Regular Season: CHCI, 61-35
Mark's Pick: CHCI by 22
Both teams are playing a lot better than the last time that they met, so we'll see how that pans out. The Crusaders have generally struggled against the "upper echelon teams" of WCSSAA, losing by 44 to Forest Heights, 28 to SJAM, and 26 to Cameron Heights.
The Crusaders get the advantage of the extra "play-in game" under their belt but the Gaels should still win by a bunch on their home floor.
(2) Forest Heights vs. (7) WCI
Regular Season: FHCI, 63-62
Mark's Pick: FHCI by 8
Definitely a tougher than anticipated 2 vs. 7 matchup for the Trojans, as the Vikes took them to the wire last time around. The Vikes have been steadily improving throughout the season, which is probably attributable to the (many) grade 11s they have in their rotation getting acclimatized to senior basketball. If the Vikes can do a better job containing Javon Masters tomorrow (28 in their last meeting), they may have a shot strictly thanks to their balanced scoring attack ---- they can have probably 5 or 6 guys go for double figures on any given night (and, in fact, had 4 double digit scorers against Preston yesterday). This time, however, the game is on the Trojans' home floor where they are very tough to beat. I'll take the Trojans by single digits.
(3) SJAM vs. (6) KCI
Regular Season: KCI, 51-48
Mark's Pick: SJAM by 2
Here we go again. The SJAM Highlanders and the KCI Raiders will go toe-to-toe over at SJAM with a Saturday semifinals berth on the line.
I'm assuming neither team will be at full-strength for this one. KCI had just 8 active players on Tuesday night in their win against Huron Heights, while the Highlanders have been hard hit by the injury bug as of late --- with Kwame Botchway and (I'm now hearing) Theshawn Berry now both out for the season. Neither team is really deep, so I don't expect to see the pace of this one allow this contest to get out of the 40s.
This is a "decent" matchup for the KCI, with the Raiders having some size (6'4"/6'5" Martin Bauman) able to match-up with SJAM's grade 10 big man, Quinn Turner, on the inside. The 'Landers do have the overall edge at guard with Ben Reyhani and Edem Ame (both likely WCSSAA all-stars), so we'll see if they can exploit that edge and turn it into a win. My gut says SJAM in a close one.
(4) Bluevale vs. (5) Grand River
Regular Season: Bluevale 65-39
Mark's Pick: Bluevale by 12
One way or another, I think Stefan Cvrkalj is going to ensure that his last high school game at Bluevale isn't a quarterfinal loss. That's all I have to say about this one other than the fact that it should be closer than their regular season tilt, but GRCI's guards are going to need to be on their game shooting wise to give them a chance.
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