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.