Granted, it did absolutely nothing for my picks record, but there were definitely some eye-opening results on the first league date after the exam break.
For starters, the Cameron Heights Gaels now are control their own destiny with the "inside track" towards getting first place in the WCSSAA standings. The Gaels knocked off previously unbeaten Forest Heights in impressive fashion, putting up 72 points in a 72-52 win. Nebojsa Djeric had 20 for the Gaels in the win, while Vedran Dmitrovic netted 14. Javon Masters (15) and Paul Anderson (10) were tops for FHCI.
Meanwhile, the WCI Vikings pulled a mild surprise over their suddenly strugging cross-town rivals at SJAM. After dropping a game to the KCI Raiders before the break, SJAM now stands at 9-2 with a two game "losing streak" after falling 61-49 at WCI. Ben Reyhani had a game-high 24 for SJAM, but it wasn't near enough with four Vikes in double figures --- Jacob Ranton (17), Adam Anagnostopoulos (12), Alex Copp (11) and Zach Totzke (11).
In fact, SJAM's loss meant that they could have (theoretically) slipped all the way down to 5th in the standings if they had lost to FHCI on Thursday and both Bluevale (Eastwood) and KCI (JHSS) won their games. However, the Raiders missed an opportunity at a potential first-round bye as they slipped up at home against the Preston Panthers by a 53-45 score.
The first half had limited flow to the game, and it ended with the Panthers up 5 (20-15). It looks as though sleek-shooting guard Wes Meertens continued his strong play in the second half (I saw the first half of this one) as he finished with a game-high 19 points. Sean Holmes added 14 for PHS, and the Panthers did a nice job of containing KCI star forward Alex Galea, who finished below his season average with a 14 point performance. Graham Notar-Maclean added 10 for KCI.
In another key game on Tuesday, the Bluevale Knights cruised past the GRCI Renegades 65-39. Thanks to KCI's loss on Thursday, the Knights have now earned a first-round playoff bye regardless of their result on Thursday against Eastwood. Stefan Cvrkalj had 16 to pace BCI, with Adam Zack adding 14. Filip Cvrkalj had the high-scoring effort for the Rens with 14, while Osama Qahwash and Brodi Verbiski each added 8.
And in other action:
WODSS 64, Southwood 61
WODSS: Jesse Dodgson 11, Tyler Bowman 10
SSS: Brian Doran 24, Greg Marjerrison 17
Galt 70, Jacob Hespeler 47
GCI: Nic Bradford 18, Jack Simmons 16
JHSS: Josh Kirkham 14, Brendan Vandyken 11
Glenview Park 66, Huron Heights 51
GPSS: Devin Vinandy 23, Sean Dutton 15
HHHS: Sean Samuel 26, Darcy Jacobs 9
Current WCSSAA Standings
1. Cameron Heights 10-1**
2. Forest Heights 10-1**
3. SJAM 9-2**
4. Bluevale 8-3**
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5. Grand River 8-4 (includes "bye win" Thurs)*
6. WCI 7-4 (H2H over KCI)*
7. KCI 7-4*
8. Eastwood 5-6 (H2H over WODSS)*
9. WODSS 5-6*
10. Galt 4-7 (H2H over SSS)
11. Southwood 4-7
T12. Huron Heights 3-8
T12. Preston 3-8
T12. Glenview Park 3-8
T12. Jacob Hespeler 3-8
* - clinched playoff berth
** - clinched first round playoff bye (note that BCI could finish in a tie with others at 8-4, but they have defeated all 3 of those teams).
Grand River has clinched 5th place as well, as they have H2H wins over KCI & WCI.
Probably the first ever time in WCSSAA history that no team is eliminated from playoff contention before the final date of the season.
.....too early to even chat about that 12th place tiebreak until the final games are played. However, there are some games that will be key to that battle on Thursday, with Preston playing Galt and Huron Heights and Southwood doing battle. After starting the year 0-7, the Preston Panthers have come on of late, winning 3 of 4 with their only loss to WCI by 1. They have head-to-head tiebreaks over Southwood and Huron Heights, so if they can beat Galt they'd have 3 "H2H" tiebreaks which should be enough to get them in, in some regard.
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