The tournament is usually a 32-team senior event; however, modifications have been made this year due to the current OSSTF situation. Still, John Malnerich and his team have put together a 16-team senior draw and an 8-team junior event, the first junior draw in the tournament's history.
Both Junior and Senior championship finals will be broadcast on Rogers Cable 20 in the Kitchener-Waterloo region; the junior final goes at 6:00pm Saturday with the senior final taking place at 8:00pm.
Here are links to the JUNIOR DRAW and the SENIOR DRAW, respectively, as with games at three locations (JHSS, SBCSS and MDCSS), it's probably for the best!
Now, let's take a look at the action, starting in junior:
Junior
A couple of very talented teams are making an appearance in the 8-team field, including the host Saints, who are coming off of a couple of key exhibition results last weekend.
The Saints defeated one of the top CWOSSA teams, St. John's (Brantford) by a 44-41 final, and then narrowly fell to Brampton D'Youville (57-50), one of the top teams in the GTA. Looks like the youthful Saints, who have a majority of grade nines on their roster, are rounding into form nicely.
They'll be tested though, especially by out-of-town teams Windsor Catholic Central (undefeated in WECSSAA play before it went on hold) and Jean Vanier out of Richmond Hill (#6 in a recent HooptownGTA.com poll, ahead of schools such as Vaughan, Mother Teresa, and Oakwood). The Jaguars have a veteran club that made some noise last year at Resurrection's Luke Santi Invitational Tournament.
Other teams in the draw are no slouch either. Rounding out the field are Bishop Macdonell (Guelph), Monsignor Doyle (Cambridge), St. Anne (Lakeshore), Ursuline (Chatham) and St. James (Guelph). Here's the first round games:
Friday at St. Benedict
Catholic Central (Windsor) vs. Bishop Mac - 6:30pm
St. Benedict vs. Ursuline (Chatham) - 8:00pm
Friday at Monsignor Doyle
Mons. Doyle vs. St. Anne (Lakeshore) - 6:30pm
Jean Vanier (RH) vs. St. James (Guelph) - 8:00pm
Senior
Two highly-rated teams on the provincial stage will be making an appearance at the SBCSS Invitational, D'Youville (Brampton) and Catholic Central (Windsor).
D'Youville has been ranked in the top-5 provincially this year, while Catholic Central returns the bulk of their roster from a season ago when they were the #6 seed at "AAA" OFSAA. Needless to say, it certainly won't be easy for our CWOSSA teams in trying to reach the championship final.
Speaking of CWOSSA, we'll be represented by the host Saints, along with JF Ross, St. James and Bishop Macdonell (Guelph), St. Mary's (Kitchener), St. John's (Brantford) and Monsignor Doyle (Cambridge).
Rounding out the draw will be last year's consolation champions from St. Basil (SSM), St. Christopher (Sarnia), Jean Vanier (Richmond Hill), St. Anne (Lakeshore), Sacred Heart (Newmarket), Ursuline (Chatham) and St. Theresa from Midland, who were 4th at OFSAA "AAA" last season.
Here's the first round draw:
Friday at St. Benedict
D'Youville (Brampton) vs. St. Basil (SSM) - 9:30am
St. Benedict vs. JF Ross - 11:00am
St. Mary's (K) vs. St. Christopher (Sarnia) - 12:30pm
Jean Vanier (RH) vs. St. Anne (Lakeshore) - 2:00pm
Friday at MDCSS
Bishop Mac (Guelph) vs. St. John's (Brantford) - 9:30am
Monsignor Doyle vs. Catholic Central (Wind.) - 11:00am
Sacred Heart (NM) vs. Ursuline (Chatham) - 12:30pm
St. James vs. St. Theresa (Midland) - 2:00pm
