Photo Album: Wildhawks U19

Here's a shot of the Waterloo Wildhawks U19 #1 squad after finishing fourth in the province (Division I) over the weekend.

After finishing 2-1 in pool play (updates below), the Wildhawks dropped a 73-53 decision in the semifinals to JAMBA, a squad led by Aaron Best of Eastern Commerce.  Ryan Higgins (12) and Stefan Cvrkalj (11) led the way for Waterloo in that one.

That forced a relatively quick turnaround an hour later against Toronto BJC.  In a thrilling game, the Wildhawks battled back from a 36-25 halftime deficit to take a 51-50 lead after three. 

The fourth quarter saw teams trade baskets and a late turnover helped Toronto escape with a 1-point win.

Cvrkalj led the way with 27 while Higgins added 12 and St. Mary's stars Isaac Lance and Ben Bankazo had 9 each.

"CWOSSA Based Teams" - Top 4 Finishes @ OBA's

U17

Division 4 - KW Vipers (4th)

Division 6 - Cambridge Centaurs (2nd)

Division 8 - Guelph CYO #2 (1st)

U19

Division 1 - Waterloo Wildhawks (4th)

Division 2 - KW Vipers (4th)

Division 7 - Cambridge Centaurs (4th)

'Hawks Through to Semifinals at U19 in Division 1

The Waterloo Wildhawks are through to the semifinals of the U-19 basketball tournament at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo.

The 'Hawks overcame another slow start in their morning opener against the #5 Etobicoke Thunder.  Waterloo found themselves down 39-26 after the first half, but blasted out a 55-point second half performance to win going away, 81-66.  Stefan Cvrkalj had 30 and Ben Bankazo netted 24 for the Wildhawks in that win.

The Wildhawks and the #1 ranked Ottawa Guardsmen did battle in the afternoon to determine first place in the pool.  The game was generally tight throughout, with Ottawa taking an 8-point halftime lead only to see the Wildhawks rally to tie in the third quarter.  The Guardsmen got a little bit of breathing room in the fourth and held on for the 65-59 win.  Cvrkalj led the 'Hawks again with 20 points while Ryan Higgins and Bankazo had 9 each.

Waterloo will play at 10:30am (Laurier) in the semifinals against JAMBA.  Don't quote me on this, but I believe admission is free as it was today.

Klassen Paces Centaurs To Semifinals in U19 D7

A hot-shooting Josh Klassen (Kitchener Rockway) poured in 30 points as the Cambridge Centaurs survived a hard-fought 71-63 game against the East Side City Warriors (out of the Oshawa area) on Saturday afternoon at Preston High School.

Things didn't start so smoothly for the Centaurs, as they surrendered the first 9 points of the game before rebounding to close the first quarter down 15-10.

Klassen would get hot in the second as he hit a couple of quick threes to give the Centaurs the lead.  They would close the quarter by having Tyrone Tyndale (St. Benedict) get an "and-one" --- though he missed the free throw he managed to get his own rebound and put that in for the four point possession and help the Centaurs take a 31-25 lead into halftime.

The Centaurs couldn't pull away in the second half, extending their lead to 13 points (56-43) on a three-pointer from former MDCSS star Josh Loehle with 6:00 to play but the Warriors would get as close as 6 points down the stretch before clutch free throw shooting from Klassen and Josh Fabe (Paris DHS) helped the Centaurs close it out.

Klassen's 30 points included a 6-for-11 showing behind the arc.  Accounting for the rest of Cambridge's points were Tyndale with 12, Fabe (9), Galt's Nic Bradford (9), Loehle (7), Mark Saris (2) and Kieran Senior (2).

With the win, the Centaurs have clinched a semifinal berth.  A win in their 6pm game tonight against the Sudbury JAM (1-1) would give them first place, while with a loss they would settle for second.

Here's a look at the Centaurs boxscore:

Cambridge    10-21-18-22 = 71

East Side      15-10-14-24 = 63

Cambridge Centaurs

M. Stotesbury  0-4 FG, 0-4 FT, 2 Reb, 3 Ast - 0 Pts.

J. Fabe            1-4 FG, 7-10 FT, 2 Reb, 1 Ast - 9 Pts.

T. Tyndale       6-9 FG, 0-1 FT, 2 Reb, 3 Ast - 12 Pts.

N. Bradford    3-5 FG, 2-3 FT, 8 Reb, 0 Ast - 9 Pts.

J. Loehle         3-11 FG, 0-0 FT, 0 Reb, 3 Ast - 7 Pts.

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J. Klassen       9-17 FG, 6-6 FT, 4 Reb, 0 Ast - 30 Pts.

D. Strickland   0-1 FG, 0-0 FT, 1 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.

M. Saris          1-2 FG, 0-0 FT, 1 Reb, 0 Ast - 2 Pts.

T. Bartley        0-2 FG, 0-0 FT, 3 Reb, 1 Ast - 0 Pts.

K. Senior        0-1 FG, 2-2 FT, 2 Reb, 1 Ast - 2 Pts.

C. Langille       0-0 FG, 0-0 FT, 0 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.

J. Parsons        0-2 FG, 0-0 FT, 1 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.

Field Goals:  23-58 (.397).  Free-Throws:  17-26 (.654).  Three-Point Goals, 8-21 (.381):  J. Klassen 6-11, N. Bradford 1-1, J. Loehle 1-5, T. Barley 0-1, M. Stotesbury 0-1, J. Fabe 0-1, J. Parsons 0-1.  Steals:  12 (J. Klassen 3, T. Tyndale 2, M. Saris 2, M. Stotesbury, J. Fabe, J. Loehle, J. Parsons, C. Langille).  Blocked Shots:  4 (N. Bradford, T. Bartley, J. Klassen, M. Saris).

Wildhawks, Vipers Get Off To Strong Starts at U19 Tournament

Both the Waterloo Wildhawks and the K-W Vipers got off to strong starts on Friday night in their respective divisions at the U-19 junior men's OBA tournament in Kitchener-Waterloo.

The Wildhawks overcame a slow start in the opening minutes of the contest to rip the #8 Burlington Skyhawks 78-51.  The 'Hawks took the lead for good when Amjed Osman fed a nice pass to (Peterborough import) Matt Nelson for a two-handed dunk with 5:20 left in the first half to put them up 22-21.  Waterloo would then outscore Burlington 18-4 the rest of the half to take a 15-point margin into halftime --- they would cruise home to victory in the second half.

Ryan Higgins led the Wildhawk charge with 18 points scored in a variety of ways --- three pointers, mid-range jumpers and even a late-game dunk.  Three other Waterloo players ended in double figures:  Ben Bankazo (15), Matt Nelson (15) and Stefan Cvrkalj (12).  Amjed Osman had a nice stat line of 6 points, 6 rebounds and 7 assists off the bench.

Waterloo's details were as follows:

I. Lance - 0 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists

R. Higgins - 18 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists

B. Bankazo - 15 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist

S. Cvrkalj - 12 points, 2 rebounds, 4 assists

M. Nelson - 15 points, 1 rebound, 0 assists

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A. Osman - 6 points, 6 rebounds, 7 assists

T. Lavigne - 3 points, 0 rebounds, 0 assists

T. Schneider - 3 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist

S. Stanviuk - 4 points, 0 rebounds, 0 assists

P. Smith - 2 points, 0 rebounds, 0 assists

I. Farquharson - 0 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist

Meanwhile, over at Resurrection in Division 2, the #1 seeded K-W Vipers topped the #5 St. Catharines CYO Rebels by a 70-58 count.  

It was all SJAM and Resurrection players that accounted for the Vipers points.  Leading the way was SJAM sharpshooter Ben Reyhani, who had 26 points, 24 of which were from behind the arc on 8 three-pointers.  Mike Pereira had a solid game with 22 points while the rest of the points came from Jeff Rodrigues (11), Andrew Mwangi (6), Edem Ame (4) and Mike Findlay (2).

Play continues today at Laurier (D1) and Rez (D2).  The Wildhawks play at 10:30 and 3pm, while the Vipers are up at 9am and again at 3pm.  Semifinals and finals go Sunday.

Reminder: U19 OBA's in K-W-C This Weekend

The U19 OBA championships are in Kitchener-Waterloo-Cambridge this weekend, and action gets underway today.

Our area's two highest rated teams, the Waterloo Wildhawks (#4 in Division 1) and the K-W Vipers (#1 in Division 2) are both in action this afternoon/evening. 

The Vipers will get underway first at 4:30pm (at Resurrection) against the #5 St. Catharines CYO Rebels.

The Wildhawks will do battle at 6:00pm (at Laurier) against the #8 seed Burlington Skyhawks.

Play continues throughout the weekend; log on to www.basketball.on.ca for full schedules and results.

CWOSSABasketball.com: Top 10 Recruits - Class of 2012

Here are my top "10" recruits (as we stand right now) for the Class of 2012 here in the CWOSSA region.

Note:  This only includes players that have confirmed that they are returning for a 5th year of high school, as well as those players currently finishing grade 11 (so grade 12 next year).  Of course, some of those grade 12s may certainly come back for a 5th year as well but this list will include those "eligible to graduate" next year.

This list isn't necessarily about the "best high school players" in the region.  Rather, it is a projection (or at least a guess) of how I feel that players will stack up at the next level.

In brackets is the grade of the student next season.

2012 CWOSSABasketball.com Top Recruit List
1.  Alex Thompson, 5'10" G, St. Mary's (Kit) (5th Year)
2.  Shamlo Saeed, 5'10" PG, JF Ross (5th Year)
3.  Mike Pereira, 6'5" F, Resurrection (5th Year)
4.  Adam Voll, 6'5" F, St. Mary's (Kit) (Grade 12)
5.  Javon Masters, 6'0" PG/SG, FHCI (Grade 12) 
6.  Cory Kenning, 6'7" F, Resurrection (Grade 12)
7.  Jacob Ranton, 6'5" F, Waterloo (Grade 12)
8.  Mike Friesen, 6'3" SG, JF Ross (Grade 12)
9.  Tyler Schneider, 6'2" G, Resurrection (5th Year)
T10.  Sean Samuel, 6'0" PG/SG, Huron Hts (Grade 12)
T10.  Vedran Dmitrovic, 6'0" SG, CHCI (Grade 12)

After this list was posted, others who are confirmed back:
Perrin Smith, 6'6" F, Bluevale (5th Year)
Isaac Lance, 5'11" PG, St. Mary's (5th Year)

CWOSSABasketball.com Junior Boys Player of the Year

No real surprise here as the award goes to....

Juwan Miller, 5'10" G - Forest Heights CI (Kitchener)

Although we could emphasize several of his efforts, the scoring dynamo for the Trojans put in 35 points, 11 rebounds and 5 assists in the CWOSSA "AAAA" championship final, leading his team to a 59-47 victory over the St. Mary's Eagles.

Miller will now move up to the senior squad and help to form one of the best backcourts in CWOSSA with one of my senior all-stars, current grade 11 student Javon Masters.

CWOSSABasketball.com Junior Boys Player of the Year
2010-2011:  Juwan Miller, Forest Heights
2009-2010:  Mitchell Wood, Bishop Macdonell

CWOSSABasketball.com's Senior CWOSSA Player of the Year

Haven't had time to announce it, but we're giving the nod to Amjed Osman of Cameron Heights, who led his Gaels to their first WCSSAA and CWOSSA titles in quite some time.

Here's a look at what I had to say about Osman in my previous post announcing him as one of my first-team all-stars.  Congratulations!

CWOSSABasketball.com Senior Player of the Year
2011 - Amjed Osman, Cameron Heights
2010 - Stefan Cvrkalj, Bluevale Collegiate

CWOSSA Recruiting & Returning News - May 18th

Senior Girls

Sam Edwards, Monsignor Doyle (PG/SG)
The graduating scoring dynamo, who put up efforts of 32 (RCSS) and 29 (SDCSS) in D8 league play, turned down a partial offer south of the border in Indiana and will be staying in Ontario next fall.  She has been in touch with coaches at Toronto, Brock, and Windsor and will be suiting up for one of those three schools.

Senior Boys

Ben Reyhani, SJAM (6'0" G, Grade 12)
Reyhani has been accepted at the University of Waterloo's electrical engineering program; if he can defer admission for one year (info can be found here at UW's website), then he will come back to SJAM for a 5th year of high school and attend UW in the fall of 2012.

Adrian Russell, Resurrection (5'11" G, Grade 11)
Russell, who was a starting guard (and had some clutch performances) on the Resurrection junior CWOSSA championship team in 2010, has indicated that he is transferring down the road to Forest Heights Collegiate starting in September 2011.  He will join a stacked backcourt with current Trojans Juwan Miller and Javon Masters.  Russell would be immediately eligible to play as he was not a member of Resurrection's team this past season.

Any other news/information can always be e-mailed to me for posting - mark @ cwossabasketball.com

Update: OBA U19 Tournament Draw Released

You can check all of the draws at the Ontario Basketball Website.  The tournament runs May 27-29th in Kitchener-Waterloo.

Of note:

1.  The Waterloo Wildhawks are seeded 4th in Division I, and will compete in games at Wilfrid Laurier.  Their pool games are at 6pm Friday, 10:30am Saturday and 3:00pm Saturday.

2.  The KW Vipers are seeded 1st in Division 2, and will compete in games at Resurrection CSS.  Their gametimes go at 4:30pm Friday, 9:00am Saturday and 3:00pm Saturday.

3.  Other sites include St. Mary's CHS (Division 3 - Guelph Phoenix); SJAM (Division 4); Waterloo Collegiate (Division 5) as well as several others.

Good luck to all CWOSSA players taking part!

Several CWOSSA Players on "All Canada Classic" Nomination List

Preparations are being finalized for the 2011 All Canada Classic, a national high school all-star game that takes place at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto.

Several CWOSSA performers have cracked the nominee list (top 50 boys & girls) ---- 20 boys & girls will make up the rosters for the game.

Girls
Kayla Santilli - 5'10" G (St. John's/Brantford)
Kelly Van Leeuwen - 5'9" PG (St. John's/Brantford)
Michelle Hudyn - 6'2" F (Eastwood/Kitchener)

Boys
Stefan Cvrkalj, 6'4" G (Bluevale/Waterloo)

Further details, including game rosters, will be announced on the game's website:  allcanadaclassic.com.

OBA U19 Tournament in Kitchener-Waterloo Later This Month

Preliminary rankings for the OBA basketball tournament (U17 and U19 divisions) have been released by Ontario Basketball.  The U19 boys tournament will actually be taking place locally here in Kitchener-Waterloo from May 27th to 29th.

The Waterloo Wildhawks, who finished their regular season at 12-1, have received a very impressive #4 seed (out of 67 teams) and are slotted in Division I.

The 'Hawks are led by a couple of our "all-CWOSSA" first team performers, including Ryan Higgins (St. James) and Stefan Cvrkalj (Bluevale).

The KW Vipers, meanwhile, are right behind with a #8 seeding and also in Division I.

Other "CWOSSA area" teams competing in U19 include:
Simcoe Suns - #19 (Division 3)
Guelph Youth Basketball Assoc. - #23 (Division 3)
Wildhawk #2 - #41 (Division 6)
Centre Wellington Celtics - #46 (Division 6)
Cambridge Basketball - #50 (Division 7)

The U17 boys tournament will be taking place in Niagara as well next weekend, with the Waterloo Wildhawks squad slotted (as of right now) in the #3 position in D1.  Forest Heights' backcourt mates Javon Masters and Juwan Miller spurred them to a 30-point win last night in an exhibition matchup against the KW Vipers. 

On the girls side, the KW Lightning #1 girls' team took the bronze medal at the U19 OBA tournament earlier this month, which is exactly where they were slotted in the rankings.  They defeated #4 Welland 45-44 in the bronze medal game.

The Brantford Briers (ranked #8) went 0-3 in that same tournament, but lost to the #1, #4 and #5 ranked teams by 11, 2, and 10 points respectively.