OFSAA AAAA Preview: (2) Mother Teresa vs (11) Bluevale CI

OFSAA AAAA Preview

(2) Mother Teresa Titans (26-8, 13-0 League)

vs

(11) Bluevale CI Knights (34-10, 12-0 League)

The Mother Teresa Titans have come a long way.

A long way, that is, since the start of the year. Many of you may "remember the Titans" as a team that struggled a bit at the Heinbuch, barely holding off Kitchener Collegiate by a 71-63 final.

Gone were guys like 6'9" C Maurice Walker (prep school), Ashton Khan, and others from last year's roster. In fact, MT returned just one starter and five players overall --- meaning 8 new faces were on this year's roster when they showed up in Kitchener for the Heinbuch.

Mother Teresa definitely experienced some growing pains early in the year. Of their 8 losses, 6 of them were before December 12th.

Then, things started clicking. The Titans knocked off a potential OFSAA #1 seed, Father Henry Carr by a 54-52 count in the playoffs and claimed the TDCAA berth.

And you'd better believe that MT coach Richard Gallagher will be doing everything he can to ensure that his Titans don't get caught napping in this one. It was 5 years ago (crazy to think it's been that long) when Mother Teresa entered OFSAA as the #1 seed, but a pesky club from CWOSSA (KCI) was ranked.......oh wait, 11th, and gave them all they could handle before falling by a 58-51 final.

For the Knights to pull off a similar performance---or even win----they'll really need to get some production from guys other than Andrew Beney (who should have a decent game inside) and Stefan Cvrkalj. In addition, handling the Titans' pressure defense is a must. Furthermore, given Bluevale's limited depth (6-7 deep), they can't afford to get into a track-meet here. If the Titans get into the 60s, Bluevale's chances of winning decrease significantly.

JR from WCSSAAsports.com has a nice write-up from the Bluevale camp detailing their season and profiling some of their "lesser known" team members.

It would definitely be an upset if Bluevale won, but they have competed with good teams this season (see: Pickering at the Forest City Shootout)-----and have a lot of game experience to fall back on. In fact, of all teams at OFSAA, Bluevale's 44-game schedule was second only to #1 Pickering's 45 games played.

Do the Knights have another big win in their back pocket? We'll find out this afternoon.