Mark's "Fab 5": CWOSSA Junior "Pre/Early Season" Ranking

The D8 league this year may -- arguably -- be the best it has ever been since it's inception in 1990-91.

As discussed in my D8 commentary the other day, St. Mary's, St. Benedict, and Resurrection, all return significant portions of their team from a season ago (and they had a season, while others didn't --- which shouldn't be discounted).

Here's the initial rankings:

1.  St. Mary's CHS / Kitchener
The defending D8 champions got off to a great start in the GTA, and find themselves at the top of the initial ranking.  With solid inside and outside presences, the Eagles are certainly one of the most balanced CWOSSA teams.

2.  St. Benedict CSS / Cambridge
The Saints have looked strong in early pre-season action, with Zubair Seyed, Alex Douglas and Justin Malnerich leading the way. 

3.  Resurrection CSS / Kitchener
Like the other D8 teams mentioned above, Rez returns a significant portion of their lineup (actually all 5 starters).  They were 4-0 en route to a tournament championship in Sarnia last weekend.

4.  Grand River CI / Kitchener
It should be a dogfight for the WCSSAA title this year, but -- on paper -- the Rens look like one of the possible favourites in my view.

5.  St. James CHS / Guelph
With a 2-0 D10 start, including a win over JF Ross, I'll put the Lions in the #5 spot for now, although I probably could have put a handful of teams here --- we'll certainly know more after the next week's worth of games.

Mark's "Fab 5": CWOSSA Senior "Pre/Early Season" Ranking

Despite being a four-team tournament this year, it looks as though CWOSSA "AAAA" on the senior side should be a dandy.

Potentially, you could have top four teams in my preseason ranking fighting it out for the two OFSAA berths.

Earlier this week, I had St. Mary's as my #1 CWOSSA team, but I've dropped them to #3 after a preseason slip-up against Grand River.  Realistically, I look at Cameron Heights, Grand River and St. Mary's as "#1 a, b, and c" right now.

The Heinbuch Tournament this weekend should also help to sort some things out.

Here's a look at my top 5 CWOSSA teams right now:

1.  Cameron Heights CI / Kitchener
The Gaels are in mid-season form offensively, as evidenced by an 80-point outburst against KCI last night.  Solid early season results, including a semifinal berth at the Pinky Lewis, have them as my #1 team right now.

2.  Grand River CI / Kitchener
Despite losing Jamal Murray to Prep School, the Renegades still have a ton of talent including returning starters Chuder Teny and Murtada Khamis.  They looked good in their preseason opener, so I'll slot them at #2 for the time being.

3.  St. Mary's CHS / Kitchener
Last year's CWOSSA 'champions' should again be among the favourites to take the crown this year.  The Eagles may very well be able to jump back to the top of the CWOSSA rankings depending on how things shake down at the Heinbuch this weekend.

4.  JF Ross CVI / Guelph
The Royals are 2-0 in D10 play, and have a well-balanced roster keyed by 6'6" F Kristian Vande Kemp.  Arguably one of the deepest teams in CWOSSA, the two league wins were against arguably two of the top 4 D10 teams as well (Lourdes & St. James).

5.  Resurrection CSS / Kitchener
A preseason win over SJAM and a tournament win over Bishop Mac have the Phoenix sliding into the top 5 at this point --- and it shouldn't be discounted that they've done it while generally missing two starters.  Definitely a "darkhorse" team, they have the advantage of some senior leadership with three 5th year starters (Adam Schneider, Patric McGlynn, Jacob Gilbert).

D10: Thursday Results

Senior
In the biggest D10 game of the day, the JF Ross Royals went on the road and improved to 2-0 at the expense of the Lourdes Crusaders, pulling out a 53-43 victory.

Tommy Yanchus netted 18 for the Royals, while Mo Hussein added 10 more.  Kevin Roche had a game-high 20 for the Crusaders with Craig Valeriote chipping in 10.

The Bishop Mac Celtics are also 2-0 after a 69-50 win over Centennial.  Jesse Kendall poured in 25 for BMAC with Jake Chaput adding 15; Harnoor Samra led CCVI with 20 and Chris Jin added 12. 

Centre Wellington was given a run by Orangeville but came out in the end with a 58-51 win, thanks to a strong 26-point effort from James Scott.  Sam Goindi added 12 for the Falcons, while ODSS received 17 from Justin Levesque.

St. James evened their record at 1-1 with a 59-36 home win over Guelph CVI.  Joey Hasson (12) and Mitch Marquis (10) led the way, while GCVI received 8 from David Wesley-James.

Junior
The Orangeville Bears are 2-0, equalling their combined win output from the past 5 (yes, 5) seasons.

The Bears took care of CWDHS by a 48-36 final, with Kyle Tushy and Shan Lekhi each scoring 13.  Eli Hesse and Nic McKeller led the way for CW with 11 points each.

Centennial was a 58-38 winner over Bishop Mac, with Jasmer Brar (17) and Harman Goyal (12) posting double-digit performances.  Matt Campbell (10) and Jack Olsen (8) led the Celtics.

St. James moved to 2-0 after handling GCVI 53-34.  Keegan Feeney poured in 19 for STJ, while Michael Piovesan added 9 more.  Kyle Kush led the Gaels with 14, while Mano Mathivanan added 11.

The other junior game saw JF Ross top Lourdes, 49-39.  Brodie Beamish (14) was the high scorer for the Royals, while Lourdes was led by Sean Gade, with 12.

WCSSAA: Day 1 Goes Down; Most Favourites Win

No real surprises on Day 1 of the WCSSAA Boys' Basketball league in either the junior or senior ranks, but it was certainly nice to see the league back in action. 

Senior
On the senior side, the "coin-flip" game between Huron Heights and Glenview Park went the way of the Panthers, by a 55-47 final.

Sean Davidson and Chris Cahill netted 16 each for GPSS, while Darcy Jacobs (14) and Arshid Babury (10) led the way for Huron.

One of the league favourites, Cameron Heights, started their season on a roll offensively, putting up 80 points in an 80-55 victory over KCI.

Sasha Simic (19) and Nathaneal Mekasha (17) led the way for the Gaels, while David Ben-Lomotey and Stefan Simic each had 14 for the Raiders.

SJAM received a nice one-two punch from Nedim Hodzic (21) and Brett Parrott (18) en route to a 65-52 win over Galt.  TJ Lall led the Ghosts with 17, while Scott Holton was also in double-figures with 10.

The ECI Rebels cruised past Preston in Cambridge to the tune of 63-44, with Ousmane Kromah netting 11 and Izzy Nemeth adding 10.  Lucas Moffitt had a game-high 15 for the Panthers, while Antoinne Phillip added 12 more.

The final WCSSAA game saw Bluevale take out Southwood 65-40.  Garrett Large (19) and Savo Krajisnik (14) led the way for the Knights, while Jack Carbell (12) and David Gutschon (10) were Southwood's high scorers.

Junior
A couple of extra games on the junior circuit, as Elmira and WODSS do not have senior teams this season.

The junior Crusaders were nipped in a low-scoring 26-22 affair by Forest Heights, with Riley Anderson pacing the Trojans with 7.  Zac Berg and Korgan Shantz each had 5 for WODSS.

WCI had no difficulty with Elmira, holding the Lancers to just 7 points in a 40-7 win.  Sharif Ise (6) and Bryce Scarrow (5) led the way for WCI, while Jacob Nafziger had 3 for EDSS.

Ahmed Kanu had 12 and Romy Simpson 11 as the Eastwood Rebels took out Preston 59-40.  Jaskaran Attwal had a game-high 15 and Dylan Abraham added 10 for the Panthers.

The Huron Heights Huskies nipped Glenview Park by a 41-36 final.  Kuel Thomas (13), Ben Jenkins (10) and Everett Alford (10) were all in double-figures for the Huskies, while Peter Hastings-Clarke had 10 and Syed Abbas 8 for GPSS.

Bluevale took care of Southwood 50-20, with Greg Smith outscoring the Sabres himself with a 21-point effort for Bluevale.  Will Scheffler added 9 for BCI.

The other game saw SJAM cruise past Galt 56-23.  Nino Spasik had 18 and Justin Hardy 12 for the 'Landers, while GCI was led by 6 from Hayden Markiv.

D10: Thursday Picks

Don't have much time for commentary, so just selections today:

Bishop Mac over Centennial

CWDHS over Orangeville

St. James over GCVI

JF Ross over Lourdes (the game of the day in my books)

WCSSAA: League Back in Action

It's been a long 354 days.

The wait is finally over as we're back to WCSSAA regular season boys' basketball after nearly a year-long hiatus at most schools.

Sure, four or five teams briefly resumed play in February of last year to determine CWOSSA qualifiers, but a league champion was not officially crowned in either the junior or senior divisions.

As such, the "defending champions" are the Grand River Renegades (junior) and Forest Heights Trojans (senior).  We seem so far removed from those victories, as many key members of that GRCI junior team are now in their final year of high school.

We'll be doing a full junior & senior preview as time permits over the next few days, but I'll start with a few thoughts on the senior season and my initial WCSSAA picks:

Senior WCSSAA
Could this be the year that the Grand River Renegades end the slide?

After Bluevale broke the ice back in 2010, the Rens now remain as the team with the most "significant" WCSSAA championship drought, having not won a title in the school's 47-year history.

I say "most significant" because, yes, there are other schools with droughts; however, Grand River has consistently fielded very good junior teams over the past two decades, with several WCSSAA junior titles and even a CWOSSA junior banner to their credit.

The Rens have looked good in the preseason, getting past the Kitchener St. Mary's Eagles the other day in exhibition action.  The Rens are loaded at guard --- with PG Murtada Khamis, SG/SF Chuder Teny, and rookie guard Miro Iliev leading the way.

The most formidable hurdle standing in Grand River's way appears to be the Cameron Heights Golden Gaels.  The Gaels were semifinalists at last weekend's 32-team Pinky Lewis tournament in Hamilton, and have a nice blend of inside & outside game feautring 6'10" Stefan Cucak, Sasha Simic and PG Nikola Farkic.

We can all mark January 9th on our calendar, as that's the date that Grand River and Cameron Heights are set to play in league action, though it's entirely possible that they could meet before that in tournament play (such as this weekend's Heinbuch Classic).

The SJAM Highlanders, featuring a tremendous amount of size, appear to also be among the top few clubs in the league.  The 'Landers have moved up grade 10 PG Simon Petrov to the senior roster that includes forwards Quinn Turner, Brett Parrott, and grade eleven rookie Nedim Hodzic.  SJAM will have some early-season growing pains as they fine-tune the new additions to the roster, but I certainly look for them to be playing on semifinal Saturday.

Other teams that I would project in the top half of the WCSSAA league would include Eastwood Collegiate, KCI, WCI, Huron Heights, and Galt.

Two years ago, the Rebels were a WCSSAA finalist in the junior ranks and now those players, such as G Ousmane Kromah and F Tre Nicholson, are in grade 12.  They're an athletic, scrappy bunch and it will be interesting to see if they can go on a playoff run like they did in grade ten.

The KCI Raiders should make a turn up the WCSSAA standings ladder keyed by Stefan Simic, who should be among the league's scoring leaders.  WCI has unfortunately seen a large number of exits from their program, but their team concept and strong coaching should see them host at least one playoff game.

Huron Heights is no longer home to Juwan Miller, but they do have a solid core of (now) grade twelves that are ready to take the next step.

As for Galt, Jack Simmons has graduated (Laurier), but TJ Lall is a dynamic scorer that will fill his shoes and should be able to keep the Ghosts in games this year.

There are 14 teams in total playing in WCSSAA senior; Elmira and WODSS will not be fielding teams for the 2013-14 season.

Thursday, November 28th Picks
One scheduling note as the JHSS-GRCI game has been rescheduled due to Jacob Hespeler's extended football and volleyball seasons.

So, only 5 games today:

Eastwood over Preston
Huron Hts. over Glenview Park
Cameron Hts. over KCI
Bluevale over Southwood
SJAM over Galt CI

Results Thread: Wednesday

D8
No surprises in D8 action, as two larger schools swept their "A" opposition.

At Resurrection, the Resurrection seniors pounded Rockway by a 90-21 final, while the juniors were victorious by a 67-38 count.

In the senior game, Patric McGlynn and Onique Findlay each netted 16 for Rez, while RMC was led by Robby McGregor's 6 point effort.

Jesse Reusser had a game-high 15 for the Rockway juniors in a losing effort, while Matthew Kipfer & Isaac Regier each had 8.  Alexis Garcia (9), Luis Cabral (8) and Graham Swarbrick (5) were the top Resurrection scorers.

In Breslau, St. David's seniors posted a 45-28 win while the juniors won by a similar margin (40-25).

On the senior side, rookies Alec Scheffler (12) and James McBride (8) paced the Celtics, while Woodland was led by Tristan VanderHoef (10) and Trent Fisher (9).

St. David's scoring details for the junior game weren't available, but Woodland received 9 from Teddy Neuman and 6 from Kurtis Lammer.

D8 play continues today with a scheduled junior-senior doubleheader between Monsignor Doyle and St. Mary's.

D10
One game played yesterday in D10 senior play, which saw Lourdes defeat Guelph CVI by a 55-48 score.

The Crusaders received 18 from Kevin Roche, 17 from Craig Valeriote, and 10 more from David Khayipangi, who returns to the Crusaders after having enrolled at SJK last season.

Ian Suarez (16), David Wesley-James (15) and Tyler Beaton (14) keyed a balanced Gael scoresheet.

D4
A couple of games yesterday as well in the D4 league.

On the senior side of things, Erin DHS knocked off Emmanuel Christian by a 46-31 count.  Matt Napier (11), Mason Johnston (10) and Andrew McEwen (10) were all in double-figures for the Raiders, while Casey VanLeeuwen had a game-high 25 for ECHS.

The other senior contest saw Centre Dufferin begin the post-Zanette era with a 59-24 win over Westside.  Noah Stirling had 20 and Quinten Bruice 11 for the Royals, while Connor Clark had 7 for the Thunder.

The Erin DHS juniors completed the sweep of ECHS with a 45-21 win in their game.  Callum Smith had 10 for Erin, while Jonah VanLeeuwen led Emmanuel Christian with 6.

Meanwhile, Westside flipped the script on CDDHS in the junior game, with the Thunder victorious by a 53-38 score. 

D8 Junior: Strongest League In Years On Paper

One of the strongest District 8 junior leagues in recent memory is set to tip off with two games this afternoon.

How strong is it?  The top three teams in the league could very well be the top three teams in the initial CWOSSA junior ranking to be released on Friday.

All three teams return at least 4 of their top 6 scorers from a season ago, and each returns at least two all-star selections as well.

Last year's D8 playoff champions, the St. Mary's Eagles, got off to a strong start this past weekend by taking their talents to the GTA, and pulling out a hard-fought win over a strong St. Mike's team.

The Eagles are keyed offensively by last year's D8 MVP, Adham Eleeda, alongside three-point sniper David Nguyen.  Barnaba Neil is an athletic big-man that patrols the paint for the Eagles, while Gordon Lam rounds out the four returning St. Mary's starters.

Minas Abara, last year's 6th man, who had a couple of key baskets in the D8 championship game, is back as well --- meaning that 5 of St. Mary's top 6 players are back from a year ago.

The team St. Mary's defeated in last year's D8 final, the St. Benedict Saints, have also looked impressive in preseason action, most recently in a big win over WCI on Friday.

PG Zubair Seyed and SG Justin Malnerich form one of the better guard tandems in CWOSSA, but you can't focus too much on them otherwise SF Alex Douglas will make you pay.

The Saints only return two of their starters (Seyed & Douglas) but they bring back probably 80+% of their scoring offense from a season ago.

Not to be outdone in the D8 junior league, the Resurrection Phoenix got off to a strong start with a tournament win this past weekend, and actually return all 5 starters from last year's D8 semifinalist roster.

Therefore, 2013 D8 all-stars Ali Rashid and Jake Rush return for Rez, alongside athletic wing-forward Muyang Iluya and pesky defender Prince Dang.  PG/SG Joe Hunter anchors the guard-oriented Rez lineup.

Projected Order of Finish
1a.  St. Mary's CHS / Kitchener
1b.  St. Benedict CSS / Cambridge
1c.  Resurrection CSS / Kitchener
4.  St. David CSS / Waterloo
5.  Monsignor Doyle CSS / Cambridge
6.  Woodland CHS / Breslau
7.  Rockway MC / Kitchener

Today's Picks:
Resurrection over Rockway
St. David over Woodland

D8 Senior: Season Tips-Off Today

After winning back-to-back D8 titles, the St. Mary's Eagles are again at the forefront when it comes to D8 and CWOSSA contenders this coming season.

The guard-loaded Eagles are keyed by Telloy Simon, Tyrick Thompson, Jermaine Lyle, Nathan Riley and Jamari Stephenson, any of whom can go for 20+ on a given afternoon. 

Henoak Abara is the top grade eleven coming up from a very good --- but youthful --- junior program.

Resurrection is also well ahead of the rest of the D8 pack, and have gotten off to a strong start in exhibition and tournament play despite not having the services of two projected starters.  Guards Adam Schneider (back) and Thomas Hunter (hip) are projected to be out until closer to the Christmas break.

Newcomer Korbil Gany (transfer/CHCI) has stepped into the starting rotation, and has been a solid addition to the Rez roster.  5th year swingmen Patric McGlynn and Jacob Gilbert are two of the key offensive options, but also provide valuable veteran leadership.

In total, Rez has four starters back from last year's D8 finalist team, including F Kirolos Milio.  G/F Mark Wylie and F Zack Holness are also back and should play a role of continued importance this season.

There should then be a three-way battle for third place, with St. Benedict, St. David and Monsignor Doyle being the squads in contention ahead of "A" schools Rockway & Woodland Christian.

Of those schools, I still St. Benedict seems like the logical choice to take the 3rd spot in the standings (they finished 6-4 last year, ahead of the others at 2-8), as they'll be led by key returnees Omar Comanto & Aaron Zammit, but I think Monsignor Doyle could be in a solid position to make some noise and move up the D8 standings ladder this season.

Doyle brings up a solid group of grade eleven rookies, led by the leading scorer in the D8 junior league from a season ago, Ryan Stafford.  Sohrob Sultani, a D8 all-star last season, is the other notable junior moving up.

Not to be outdone by the influx of youth, 1st team 2012-13 all-star Uzair Khan (who had 29 points in a game last year against SBCSS) returns for the 'Stangs, along with Tyler Saris and Jamal Bell, both of whom had numerous double-digit efforts in league play last year.

The St. David Celtics will also have an influx of youth from last year's "AAA" CWOSSA championship team, with guard James McBride and forward Alec Scheffler leading the way.

Here's my initial thoughts on the D8 standings:

Projected Order of Finish
1.  St. Mary's CHS / Kitchener
2.  Resurrection CSS / Kitchener
3.  St. Benedict CSS / Cambridge
4.  Monsignor Doyle CHS / Cambridge
5.  St. David CSS / Waterloo
6.  Woodland CHS / Breslau
7.  Rockway MC / Kitchener

Oh, and there's a couple games today so, so here's the picks for those:
Resurrection over Rockway
St. David over Woodland Christian

D10 Tuesday: Junior Bears Start on a Winning Note

Entering September, I had the Bishop Macdonell Celtics pegged as one of my teams to watch in junior boys' CWOSSA basketball.

However, the Celtics have moved up three (yes, three) key grade 10 players to their senior roster, which should cause some short-term growing pains for a revamped junior unit.  Those growing pains were evident on Tuesday afternoon in Orangeville, where the Bears knocked off the Celts by a 62-58 final score.

In doing so, the Bears won a D10 regular season game for the first time since the 2010-11 season, ending a 37-game league losing streak in the process.

Luke Wouters (12) and Nigel Carey-Kochan (10) were the high Orangeville scorers, while Noah Slater had 12 and Jack Olson 11 for the Celtics.

In other D10 junior action on Tuesday, St. James won the battle of East Guelph, getting past JF Ross 51-46.

Keegan Feeney had a game-high 19 for the Lions, with Nick Marquis adding 9; Curtis Gordon put home 14 and Adam Dingwall 7 for the Royals.

Lourdes, meanwhile, started their season off on a winning note with a 56-44 win against rival Guelph CVI.  James Gerstenkorn (18) and Sean Gade (16) did most of the offensive damage for the Crusaders, while Mano Mathivanan had 13 and Kevin Duong 9 for the Gaels.

D10 Senior
Two games were on the D10 senior schedule on Tuesday, and we'll start with the closer of the two with JF Ross holding off St. James at home by a 45-44 final score.  Kristian Vande Kemp (15) and Mo Hussein (9) paced the Royals there, while St. James was led by Mitch Marquis (9), Joey Hasson (8) and Quinn Feeney (8).

The other senior game saw Bishop Mac take care of Orangeville 80-39.  Jesse Kendall had a game-high 18 points for the Celts, with Deysean Thompson netting 14 for ODSS.

Wednesday: News & Notes

Cameron Heights To Host Senior Tourney
This weekend, Cameron Heights will be hosting their annual Senior Boys' tournament that coincides with the Heinbuch weekend.

One small detail - the Gaels won't be there.

With their team playing in the Heinbuch event, 8 other schools will be borrowing the Gaels' home floor during the two-day affair, which tips off on Friday morning.

First round games are:
9am - Highland (Dundas) vs. AB Lucas (London)

10:30am - Westmount (Hamilton) vs. LB Pearson (Burlington)

Noon - Riverside (Windsor) vs. Galt CI

1:30pm - Centennial (Guelph) vs. Strathroy

Phoenix Take Exhibition Win Over SJAM
In senior exhibition play yesterday, the Resurrection Phoenix used a 23-7 surge in the final quarter to get past Waterloo SJAM by a 62-44 final.

Resurrection's balanced attack was keyed by Cameron Heights transfer Korbil Gany, who scored 15 points in the victory.  5th year veterans Patric McGlynn and Jacob Gilbert added 14 each.

For SJAM, Brett Parrott notched 13 points while grade 10 rookie Simon Petrov added 11.

D10: Junior, Senior Girls All-Stars Announced

In advance of tomorrow evening's all-star game at the University of Guelph between D8 & D10 (6:00pm - Junior; 8:00pm - Senior), I now have the listing of the D10 all-stars that will be participating.

Here they are:

Junior
Carter Godman, Centennial
Grace Rooney, CWDHS
Lauren Brombal, Lourdes
Rainey Psenicka, Lourdes
Natasha Martinez, Lourdes
Dianne Priamo, Bishop Mac
Christine Sullivan, Bishop Mac
Johanna DeJong, Bishop Mac
Heather Anderson, JF Ross
Mya Leacock, JF Ross
Katie Terrey, St. James
Emma Wells, Orangeville
Jenna Falconer, Guelph CVI
Abbey MacIntyre, Guelph CVI

Coaches:  Mike O'Rourke & Marion Reidel (OLOL)

Senior
Charlotte Case, Lourdes
Monica Trimble, Lourdes
Jessica Morris, Bishop Mac
Rebecca Morris, Bishop Mac
Rachael DiGravio, Bishop Mac
Emma Cain, Centennial
Maddy Darling, JF Ross
Katie Strongman, Guelph CVI
Sydney Wilson, Guelph CVI
Chloe Trapp, CWDHS
Chelsey Gazzola, St. James
Ashley Benham, St. James
Keely McVicar, St. James
Sam French, Orangeville

Coaches:  Karen Bremner & Emily Nienhuis (BMAC)

Senior: Grand River Comes Back, Holds off St. Mary's In Exhibition

The Grand River Renegades got a great performance by PG Miro Iliev down the stretch yesterday against the St. Mary's Eagles in an exhibition matchup, overcoming a 54-45 deficit at the end of the third quarter to pull out a 69-67 win.

Among his several fourth quarter baskets, Iliev hit a three-pointer with around three minutes to go (to tie the game at 65), and also added a couple of big steals on the defensive end.

Both teams, who are expected to be two of the CWOSSA "AAAA" contenders this season, will participate in the annual Heinbuch Classic this coming weekend in Waterloo.

WCSSAA Senior Girls All-Stars: Crusaders, Hawks Pace Selections; Horst Named MVP

To nobody's surprise, PG Maddy Horst (Waterloo-Oxford) has been named MVP of the WCSSAA Senior Girls' basketball league.

Horst guided the Crusaders to an undefeated regular season, and a WCSSAA playoff championship, the first Senior Girls' title in school history.

Horst's teammate, Tess Pettigrew, also joined her on the first team, while one of WO's starting forwards, Alisha Glendinning, was named as a second-team All-Star.

The team that Waterloo-Oxford defeated in the WCSSAA finals, Jacob Hespeler, also placed two players on the first team, twin forwards Candice and Courtney Wright.

Jacob Hespeler PG Jasmine Ramcharan was named as an honourable mention selection.

The first-team all-stars were rounded out by Julia Curran (Bluevale) and Kaylee Anagnostopoulos (WCI).

Second team selections aside from Glendinning included Natalie Bishop (Bluevale), grade ten forward Nyamuoch Teny (Grand River), Nicole Cressman (Elmira) and Danielle Sauve (WCI).

The complete listing, including honourable mention selections, is below:

1st Team WCSSAA All-Stars
Maddy Horst, Waterloo-Oxford (MVP)
Courtney Wright, Jacob Hespeler
Tess Pettigrew, Waterloo-Oxford
Julia Curran, Bluevale
Kaylee Anagnostopoulos, WCI
Candice Wright, Jacob Hespeler

2nd Team WCSSAA All-Stars
Natalie Bishop, Bluevale
Nyamuoch Teny, Grand River
Alisha Glendinning, Waterloo-Oxford
Nicole Cressman, Elmira
Danielle Sauve, Elmira

Honourable Mention All-Stars
Sarah Hamm, Bluevale
Jasmine Ramcharan, Jacob Hespeler
Olivia Nelles, KCI
Jamie Noonan, Grand River
Katrina Kostecki, Huron Heights
Tyshaine Page, Cameron Heights
Hunter Johns, Cameron Heights
Taylor Trush, SJAM
Taylor White, Southwood
Molly Bradford, Galt
Sam Legue, Eastwood
Linna Liou, Forest Heights
Breanna Johnson, Preston

Junior: St. Mary's Impresses at Henry Carr Invitational

Photo from NorthPoleHoops.com

The St. Mary's Eagles went to Toronto over the weekend and they had to come away feeling pretty good about their performance against some tough competition at the Henry Carr Invitational tournament.

St. Mary's was put to the test right away in a game against a very talented Toronto St. Mike's club, where they were able to overcome a 47-point effort by Marcus Carr (younger brother of Duane Notice) and hold on for a 72-71 victory.

Adham Eleeda had 17 in that one to lead St. Mary's.

Their second game, against London's HB Beal, also went into the win column to clinch the Eagles first place in their pool.  They defeated the Raiders 63-50, with Barnaba Neil leading the way (14 points).

Neil would again led St. Mary's in the semifinals, scoring 18 points, but it wasn't enough as the Eagles fell to Vaughan SS by 10 points, 74-64.  They would drop the 3rd place game to Hamilton MacNab, 70-45, with Devante Douse notching 14 points.

All in all, a very successful opening weekend for St. Mary's.  Expect them to be at or near the top of the preseason CWOSSA junior rankings when they are released this week!

(Note:  If you'd like to read more on their game against St. Mike's, check NorthPoleHoops.com for a recap.)

Senior Boys: Resurrection Wins CWDHS Tournament Title

The Resurrection Phoenix went 3-0 against D10 teams to win the CWDHS Falcon Senior Boys' Tournament in Fergus over the weekend.

Resurrection defeated the host Falcons 69-44 in the championship final, after taking out Guelph CVI 62-45 in the semifinals earlier on Saturday.

Centre Wellington had advanced to the final with a 40-25 win over Jacob Hespeler.

You could argue that the two best teams in the tournament were matched up in the first round of this one, as Rez slipped past a very tough Bishop Mac squad 56-54.

The Celtics have moved up four players from what would have been one of the top three CWOSSA junior teams this season.

On the consolation side of the bracket, Bishop Mac had no trouble making their way to the title.

They handled Wellington Heights of Mount Forest 78-29 in the consolation semifinal, and then took out Centre Dufferin 91-28 in the consolation championship.

The other consolation semifinal saw Centre Dufferin defeat Walkerton, 59-48.

Other first-round scores saw Guelph CVI over Wellington Heights (42-29); Centre Wellington over Walkerton (62-40); and Jacob Hespeler over Centre Dufferin (40-26).

Junior: Phoenix Go 4-0, Take Sarnia Title

The Junior Resurrection Phoenix completed a sweep in Sarnia en route to the St. Patrick's Junior Boys' Tip-off Championship this past weekend.

Resurrection started the 6-team, pool-play event by defeating Sarnia Northern, 73-52.  They would win their pool with a 69-50 victory over London Saunders, advancing them to the semifinals against St. Basil (SSM) where they would cruise to a 76-31 win.

In the finals, the Phoenix had a rematch against Sarnia Northern, who had defeated Sarnia St. Patrick in the other semifinal.  A solid defensive effort allowed the Phoenix to pull away in the second half to a 60-39 win, with all five starters notching at least 7 points.

Muyang Iluya (13) and Prince Dang (11) were the high scorers for Resurrection in the championship final.

Pinky Lewis (Senior): Cameron Heights Makes Final Four in 32-Team Affair; Farkic & Lall Make All-Star Team

The Cameron Heights Golden Gaels had a solid weekend in Hamilton at the annual Pinky Lewis Senior Boys' basketball tournament, going 4-1 en route to a semifinal appearance on Sunday.

The 32-team tournament started with 8 pools of four, where the Gaels won all three games, thus advancing as the top team in the pool to the quarterfinals.

Pool Games Were:
Cameron Hts. 61, Oakville Loyola 59
CHCI:  Ivan Cucak, 20

Cameron Heights (Win Over) Barton - Score Unavailable

Cameron Hts. 57, Ottawa St. Patrick's 56
CHCI:  Sasha Simic, 22

In the quarterfinals, Cameron Heights defeated Newmarket SS by a 76-62 score, with Nikola Farkic chipping in 19 points in the win.

Cucak had his second 20-point effort of the tournament in the semifinals, but it wasn't enough as the Gaels fell to Father Goetz of Mississauga by a 70-61 final score.

Farkic was named as a first-team all-star.

Also making it to the all-star team, as a third team selection, was G/F TJ Lall from Galt Collegiate.

The Ghosts dropped all three games, but Lall certainly impressed with some solid performances.  He had 29 points in Galt's 80-70 overtime loss to Sarnia St. Patrick's, and scored 19 against Westmount of Hamilton in a 52-42 loss.

He would end up with 16 against Holy Trinity (Oakville) in a 52-37 defeat for a 21.3 tournament scoring average.

OFSAA Recaps: CWOSSA Teams

Consolation AAAA Champs - WCI

A
The 10th seeded Woodland Cavaliers dropped their first two games, but then rebounded to win three straight contests and the consolation final at "A" OFSAA in Sault Ste. Marie.

In the consolation final, the Cavs took a low-scoring affair, 26-21, over Port Colburne.

Making their second straight OFSAA appearance, this year marked the first time that Woodland was able to get in the win column, capping a very successful season for the small school.

AA
The (#8) Bishop Macdonell Celtics advanced to the quarterfinals before falling to #1 seeded Centennial out of Welland, 40-26.

Bishop Mac had won games against Burlington Assumption (59-45) and Sudbury LaSalle (49-46) earlier in the tournament to advance to the quarterfinals.

AAA
After winning their first two games with ease, the #2-seeded Brantford St. John's Green Eagles were upset in the quarterfinals by the #7 seed, Dundas Highland, 56-48.  The Green Eagles were cold early on, down 17-2 after one quarter and by a 48-27 score after three, before a furious comeback attempt fell short.

AAAA
Both CWOSSA teams in the AAAA tournament, WCI and Centennial, lost their opening two games to be placed on the consolation side of the bracket where, ironically, they would play each other.

WCI would win that one, 33-25, and go on to defeat #14 Notre Dame (47-44) and #9 Westdale (47-41) to take the consolation championship.

Senior Boys: Eagles Capture Brantford Tip-Off Classic

For now, the Brantford St. John's Green Eagles have some bragging rights.

That said, the bragging rights with greater importance will be decided after the regular season and playoff games that account for the BCSSAA schedule.

The Green Eagles took home the title at the annual Ed O'Leary/Brantford Expositor Senior Boys' tip-off tournament this weekend, besting the North Park Trojans 55-44 in the championship final.

Connor Kuzmich netted 14 and Adam Peters 10 for SJC, while North Park received a game-high 19 points from Matt Minutillo and 9 more from Jon Dulmage.

Here's a look at the other scores from the tournament:

Saturday
Brantford Collegiate - 56 (Mackenzie Mark 22)
Assumption - 54 (Mike King 12)

Paris DHS - 39 (Isaac Sollazzo 10)
Simcoe Holy Trinity - 31 (Braden Ongena 12)

St. John's - 64 (Connor Kuzmich 15)
BCI - 39 (Chris Gorski 9)

Pauline Johnson - 54 (Dakotta Robinson 17)
Simcoe Holy Trinity - 31 (Mark Gubbels 11)

Paris DHS - 49 (Ryan Campbell 16)
Pauline Johnson - 41 (Dakotta Robinson 12)

Friday
North Park - 51 (Jon Dulmage 13, Matt Minutillo 11)
Paris DHS - 13 (Corey Boehmer 5, Ben Woods 4)

St. John's - 82 (Connor Kuzmich 16, Mike Beal 16)
Pauline Johnson - 35 (Dakotta Robinson 7, Alex Kwan 5)

Brantford Collegiate - 61 (Mackenzie Mark 14, Dalton Mark 13)
Simcoe Holy Trinity - 28 (Tevan Gardner 17, Jordan Hill 4)

North Park - 64 (Brandon John 15, Matt Minutillo 12)
Assumption - 39 (Austin Tlustos 18, Mike King 13)

D8 Senior All-Stars: Schulz Named MVP For The 2nd Consecutive Year

Sarah Schulz helped lead the Resurrection Phoenix to their second consecutive D8 senior title.

For her efforts, she was also awarded the D8's MVP award by league officials on Thursday.

Although she was the league's leading scorer, the contributions of her teammates were also recognized as well, as Rez paced the selections by having 4 players named to the 10-person all-star squad.

Celia McGlynn joins Schulz on the first-team, while fellow starters Kelsey Caza and Ellen McGowan were both named as second-team all-stars.

Youth was certainly served as three of the five first-teamers are only in grade eleven and will return next year.

Alongside Rez's McGlynn, Kirstin Hofstee (Woodland) and Kayla Leusink (SBCSS) were also grade elevens on the first-team.  Beth Zebib, a forward from St. Mary's, was the other first-team selection.

Second-teamers aside from the Resurrection ones mentioned above included Bobbi-Sue Hentges of St. David, Catherine Zafera from St. Mary's, and Dana Milani of St. Benedict.

D8 Senior:  First Team All-Stars
Sarah Schulz, Resurrection, G/F - Grade 12
Celia McGlynn, Resurrection, G/F - Grade 11
Kayla Leusink, St. Benedict, G - Grade 11
Kirstin Hofstee, Woodland, G - Grade 11
Beth Zebib, St. Mary's, F - Grade 12

D8 Senior:  Second Team All-Stars
Kelsey Caza, Resurrection, C - Grade 11
Ellen McGowan, Resurrection, F - Grade 12
Bobbi-Sue Hentges, St. David, G - Grade 11
Catherine Zafera, St. Mary's, G - Grade 12
Dana Milani, St. Benedict, G - Grade 12

D8 Junior: Rez, St. Benedict Headline All-Star Selections

The Resurrection Phoenix and the St. Benedict Saints were clearly the top two teams in the D8 Junior circuit this past season.

So, it comes as no surprise that those teams combined for four of the five members of the D8's all-star team, announced yesterday by D8 officials.

Resurrection, who took home the silver "AAAA" CWOSSA medal, placed two grade 9s on the first-team, forward Jama Bin-Edward and PG Krissia Vasquez.

The Saints, meanwhile, put the D8's leading scorer Afifa Salaad and forward Laura Ivits on the first team.  St. Mary's forward Alexis Stoyakovich was the other first-team selection.

Second-teamers included Victoria Barroso (MDCSS), Lauren Darrell (PRDG), Megan Goar (SDCSS), Brooke Mulder (WCHS), and Jamie Torrance-Perks (RMC). 

All teams were guaranteed one player on either the first or second team.

D8 Junior All-Stars:  1st Team
Jama Bin-Edward, RCSS - F, Grade 9
Krissia Vasquez, RCSS - G, Grade 9
Afifa Salaad, SBCSS - G, Grade 10
Laura Ivits, SBCSS - F, Grade 10
Alexis Stoyakovich, SMHS - F, Grade 10

D8 Junior All-Stars:  2nd Team
Victoria Barroso, MDCSS - G, Grade 10
Lauren Darrell, PRDG - G, Grade 9
Megan Goar, SDCSS - F, Grade 10
Brooke Mulder, WCHS - F, Grade 10
Jamie Torrance-Perks, RMC - G, Grade 10