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Gramza comes all the way back for Vikes by Eric Keppeler
If you can’t do it right, then don’t do it at all. Mark Gramza loved to play basketball, but he knew he wouldn’t be able to devote the proper amount of time and energy to his team, so he took a few years off. Now with one last chance to play high school ball, the Grand Island senior came out for the varsity and beat the odds by sticking with the team as a guard. And contributing. “I had some family problems going on, and I thought it was best for me to take a couple of years off to get everything situated,” Gramza said. “Then a couple of my buddies talked me into coming back out for basketball, so I worked at it over the summer. I’ve just tried as hard as I could, and here I am.” Gramza started out in the Viking basketball program as a freshman, where he played one season with the junior varsity before his two-year hiatus. He still came out to watch his team and the game he loved, and he got into a few pick-up games, but that was about the extent of his playing career over the last two years. “Normally we wouldn’t have kept a senior under those circumstances, but he really impressed me,” Grand Island coach Chris Simpson said. “As soon as he came out, he really fit in with our top seven or eight guys. He listens and he pays attention, and he tried to do exactly what you tell him.” Gramza had no illusions about his chances of making the squad. He knew that playing time was at a premium, and that some of the younger players stood to benefit the most from live game action. So he couldn’t quite believe it when he made the final cut. “I was very surprised that he kept me,” Gramza said. “I do get along well with everybody on the team – they’re some of my best friends. And chemistry is the most important thing in basketball. If you don’t have that, you have no chance of winning.” He’s given his coach no reason to regret the decision to keep him. Gramza’s been a natural fit into the rotation and while not flashy, he’s very effective. “Gramza’s probably the hardest working player we’ve got on the team,” Simpson said. “Every second, he’s diving on the floor for a loose ball – he does the little things that make a difference in the big games.” He’s one of many reasons that the Vikings are enjoying one of their most successful seasons in years. Grand Island already has eight wins this season, which is more than the last two years combined, and it’s likely enough to land the Vikings a home playoff game when the Section VI playoffs begin later this month. “This is the best season the team has had in a while, and I think the chemistry has a lot to do with that,” Gramza said. “We think we’re playing well enough to keep it going into the playoffs.”
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