Friday & Saturday at St. Mary's HS (Pool B) and Resurrection CSS (Pool A, Semifinals & Finals).
Past AAAA Champions:
2009 - Resurrection (over Grand River)
2008 - St. Mary's (over Grand River)
2007 - JF Ross (over Centennial)
2006 - Centennial (over Forest Heights)
2005 - Forest Heights (over North Park)
Pool Designations:
A - Resurrection, WCI, JF Ross
B - Grand River, Centennial, St. John's
(Schedule is attached in image to the right - click for larger version)
Team By Team Previews:
Waterloo Collegiate Vikings (8-4 WCSSAA RS; WCSSAA Champions - WCSSAA #1)
Past CWOSSA Junior Championships: 2003 (AAAA)
Key Players: Jacob Ranton, Malcolm Piazza, Alex Anagnostopoulos, Zach Totzke, Jeremy Scott
The Waterloo CI Vikings started and ended their WCSSAA season with a bang. In December, they took out the Forest Heights Trojans in their first league game ---- creating some immediate buzz about their potential. However, after a couple of mid-season losses (HHHS, CHCI) and one later on to JHSS, some questioned if they would even qualify for CWOSSA.
Fast forward a few weeks, and solid playoff performances have earned the Vikes the WCSSAA title and they have as good a shot as anyone to come home with a CWOSSA title in a wide-open AAAA field.
The Vikes have nice balance in sleek shooting Jacob Ranton, penetrating guard Alex Anagnostopoulos, and inside finisher Malcolm Piazza. They also get great production from their 6th man, Jeremy Scott.
John F. Ross Royals (7-7 D10, D10 semifinalists - D10 #2)
Past CWOSSA Championships: 2007 (AAAA), 1988, 82, 80, 78 76 (AAA)
Key Players: Nick Maule, Mike Freisen
A good word for this team is "inconsistent" ----- but it's not all bad. They've at times shown flashes of being one of the top teams in all of CWOSSA (split games against Rez, beat St. John's & SJAM) while at other times appearing very ordinary (regular season loss to GCVI). They've been playing well down the stretch and I expect a strong showing from the Royals this weekend.
Their two key players are slashing guard Nick Maule (who is also a great distributor) and shooting guard Mike Friesen, who is deadly from behind the arc but also not afraid to get physical on the interior. His size can create numerous difficulties for the opposition.
The Royals are well coached under head man Charles Douglas. He frequently switches defense and enjoys a high-tempo game --- something that could come into play for Ross as a lot of other clubs don't go as deep as they do.
Resurrection Phoenix (10-0 D8, D8 Champions - D8 #1)
Past CWOSSA Championships: 2009 (AAAA)
Key Players: Cory Kenning, Alphonso Ellis, Tyler Bartley, Adam Schneider, Adrian Russell
The Phoenix enter as the defending CWOSSA champions, but don't get this squad confused with last year's team --- they only have two returning players from last year's CWOSSA championship team.
Like JF Ross, the Phoenix have shown inconsistency at times but have also had some big wins (Bishop Mac among them). They played very well against St. Mary's and will need to continue to execute against the tough teams in their pool to move on to the semifinals.
Centennial CVI Spartans (8-6 D10, D10 Runners Up - D10 #1)
Past CWOSSA Championships: 2006 (AAAA), 1998 (AAA)
Key Players: Aleks Kaludjerovic, Erik Sterne, Ed Gray.
The Spartans are here for more than a brief visit this year. Last year, they had a tough pool with both Resurrection and Grand River and were on the wrong end of a couple of blowouts.
This year, the above three players have stepped up at different times to lead the Spartans to big wins ---- their biggest including Centre Dufferin in tournament play. They also upset Lourdes (only team other than Bishop Mac to beat them in D10) in the league semifinals to earn a championship finals apperance.
The Spartans are dangerous if they get rolling --- I think the winner of the CCVI/GRCI game will be the other team making it through to the semis.
St. John's College Eagles (10-0 D5, D5 Champions - D5 #1)
Past CWOSSA Championships: 1994, 93, 92, 84, 75, 74, 73, 72 (AAA)
Key Players: JP Yurcich, Tyler Van Leeuwen.
St. John's is arguably the favourite to take the AAAA championship. They have kind of been "out on an island" in the D5 league but blasted North Park decisively in the championship series.
PG Tyler Van Leeuwen has established himself as a scoring threat and is one of the better passers out there in junior. JP Yurcich does a lot of good work inside for the Eagles.
Look for STJ to be playing in one of the semifinals on Saturday.
Grand River CI Renegades (8-4 WCSSAA, WCSSAA Runners Up - WCSSAA #2)
Past CWOSSA Championships: 1996 (AAA)
Key Players: Filip Cvrkalj, Nate Walker, Chuder Teny, Chris Coates
The Rens probably come into this tourney a little disappointed with not being able to win the WCSSAA title on Tuesday night. That said, they'll need to get over that in a hurry because they have a great opportunity to do some damage at CWOSSA.
The Rens are the two-time defending silver medalists; to get over that hump they'll need big performances from the guys that support star Filip Cvrkalj ---- Chuder Teny, Nate Walker and Chris Coates will need to step up if the Rens want to walk away with a championship.
Projection and Comments
WIDE OPEN. That's the general consensus among the people I've been talking to; I wouldn't be surprised to see any of the above teams go 2-0 or 0-2 in pool play. Similarly, I won't be surprised to see any of the above 6 teams be crowned champion on Saturday night ---- it's been that kind of year in CWOSSA junior boys basketball. Looks like whoever is peaking at the right time will walk away with the title!
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