WCSSAA Thursday: Sabres Win To Keep Pace in AAA Race

You never know what might happen on any WCSSAA gameday.

On Thursday, it was the Southwood Sabres pulling out an important 37-29 victory over the Elmira Lancers at home to keep pace in the race for an AAA playoff berth.  Although playoff position determines who advances, ties are broken based upon regular season standings.  After yesterday's action, Jacob Hespeler and Preston both sit at 6-1, while Elmira and Southwood are now at 4-3.

Meanwhile, in the overall standings, the Bluevale Knights and WCI Vikings continue to be perfect with 7-0 marks.  Those clubs will meet at Bluevale next Thursday (3:30pm).

Here's what went down yesterday:

Senior

Cameron Heights 59, Forest Heights 33
My Pick:  CHCI
Another big effort from Liz McLellan (24) was backed by 12 more from Ashanti Lewis as the Gaels pick a key win to stay in the hunt for a first-round bye.  Blair McNaughton accounted for almost half of FHCI's points (16), while Sarah Potter added 8.

Bluevale 60, Grand River 25
My Pick:  BCI
Three Knights ended in double figures --- Sarah Hamm (21), Natalie Bishop (12) and Shannon Curran (10) as Bluevale rolled the visiting Rens.  Ana Milanovic (8) and Alex Ostapchuk (8) topped the GRCI scoring.

Jacob Hespeler 54, Galt 22
My Pick:  JHSS
The Hawks are now riding a six-game win streak after taking care of GCI.  Brooklyn Wright (13) and Naomi Adams (12) had their usual steady efforts for JHSS; Milica Stevanovic (8), Ashlyn Beckman (5) and Suzanna Liam (5) were Galt's high scorers.

Glenview Park 37, Huron Heights 32
My Pick:  GPSS
Could have gone either way as I noted during my picks post, so I'm glad I changed to the Panthers.  Their balanced attack was keyed by Alyssa Goodridge (9) and Marja Vandermeulen (8), while Emily Bidinosti had a game-high 12 for HHHS.  Rachel Wilkinson added 7 more for Huron.

Southwood 37, Elmira 29
My Pick:  EDSS
The Sabres were victorious in this defense-first contest.  Kayleigh Hutt-Taylor (14) and Nicole Barnard (10) posted double-digit efforts for the Sabres; Krista Wiens (10) and Tessa Charnuski (4) led the way for Elmira.

WCI 53, SJAM 28
My Pick:  WCI
Another easy win for WCI on Thursday, backed by 22 from Lindsay Lessard and 8 from Lindsay Taylor.  Malena McCrossan-Moses had 15 for SJAM, with Lea Genard adding 5.

Preston 61, KCI 46
My Pick:  PHS
Both teams were able to light up the scoreboard a bit in Kitchener, with Preston coming away victorious.  Nikea Worrell (20) and rookie Ashley White (18) had the big efforts for the Panthers, while KCI was led by Christiana Koebel (12) and Nikaya Snell (9).

Bye Win:  Eastwood (5-2)

Senior WCSSAA Standings
T1.  WCI 7-0*
T1.  Bluevale 7-0*
T3.  Preston 6-1
T3.  Jacob Hespeler 6-1
T3.  Cameron Heights 6-1
6.  Eastwood 5-2
T7.  Forest Heights 4-3
T7.  Southwood 4-3
T7.  Elmira 4-3
T10.  Glenview Park 2-5
T10.  Galt 2-5
T12.  KCI 1-6
T12.  Grand River 1-6
T12.  SJAM 1-6
15.  Huron Heights 0-7

* = clinched playoff berth

Junior

WODSS 54, Eastwood 24
One of the top junior squads in CWOSSA kept it rolling on Thursday, with Madison Horst (22) and Rebecca Payne (11) leading the way.  Mel Samuel (9) and Sam Legue (6) topped the ECI scoring.

Forest Heights 44, Cameron Heights 33
An important win for the Trojans in this AAAA showdown.  Tameika Elliot continued her strong play with an 18-point effort, while teammate Shannon Scott netted 11.  For Cameron, Hunter Johns had 12 and Tonisha Lewis put home 9.

Grand River 41, Bluevale 40
Would have been a big win by Bluevale to really shake up the standings, but they've served notice that they can be competitive with some of the top teams in the league.  For GRCI, Jamie Noonan (12) and Rachel Schwegel (8) led the way; Bluevale saw Julia Curran (17) and Tess McIlwraith (10) lead the way.

Jacob Hespeler 45, Galt 30
The 'Hawks keep pace with the upper echelon teams in the league by avoiding a potential pitfall against Galt.  Candice Wright (18) topped all scorers for JHSS, with Emily O'Krafka adding 9.  Megan White (7) and Sydney Schouten (6) topped Galt's scoring.

Glenview Park 36, Huron Heights 20
The Panthers kept Huron Heights' star Jenna Gangl in check (7 points) and pulled out the win.  Emilie Lutz (12) and Jocelyn Kivell (11) both had double-digit efforts to pace the Panthers, while Katrina Kostecki had 6 alongside Gangl's effort.

Elmira 46, Southwood 39
Nicole Cressman and Bailey Bond scored 13 each for EDSS in the winning effort.  Taylor White had a game-high 21 for Southwood, with Cali Doran adding 7.

WCI 40, SJAM 23
The Vikes stay perfect with another win, thanks in part to 15 from Danielle Sauve and 8 from Kaylee Anagnostopoulos.  Brianna Ilitshishin (8) and Safina Husein (6) led SJAM.

KCI 32, Preston 14
The Raiders moved to 5-2 by beating winless Preston.  Frances Campbell had 9 and Amy Graves 4 in the win, while PHS received 5 from Breanna Johnson and 4 from Alex Fisher.

Junior WCSSAA Standings
T1.  WODSS 7-0
T1.  WCI 7-0
3.  Grand River 6-1
T4.  Forest Heights 5-2
T4.  KCI 5-2
T4.  Elmira 5-2
T4.  Jacob Hespeler 5-2
T8.  Cameron Heights 3-4
T8.  SJAM 3-4
T10.  Bluevale 2-5
T10.  Eastwood 2-5
T10.  Huron Heights 2-5
T10.  Southwood 2-5
T14.  Glenview Park 1-6
T14.  Galt 1-6
16.  Preston 0-7