Junior Girls
#1 Bluevale (12-0) vs. #8 Southwood (7-6)
Regular Season: Bluevale 39, Southwood 23 (Sept. 23)
The Bluevale Knights enter the WCSSAA junior playoffs as the favourite to continue the great run that they've had over the past several seasons, and they will look to start things up with a home win against the Southwood Sabres.
The Knights feature an explosive offense that is keyed by three girls in particular --- Sarah Hamm, Hannah Fishbein and Natalie Bishop. All three have scored at least 19 points on one occassion this season.
Though I think there's something to be said for having an "extra game" to prepare for your quarterfinal, the Knights haven't won a game by fewer than 11 points to this point in the season. I think that trend continues tonight.
Mark's Pick: Bluevale by 23
#2 Jacob Hespeler (11-1) vs. #7 Grand River (8-5)
Regular Season: Did Not Play
The Hespeler Hawks were on the verge of a perfect regular season when they were knocked off last Thursday by the visiting Elmira Lancers. Although many would think of that as potentially damaging to a team's psyche, I think that the timing of that loss and the bye on Tuesday will actually help the Hawks refocus on the task at hand for the WCSSAA playoffs.
The Renegades are no push-over. They posted a close (3 point) loss to Elmira, and were the team that fared the best against the top-ranked Bluevale Knights (11 point loss) this season. Leticia Skeete and Ana Milanovic are the key offensive players for GRCI.
The Hawks are led by Taylor Dennis and Brooklynn Wright, who have hit double figures more often than not during the regular schedule. Naomi Adams is an excellent "third option" who would be a primary option at the majority of other schools.
I look for the Hawks to wrap up an "AAA" berth today and advance to the semifinals for the second consecutive season.
Mark's Pick: Jacob Hespeler by 11
#3 Preston (10-2) vs. #6 Cameron (9-4)
Regular Season: Did Not Play
Although many people expected good things out of the Panthers again this year, expectations were slightly tempered after a 3-2 start ---- of course, those losses ended up being against the top 2 teams in the league and Preston subsequently ran the table to finish with a 10-2 record and a first-round bye.
Ashley White led the league in scoring, putting home points at a 17.3 PPG clip during her 12 league appearances. Included among those was a CWOSSA-high 33 points against Waterloo-Oxford.
Although the Gaels have some good performers (like Cathy Bekhyt and Ashanti Lewis), they don't have the offensive horses in my eyes to be able to pull off the upset on the road. In fact, the Gaels failed to break the 40 point mark in any league game this season.
That said, a loss isn't the worst thing in the world for the Gaels as they will advance to the CWOSSA tournament so long as their loss isn't coupled with a Grand River win over JHSS. We'll get to all that a little later.....Preston to win.
Mark's Pick: Preston by 16
#4 WODSS (10-2) vs. #5 Elmira (11-2)
Regular Season: WODSS 42, Elmira 41 - 10/28
Although expected of a 4/5 matchup, this should be the best game of the day. Firstly, unless Southwood can pull a shocker over Bluevale, the CWOSSA "AAA" qualifiers will be JHSS, PHS and the winner of this contest......just in case you wanted to raise the stakes above and beyond a trip to the WCSSAA semifinals on Saturday afternoon!
The Crusaders have been led all year by Alysha Glendinning and Maddy Horst (not necessarily in that order) --- both girls are capable of double-digit efforts every time they step out on the floor. Look for more solid efforts out of that duo here today at home.
Meanwhile, Elmira's Krista Weins has quietly been one of the top performers in the league, averaging approximately 13.2 PPG to my calculations. The nice thing with Elmira has been that they've had a handful of secondary options backing her up ---- though most frequently, Julia Frey and Tessa Charnuski.
I expect this one to go down to the wire again. Slight edge to the home-court Crusaders.
Mark's Pick: WODSS by 4
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