Ross' Bullard Will Be Key to England U-18 Success

Gemma Bullard, a 5'9" guard/forward from JF Ross CVI in Guelph, will be key to England's U-18 success at the FIBA Europe U18 Division B Women's Championship, which is currently underway in Timisoara, Romania.

Bullard, a dual citizen, starts for the English squad.  She was England's leading scorer (16 points) in one of their warm-up games, a 62-54 loss to Division A squad Hungary.

England is in "Group C" for the preliminary round --- alongside Finland, Estonia, Bulgaria and Scotland.  Their first game is just in the books --- a 67-52 victory over Bulgaria.  Bullard had a nice stat line; 9 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 steals in the victory. 

If you wish to follow Bullard's progress, further information and live stats are available online via the tournament's website.

Bullard graduated from JF Ross this past June, and is heading to Queen's University in the fall.

CWOSSA Alums Participate at Toronto Pro Camp

A couple of CWOSSA (and, specifically, D8) alumni participated in the LTD Sports Pro Expo Basketball Camp, held on Tuesday and Wednesday at the Hoopdome in Toronto.

According to LTD's website, the purpose of the camp was to provide the players with exposure and a means to access several hundred professional clubs (in North America and overseas) who are looking to sign talent for the upcoming season.

Chyro Blackwood (Fanshawe College via Resurrection CSS) and Dave Burnett (University of Waterloo via Rockway HS) were the local talent in attendance.

Of course, we'll have further updates if anything comes from their participation.

Ross' Cook to Join Humber Hawks

High-flying JF Ross 5th year forward Ryan Cook will be suiting up for the Humber College Hawks this coming school year, joining several other CWOSSA players on the roster of a team that is rich in history; the Hawks are currently the two-time defending OCAA champions in men's basketball.

Cook's scoring ability and veteran leadership were key in helping the JF Ross Royals to their first AAAA OFSAA appearance in school history (Ross had previously participated at AAA when that was the highest level of competition).  He also had some highlight-reel dunks, and even a few impressive near-misses that still had spectators' jaws dropping.

He joins a Humber College squad that featured 3 CWOSSA players on its roster from this past season --- Darnell Garrick (Forest Heights); big man Milan Tosic (Eastwood); and Mac James (Guelph CVI).

CWOSSA All-Stars Update

Thanks to the information below (and previously posted), we can now update where almost all of my first and second-team CWOSSA senior boys' all-stars will be heading next season:

First Team All-Stars

Stefan Cvrkalj, Waterloo Bluevale (MVP) - Returning to Bluevale for 5th Year of High School

Stefan Arezina, Kitchener Cameron Heights - Wilfrid Laurier University

Rob House, Guelph Centennial - University of Western Ontario (will not play basketball in 2010-11)

Dave Eves, Brantford North Park - Wilfrid Laurier University (not listed as an official recruit)

Ryan Higgins, Guelph St. James - Returning to St. James for 5th Year of High School


Second Team All-Stars

Andrew Mwangi, Kitchener Resurrection - Grade 12 (4th year) next season

Mike Finoro, Guelph Our Lady of Lourdes - Grade 12 (4th year) next season

Jake Robinet, Waterloo SJAM - University of Waterloo

Andrew Beney, Waterloo Bluevale - University of Guelph

Ryan Cook, Guelph JF Ross - Humber College

Hoopstars Canada - CIS Recruiting Update

Barry Hayes from HoopStars Canada has posted his annual July recruiting update for CIS schools.  Here's a quick rundown of CWOSSA-related recruiting:

Freshmen:

Stefan Arezina (Cameron Heights) - Wilfrid Laurier University

Jake Robinet (Sir John A. Macdonald) - University of Waterloo

Mike Dulmage (North Park/Brantford) - University of Guelph

(*Note - fellow North Park grad and one of my first-team all-CWOSSA players, Dave Eves, will be attending Laurier next season, but is not listed among their basketball recruits just yet)

Andrew Beney (Bluevale CI) - University of Guelph


Transfers:

Ben Johnson (St. David CSS '07 / Bryson's older brother) - Transferring from St. Rose (NY - NCAA D2) to Lakehead University in Thunder Bay.  Sat out this past season; averaged 4.4 PPG in 2008-09.

Troy Barnes (London Beal '09 via Kitchener St. Mary's) - Transferring to the University of Windsor from Lakeland College in Alberta; averaged 16.3 PPG this past season.

Sean Nickel (Cameron Heights '06) - Transferring to the University of Toronto after playing for St. Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia.  Sat out last season; averaged 2.9 PPG in 2008-09.

(Younger) Qahwash Heading West to Quest

Looks like the Grand River CI backcourt that I described a couple of days ago may, in fact, not be what I initially envisioned.

An article from The Vancouver Province has a recruit list for all of British Columbia's Colleges and Universities. 

On that list?  Grand River's Osama Qahwash, who looks like he is headed to Quest University in Squamish, BC.  Quest is a member of the British Columbia Colleges Athletic Association, and finished last season with an 11-18 record.

Qahwash had one year of high school eligibility remaining, and his services could have definitely been used by the Renegades next year ---- they seem to be one of a handful of teams with an outside shot at one of WCSSAA's berths for CWOSSA.  That said, GRCI does have some nice depth at the guard spots and have star junior Filip Cvrkalj moving up, so they should still be a very good team next season.

Question and Answer: Top Juniors Moving Up

This post is in response to "anonymous" from a few days ago, who wanted me to look at the subject of top junior boys players that are moving up to the senior ranks next season.

I'll add to that with a quick shoutout to some key junior girls that are moving up as well.

Of course, a ton of top grade 10 juniors played "up" in senior last season.  Lindsay Taylor (WCI), Lindsay Lessard (WCI), Michelle Hudyn (Eastwood), Jaime Janssen (Centre Wellington), and Charlotte Clarke (Guelph Centennial) are some that immediately come to mind.  With a year of senior experience under their belt, look for continued good things from that quintet.

St. Mary's Senior Girls Coach Jeff Roth has to be liking the fact that he'll have super scorer Kaitlyn Schenck coming up to help fill the void in the starting lineup left by Naomi Lance (graduation).  Schenck averaged over 30 PPG in the 2009 CWOSSA AAAA championships to help lift the Eagles to a silver medal.  For an Eagles team that's been at times offensively inconsistent (not to mention that the Sr. Eagles only hit a couple of three-pointers all last season), she should be able to jump in and help right away.

Over in the D10 league, a balanced group of grade 10 stars are set to move up, including Rebecca Keil (Bishop Mac),  Silvie Cafarella (JF Ross), and co-junior MVPs Hannah Pearsall (Lourdes) and Erica Zen (St. James). 

In D5, Assumption College (Brantford) has a bunch of talent moving up from their AAAA CWOSSA championship team.  However, it looks as though St. John's will still be the "king of the castle" and get the AAAA berth for the time being.  North Park also has some solid grade 10s moving up from the AAA CWOSSA champion club, joining a few returning veterans who lost to KCI in last year's senior final.

Now, to answer the question that I think the poster was really interested in ---- junior boys moving up to senior next season.

As I've stated before, there's a pretty big jump between junior and senior.  Of course, you have the fact that you're now going up against guys that are (possibly) two years older than you; however, there are often many good junior players who can't cut it in senior ---- whether it be a guard who never develops an outside shot and can't get to the rim like he did in junior, or a "power forward" who hit an early growth spurt and becomes undersized in the senior game, I'm sure we've all seen a few examples. 

That said, the following are 8 grade 10s from this year who I feel can make an impact at the senior level (if not next year, then at some point in the next 2-3 years)......in no particular order:

1 & 2.  Carlo & Marco Zanette - Centre Dufferin (D4). 
Gotta give these guys some props for helping to revive the CDDHS program, and even lead their club to their first ever CWOSSA "AAA" title.  How much have things changed?  A couple of years back (07-08), CDDHS played both Guelph Lourdes and Kitchener Resurrection in a junior mini-exhibition tournament.  Both games were 50+ point blowouts.  Fast-forward 2 years, and CDDHS took out Rez in two exhibition games ---- no doubt the Zanette boys played a major role.  The impressive thing with these guys is that they even play bigger than they are, and are fundamentally sound (almost playing "men's league" basketball with the way they set screens, box out, etc.).

2.  Javon Masters, Forest Heights
Not sure if Juwan Miller may move up to senior, but regardless, the Trojan backcourt looks like it will be very solid over the next 2-3 years.  Masters was one of the top scorers in WCSSAA last season, and has the ability to stretch the defense ---- which I'm sure will be appreciated by FHCI's big men.

3.  Sean Samuel, Huron Heights
A pure scorer who really made a name for himself this past season, and helped carry the Huskies to their first-ever "Semifinal Saturday" appearance in school history.

Things won't come as easy next season for the sleek-moving guard (who drove through junior defenses with ease), but I've heard he's been working hard on his game through the club season.  Expect him to see plenty of minutes on a HHHS squad that's on the rise, which will only further his development.

4.  Mike Friesen, JF Ross
At 6'2" or 6'3", he already has a "senior basketball" guard body.  Tremendous three-point shooter, and does things well with his back to the basket in the post.  Can light things up in a hurry (season highs of 32 and 30 against Lourdes and Bishop Mac --- two of the best teams in CWOSSA).  Also hits the boards well ---- all traits that should add up to him seeing some nice minutes on a squad that, with all their returnees, has to be considered one of the top 3 "pre season" CWOSSA AAAA favourites.

5.  Filip Cvrkalj, Grand River
With Brodi Verbiski coming back and assuming Osama Qahwash returns for a fifth year, the Rens have one of the best backcourts in CWOSSA.  They don't have a lot of front court depth, so I envision this team as sort of an "Assumption College" run-and-gun team from about 5 years ago.  Cvrkalj would fit nicely in that sort of a style, especially with his ability to stop-and-pop from three point land.  And not just from the line --- his range goes way out there, as evidenced by some of the three-balls that he hit during the WCSSAA semifinals and final.  Oh yeah, he was also suffering the effects of mononucleosis during that time.....yikes!  Cvrkalj brings good size to the SF position for the Rens next season.

6.  Jason Quiring, Jacob Hespeler
Another PG/SG with great size and skill.  I've only had a chance to see him on the club circuit, but I can see why he's helped to put JHSS basketball back on the map.  I look forward to seeing him continue to develop over the next few years, and possibly get the Hawks to the WCSSAA semifinals for (I'm guessing here) the first time in school history.

7.  Vedran Dmitrovic, Cameron Heights
As his 21 point, 17 rebound performance in the WCSSAA semifinals showed, this 6'0" PG is not afraid to get inside.  Has a very quick release on his three-point shot, and deep range as well.  Will bring much needed offense to a squad that loses all-star Stefan Arezina to graduation.  With Adnan Shah and Amjed Osman as backcourt mates, this is another squad that may be able to simply outscore some teams next season.

8.  Theshawn Berry, SJAM
Battled some injury issues this past season, which is often why many people don't list him among the top junior talents.  However, he's a tremendous athlete ---- I've witnessed this guy get up for a couple of thunderous blocks over the past 2 seasons, and I think he's still on the upswing.  He also got a taste of Senior Basketball in the CWOSSA playoffs, where he had an efficient 6 points (3-4 shooting) and 5 rebounds against Bluevale.  Definitely didn't look out of place.

Others to keep an eye on:
Chris Watson, Lourdes - I like his game.  Great distributor and has the ability to knock down shots.  Will only help Lourdes going forward.  Him and Mike Finoro in the backcourt should be able to lead Lourdes to AA OFSAA.

Jacob Ranton, WCI - great shooter, which often overshadows some of the other things that he does well.  Once he grows into his lanky frame, I see him as a great SF for the WCI program over the next several years.

Chris Walser, St. Mary's - going to be going into a crowded backcourt next year with the Eagles, but I have a feeling he'll be able to be a bit more creative with Coach Hergott at the senior level.  In my opinion, their uptempo style suits him better than the halfcourt style employed by the junior Eagles.

Michael Clouthier, Bishop Mac - Another guy with a "senior ready" body.  The senior Celtics need help (especially in the frontcourt), and Clouthier will help to provide that.

Cory Kenning, Resurrection - A bit soft for a big guy, but have to keep in mind that he basically taught himself the game of basketball and has only been playing competitively for the past several years.  At 6'5" already, might be 6'7" or so by the time he's in 5th year.  Has range out to about the three-point line, which is impressive for a junior big man.  He's joining a talented Rez roster, but that should enable him to further develop.   

2010 CWOSSABasketball.com Postsecondary Scholarship

Better late than never.....

It is my pleasure to announce that applications are now being accepted for the 2010 CWOSSABasketball.com post-secondary scholarship.  My goal is to turn this into an annual award.

Here's a few details on the award:

1.  Amount:  The First Annual Award will be $200 (thanks in part to several donations to the site). 

 

2.  Eligibility:  Must be a graduating student (read: not returning to high school), and be entered into a postsecondary (college/university) program of your choosing.  The applicant must have been a member of a CWOSSA senior boys or girls basketball team during the 2009-2010 athletic season.

3.  To Apply:  Please fill in a copy of the form below, scan and email to cwossabasketball@hotmail.com.  Also email if you would like a copy of the application in Word format.

4.  Selection procedure:  Any player (regardless of skill) should apply.  The main criteria will be academic achievement (35%), community/school involvement and leadership (55%), and basketball involvement/accomplishment (10%).

5.  Deadline:  August 31st, 2010.  The winner will be announced shortly thereafter on the website with a brief write-up outlining some of their accomplishments, etc.

6.  High School and Club Coaches:  Please feel free to share this information with your teams.  Thanks!

Former Eagle Barnes Flies to University of Windsor

According to CIS Hoops blogger Marek Wacyk, former St. Mary's (Kitchener) and London Beal product Troy Barnes will be transferring to the University of Windsor for the 2010-11 season.  Barnes played last year at Lakeland College in Alberta.

His post can be seen here.

Troy Barnes, 6'0 G, Lakeland College

Troy joins the Lancers as a 4-time D8 all-star from St Mary's CHS in Kitchener, followed by a year at London Beal where he played along current Lancer Enrico Diloreto, where he helped Beal get to OFSAA and was named team MVP. This past year Troy was an Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference 2nd team all-star averaging 17 points and 10 rebounds a game.

Monday News: St. James Update

A couple worthwhile notes on two St. James stars from this past weekend's Guelph Tribune:

Firstly, senior girls' star Katie Mora has agreed to play hockey for the University of Guelph.  Mora was a D10 all-star in all three sports that she played (basketball, hockey, soccer), and according to the article, St. James staff have compared her with a couple of the all-time great athletes that the east-side Guelph high school has produced.

On the basketball court, Mora hit double figures in 10 of 14 D10 regular season games, with 7 games of 18+ points.  Her loss will be partially offset by some quality junior talent moving up from the 2009 D10 junior girls championship team.

Meanwhile, the article confirms an earlier note that we had listed here ---- St. James senior boys star Ryan Higgins will be returning for a 5th year.  The article notes that Higgins, who was STJ's senior athlete of the year this year, will return to St. James for one semester to suit up for the Lions.  Higgins has "recently wrote his SATs and he expects he'll be playing NCAA ball in September of 2011".

See full details from the article here. 

The Record: Mono Cancels Waterloo Basketball Player's Big Plans

Article By:  Mark Bryson

Murphy Burnatowski was just days away from representing Canada.

Then the blood tests came back.

Mononucleosis.

Once that 13-letter word was uttered on Wednesday morning, Burnatowski was packing up and heading home to Waterloo. His spot on Canada Basketball’s Development Men’s National Team was gone. A two-week trip to Europe for a series of exhibition games was gone with it.

“Oh man, I can’t describe what I’m feeling . . . it sucks,” Burnatowski said on Thursday.

“I still feel fine, which makes it even harder.”

The six-foot-seven forward from the University of Maine had locked up a roster spot with the development team that is currently working out at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto. Not only was he going to be making the July 17 to Aug. 2 trip to Belgium, England, Spain and the Netherlands, he was going to see significant playing time.

However, he’d been struggling with what he thought was strep throat. He’d taken medication and was feeling fine. No shortage of energy. Nothing. The blood tests were taken Saturday as a precaution.

But instead of crossing the Atlantic, Burnatowski has been told to shut it down for three weeks and relax.

“I have to lay low for a little bit, which is going to be hard because I don’t feel like lying low,” said Burnatowski, who turns 19 on Sunday.

Nineteen players had been invited to the Toronto camp to audition for 14 available roster spots. Following the eight-game tour of Europe, it was possible a player or players could be selected to stay on with the Senior Men’s National Team.

Burnatowski wasn’t the only one to be shocked with the diagnosis. National team coach Leo Rautins was stunned to find out and had the tough task of breaking the news to Burnatowski at Wednesday’s workout.

“There was just no indication he had mono; he was just tremendous,” said Rautins.

“It’s unfortunate because he played extremely well. We’re definitely going to be keeping an eye on him for the future.”

Burnatowski is a graduate of Canada Basketball’s National Elite Development Academy who spent two years at Sir John A. Macdonald Secondary School. He has represented Canada several times on the international stage, including last summer’s FIBA under-19 world championship in New Zealand.

Burnatowski earned himself an invitation to this week’s camp by impressing Rautins during voluntary workouts in April and May at York University.

He came every day, said Rautins, and impressed with his rugged style of play, determination and willingness to learn.

“Initially he wasn’t on the list, but through those workouts, I said I’ve got to give this guy an opportunity. And he came into camp here and played extremely well,” said Rautins.

Burnatowski enjoyed an outstanding freshman season at Maine. He was warming the bench at the beginning of the NCAA schedule on Nov. 13 against Fordham, seeing just three minutes of floor time. Just five games later, he was a Black Bears starter, playing 29 minutes against Colgate.

Maine finished with a 19-11 record after its season ended with an upset loss to New Hampshire in the American East quarter-finals.

Burnatowski finished the season averaging 21.8 minutes per game, averaging 6.4 points, 3.7 rebounds and 1.1 assists.

(Retrieved From:  http://news.therecord.com/Sports/article/746148)

2009-10 Boys 20+ Club: A Look Back

At some point over the summer, I'll be archiving the 20+ club in some manner (don't worry, it will still be viewable on the site).

At any rate, here's a look back at the top 10 junior and senior scoring performances on the season:

Junior
42 - Javon Masters, FHCI (vs. WODSS, 1/5)
40 - Jason Quiring, JHSS (vs. BCI, 1/7)
40 - Sean Samuel, HHHS (vs. FHCI 2/18)
39 - Sean Samuel, HHHS (vs. WODSS 1/21)
38 - Sean Samuel, HHHS (vs. GCI 1/12)
37 - Carlo Zanette, CDDHS (vs. WSS 12/7)
35 - Marco Zanette, CDDHS (vs. CCVI 2/6)
33 - George Stankovic, BCI (vs. SDCSS 11/28)
32 - Brennan Senra, SHHS (vs. KDSS 2/8)
32 - Michael Friesen, JFR (vs. OLOL 12/17)

Senior
40 - Stefan Arezina, CHCI (vs. Kingston Loyalist, 1/9)
39 - Stefan Cvrkalj, BCI (vs. St. Theresa Midland, 1/16)
39 - Stefan Cvrkalj, BCI (vs. WCI 1/5)
39 - Taylor McNaughton, FHCI (vs. KCI 1/7)
37 - Stefan Cvrkalj, BCI (vs. London Beal, 11/26)
37 - Arben Kalaba, KCI (vs. CHCI 1/14)
36 - Stefan Cvrkalj, BCI (vs. KCI 2/20)
36 - Eric Alderice, EDSS (vs. GPSS 2/11)
36 - Rob House, CCVI (vs. CWDHS 12/17)

The Floor Is Yours....

Believe it or not, we're now closer to the start of the boys' high school season than we are from the end of the 09-10 campaign.  As well, the girls' CWOSSA season is now less than 2 months away (from opening practices, anyways).

That being said, I think I'll take this opportunity to thank everyone for their support and readership over the initial "year" here on the site.  Over the next bit, we'll naturally have to start making some changes to transition into the 2010-11 year (e.g., archiving the "20+ club").

Meanwhile, during these "slower" days of summer, I'm going to take the opportunity to write a couple of "opinion" pieces over the next little bit. 

Please use the comments section here for any suggestions on possible topics, or any other news that you'd like to share with regards to CWOSSA basketball (eg. recruiting news, etc.).  I have a couple things in mind, but feedback is always appreciated!

Hope everyone is having an enjoyable summer!

Guelph Tribune/D10: Ross' Linthwaite Named Winner of Beirnes/Lucas Trophy

(Photo Cred:  Ned Bekavac / Guelph Tribune)

Article/Note Retrived From:  http://www.guelphtribune.ca/news/article/214840

Blake Linthwaite of the John F. Ross Royals is this season’s winner of the Al Beirnes/Bob Lucas Annual Trophy. The District 10 basketball award is presented annually to the graduating player who best exemplifies excellence in boys basketball, academics and leadership. Linthwaite is off to Queen’s University as a life sciences student and there he expects to play rugby for the Gaels. It’s the third straight year a Ross player has won the trophy as Rob McMurray earned it last year and Harry Webb the year prior.

Alumni Update: Jaan Montgomery

After finishing up his NCAA career with the Binghamton University (NCAA D1) Bearcats, former WCI Viking Jaan Montgomery has continued his basketball career abroad.

Montgomery completed his first season with Lemvig of the Danish First Division averaging better than a double double and about 3 blocks per contest.  In fact, here's a translated page from the team's website detailing his 20 point, 18 rebound and 3 block performance in one particular game, a 107-94 loss to the Solrod Comets.

Montgomery's performance has caught the eye of some members of the Estonian basketball community (which is where his family is from originally), and he is currently in Estonia over the summer working on his game and training with the national team.  Here's some recent detail from an exhibition game against Sweden's U20 team, where Montgomery netted 4 points in a victory.

Local 'Ballers Crack Team Ontario Rosters

A handful of talented local players have cracked Team Ontario rosters for the U15 boys, and the U17 boys and girls teams.

On the boys' side, one family accounted for all of CWOSSA's representation.  Former Bishop Mac junior star Connor Wood (who played at the Regional Elite Development Academy in Hamilton this past year) was named to the U-17 boys team.

Meanwhile, Connor's younger brother, Mitchell, a grade nine who was a key member of Bishop Mac's "AA" CWOSSA championship junior team this past year, was named to the U-15 team.

Both teams are slated to compete at the Canadian National championships in early August in Winnipeg.  However, before that, both clubs will get a bit of international experience.  The teams are heading to Argentina this weekend to participate in an international tournament.

Full rosters can be accessed here:
Ontario U-15 Boys
Ontario U-17 Boys

As for the Ontario U-17 girls' roster, three CWOSSA players have cracked the "top 21" extended roster.  Teammates Kelly Polischuk and Kelly VanLeeuwen (St. John's) represent Brantford's AAAA OFSAA gold medalist squad.  Meanwhile, Kitchener's Michelle Hudyn (Eastwood CI) is also listed on the roster which can be seen in it's entirety here.  The 6'1" Hudyn was a second-team WCSSAA all-star in the '09 campaign despite being only in grade 10.