WCSSAA: Quarterfinal Thursday (Picks)

It's quarterfinal Thursday in the WCSSAA junior and senior leagues today, and, despite what the seeding may suggest --- we should have some very competitive games on our hands today.

I'll start, as always, with the senior games, which are all 3:30pm starts:

(9) Huron Heights at (1) Forest Heights

Regular Season:  FHCI, 76-23

My Pick:  FHCI by 18

I'm not going to look too much into the regular season result, which came way back in the very first game of the season and when Huron Heights was missing leading scorer Sean Samuel.  

The Trojans can essentially guarantee themselves a CWOSSA berth with a win (due to the 4-5 game being contested between two AAA schools) and, as such, I think they come out strong and make another appearance on semifinal Saturday.

(10) Cameron Heights at (2) Waterloo CI

Regular Season:  WCI, 57-53

My Pick:  WCI by 11

Disregard the rankings for this one as these teams are much closer than what the numbers in brackets would indicate.  About a month ago, Cameron Heights held an 11-point lead entering the fourth quarter before the Vikes went on a big run to pull-out a crazy come-from-behind victory.

WCI is playing some great basketball right now (after the exam break) and may arguably be the favourite right now to take the WCSSAA crown.  I'll take them at home, but I expect CHCI to give them a run (at least early) today.  

(6) SJAM at (3) Grand River
Regular Season:  GRCI, 70-48

My Pick:  GRCI by 9

Another game where I'm not going to look too much at the regular season result.  That occurred during the midst of a SJAM losing streak, where they dropped their first four games to start the season (and didn't have a full roster, either).  Since that time, the 'Landers are one of the hotter teams in WCSSAA, going 8-1 over their last nine regular season and playoff games.  I don't necessarily think they'll win, but they have the tools to keep this one competitive over at Grand River this afternoon.

(5) Jacob Hespeler at (4) Galt

Regular Season:  JHSS, 77-60

My Pick:  Galt by 5

These teams are developing quite a rivalry, and it's nice to see Cambridge basketball making a bit of a comeback in the WCSSAA circuit.  The winner of this game will become the first C-bridge school to appear in the senior edition of "semifinal Saturday" since the 2007 OFSAA champion Southwood Sabres.

As for the game itself here, I expect a tight affair.  I'll go with the Ghosts in the castle here.

Junior

(1) WCI vs. (9) Preston
Regular Season:  Did Not Play

My Pick:  WCI by 32

The Panthers are heading to "AAA" CWOSSA, but their WCSSAA playoff run will end today at the hands of the Vikes, who possess one of the most balanced scoring offenses in all of CWOSSA.

(2) Grand River vs. (7) SJAM

Regular Season:  GRCI, 57-53

My Pick:  GRCI by 10

Could be a close one, as the regular season score indicates, but this time the game is on GRCI's home court and in front of their fans.  For those two reasons, I'll go with the Rens here, but wouldn't be surprised to see the "#7 seed" keep it interesting as SJAM is definitely better than that ranking would indicate.

(3) Cameron Heights vs. (6) Huron Heights

Regular Season:  CHCI, 58-41

My Pick:  CHCI by 14

A quick turnaround for the Huskies, who needed an extra day to finish off the KCI Raiders after a power issue at the school on Tuesday.  HHSS will need another big effort from Arshid Babury (23 last time these clubs played) to stick around in this one; personally, I think that CHCI is too deep for the Huskies here.

(4) Galt vs. (5) Eastwood

Regular Season:  Did Not Play

My Pick:  ECI by 8

I think that Eastwood is the better team, as Galt got the benefit of a loss switched to a win (vs. SJAM - roster issue) and played Huron Heights while HHSS' top scorers were suspended.  TJ Lall and company will want to prove me wrong here, I'm sure, but I'll go with the Rebs on the road.