locker room trailing 36-28. From there MacEwan would outscore the Ooks 26-8 in the third quarter, making their halftime deficit look like ancient history.

Gerdes found his scoring touch of late. Photo by Dat Bui

The Griffins held all NAIT players to less than 15 points in that game, while MacEwan's Alain Mony'ele ran the show offensively with 28 points. Keith Gerdes would also chip in 18 points, who has shined in the latter stages of the season averaging 17.8 points a game in his last four games.

In the home half of the series the Griffins once again relied heavily on leading scorer Alain Mony'ele, who would score 18 points. In the second half of the series the Griffins started slow with just 13 points to NAIT's 20 in the first quarter. MacEwan would recover to reduce that deficit to just three points before halftime, large in part because of newcomer Lyndon Bolanac who would finish that game with 12 points.

Although the role of hero belonged to player of the game: Adam Boyd. Boyd's only 3-pointer of the game came with just 2.8 seconds left in the game and would put the Griffins over to top to sweep the 109th Street Series.

The Griffins play their next pair of games against Grand Prairie Regional College on Friday at 8 p.m. and the rematch coming in the form of a matinee set to tip-off at 3 p.m.

Griffins Stumble on First Leg of Roadtrip

Fort McMurray wasn't kind to the Griffins over the weekend as they dropped a pair to Keyano College as they failed to stop a balanced attack from the fifth-placed Huskies, losing the first 87-71 and the second 95-93.

The Griffins offence looked overwhelmed by the potent backcourt tandem of Lance Wesolowski and Yonas Berhe. Berhe, a Toronto native, scored a game-high 23 points with 11 assists in the first game, earning ACAC athlete of the week honours. Wesolowski finished the weekend shooting 58.6% (17-29).

Keith Gerdes would score 22 points in both contests, a season-high, and was by far the most efficient scorer in the Griffins offence at Keyano. Gerdes shot a sparkling 70.3% (19-27) combined for both games and has found a home as the go-to player in the paint in recent weeks, it is only now that he's boasted his scoring prowess. He is 73.1% from the field this season.

After being held relatively quiet in his first game (10 points), Alain Mony'ele would explode with a 36 point effort in latter of the two games at Keyano College. He'd shoot 6-10 from beyond the arc and 13-20 overall in that game. He now leads the team with 18.7 points per game.

The Griffins now sit in 10th place with a 6-9 record, good for 6th best among ACAC north teams.

Adam Boyd, Griffins Silence Concordia Thunder

The Griffins improved to a .500 record (6-6) in a low-scoring affair on home court, needless to say the win was a grind right to the death. MacEwan would prevail 60-56.

Adam Boyd adds a veteran presence to a young team. Photo by Dat Bui 

Adam Boyd would once again a centrepiece in the Griffins offence shooting an efficient 5-8 and 4-6 from three-point range, his best performance from beyond the arc since going 4-5 on the November 17th. He would grab 10 rebounds and player of the game honours. Boyd has been heating up lately, averaging 13.7 points per game and a stellar 45% from three point land.

Holding the potent Thunder (8-4) attack fronted by the north division leading scorer, Milos Prijovic who shredded a smaller Griffins defence scoring 21 points predominantly in the paint. Although without Keith Gerdes's inside defence that number would substantially higher.  But MacEwan's defence held the rest of the Thunder to just 35 points. The Griffins would also close the first frame strong, a point of improvement coming in to this semester.

Seaid Deria was also a key energy player Friday night, finally finding productive spots around the hoop, a skill he's learned to develop situated at the power forward position. The Ottawa native would score 13 points with five boards.

Jereniuk using his speed to find the hole. Photo by Dat Bui

Thomas Jereniuk has also found his niche in the Griffins offence as primary point guard. But that doesn't make him less of a savvy scorer, finding his way to the tin when the opportunity presents itself. He would add five points, three dimes and a pair of steals.

The Griffins will embark on a four-game road trip starting with the second half of the Concordia home-and-home, before returning home on February 2nd to host NAIT.

Talent, New and Known Shine vs. Vikings

It was an offensive onslaught Thursday night put on by the Griffins. In front of 1,300 raucous fans packed in MacEwan's gym.

It was by far the most fans the Griffins have played in front of on their home floor and didn't fail to disappoint with a resounding 96-64 victory.

Mony'ele's scoring ability was vital for the Griffins. Photo by Dat Bui

With a revamped starting five to begin the second semester, MacEwan made the proper adjustments to pull out the victory in impressive fashion.

Establishing a quick start in the first quarter had been a point of improvement for the Griffins since the beginning of the season, although that hinderance was none to be found that night as the Griffins held Augustana to just 11 points in the opening frame.

That quick start was largely courtesy of leading scorer Alain Mony'ele, who would shoot 10-17 on his way to a 26-point performance in a shining debut for the Griffins. The Vikings had no answer to his defence-slashing drives.

He would also add three from beyond the arch. Mony'ele poses a prominent scoring threat for the Griffins offensive arsenal. His impact was felt almost instantly after coming off the bench.

Adam Boyd provides veteran presence on a young Griffins team. Photo by Dat Bui

His efforts would also be joined by the play of third year guard, Adam Boyd who would provide his own type of energy by adding 14 while going 3-8 from three point territory along with three steals. One of his makes from downtown would beat the buzzer to close out the half, which brought the MacEwan faithful to a frenzy. He would do it all donning bandages over a previously injured shoulder.

Although the most unheralded of heroes from Thursday night was Lyndon Bolanac who was MacEwan's most efficient scorer, going 6-8 for 14 points and was a force to be reckoned with in the paint with eight rebounds and a pair of blocks.

This concerted offence would translate into a 24 point Griffins lead going into halftime, from there MacEwan would roll to the easy win.

On the defensive end the Griffins stymied the Vikings, shoddy ball-handling would result in 12 MacEwan steals. The Griffins were also dominant in the paint racking up 30 points in the paint and blocking five Augustana shots, the Vikings also struggled from three-point range hitting only 3-16 (18.8%).