Of note, all games are 3:30pm starts, with the exception of the junior game between St. Mary's and St. David, which will be played at 5:00pm after the senior game.Senior
#1 St. Mary's (11-0) vs. #4 St. David (6-6)
Regular Season: SMHS 2-0 (W 62-24; W 58-33)
Um, do you see those regular season results? To be fair to St. David, St. Mary's put up similar results against most teams in the league, having won all their games by at least 20+ points.
Not going to waste too much time with this one; expect the Eagles to cruise into Friday's final.
Pick: St. Mary's by 33
#2 Resurrection (9-3) vs. #3 St. Benedict (8-4)
Regular Season: RCSS 2-0 (W 59-49; W 66-55)
The Resurrection Phoenix have been getting some solid play as of late from both fourth year F Jacob Gilbert (19.7 PPG in his last 3 league games) and G Patric McGlynn (16 PPG in last 3 league games). Needless to say, the Saints are going to need to do a better job containing those two than they did in their last league game (36 combined points).
St. Benedict, on the other hand, has a very balanced scoring attack. Through their last six league games, a different player has led the Saints in scoring in 5 of those 6 contests. Tyler Moulton and Aaron Zammit have been the ones putting up solid numbers, but anyone is certainly capable of stepping up.
For the Saints to win, I think they want to avoid this game getting into the high 50s or 60s like their regular season game. A game in the mid-to-high 40s would give them an optimal shot of pulling the upset.
Pick: Resurrection by 7
Junior
#1 St. Benedict (11-1) vs. #4 Resurrection (7-5)
Regular Season: SBCSS 2-0 (54-48; 56-31)
Two teams that feature a lot of grade 9 talent, and two teams that have certainly improved as the season has progressed. Actually, the Saints have reeled off 11 consecutive D8 wins after dropping their opener on the road to St. David, so their confidence has to be high.
Guards Zubair Seyed (5'5" / Grade 9), Justin Malnerich (5'9" / Grade 9) and forwards Khiem Tran (5'10" / Grade 10) and Alex Douglas (6'2" / Grade 9) do the bulk of the damage for the Saints, while Resurrection has been led by guards Ali Rashid (5'9" / Grade 9), Jake Rush (5'10" / Grade 9), and defensive stalwart Sean Begy (6'2" / Grade 10).
Rush (ankle), who had 16 points in the first game against SBCSS, hasn't played in Resurrection's last two games and is questionable for today.
Add that in to the rest of the factors, and SBCSS is certainly the strong favourite on their home court.
Pick: St. Benedict by 13
#2 St. Mary's (9-2) vs. #3 St. David (8-4)
Regular Season: SMHS 2-0 (44-42, 50-30)
Two of the top forwards in the D8 league do battle in this one, with the athleticism of 6'5" St. Mary's forward Barnaba Neil matching up against the solid inside-outside game of St. David's 6'3" Alec Scheffler.
Oh, the guards? They aren't too shabby either, with St. David's veterans (James McBride and George Dumitru) matching up against St. Mary's (Adham Eleeda, Gordon Lam, etc.).
I have a feeling that this game is going to be more like their first league game (2 point SMHS win) than their second game (20 point SMHS win), and with the way things have gone in the D8 this year, I wouldn't be surprised to see the Celtics take it.
That said, I'll stick with the homecourt Eagles in a thriller.
Pick: St. Mary's by 4.
