It will be unfamiliar territory for either the Waterloo-Oxford Crusaders or Jacob Hespeler Hawks tonight at Preston HS in Cambridge.Neither of these AAA schools has ever won a WCSSAA Senior Girls' basketball championship, so there will be a first-time winner crowned after this evening's game (tip time: 8pm).
Both of these clubs met just over a month ago in regular season play, with the Crusaders winning at home by a 41-32 margin. The 9-point game was WODSS' closest regular-season affair, as they were the dominant team this past season.
It should come as no surprise to regular readers of the blog who the key contributors to their team's victory might be, but here's a breakdown of the two clubs:
Jacob Hespeler
The Hawks have been led all year by Candice & Courtney Wright (not necessarily in that order). Candice (6'2") has an array of low-post moves and is tough to stop on the interior --- but she can also step-out and hit jump shots with consistency. Courtney, meanwhile, is an athletic slasher (OFSAA triple-jump champion) who has some serious springs and can be a terror on the offensive glass.
However, the big key to Jacob Hespeler's overall team success has been the play of rookie PG Jasmine Ramcharan. The diminutive PG has been tremendous for the Hawks all year, and has made some clutch shots (reference: game vs. Bluevale CI), while also stepping up if teams pay too much attention to the Wright Twins.
The Hawks aren't overly deep (as you might expect for a team with a 9-person roster) and contributions (scoring or otherwise) that they can get from their 4-7 spots in their rotation will be extremely valuable this evening. Natasha Quiring, Sam Tonner, and Morgan Panabaker all can play a key role.
Waterloo-Oxford
In WO's semifinal game, the WCI Vikings did a great job of limiting the damage caused by WCSSAA's leading scorer, 5'6" PG Maddy Horst. In her place, Tess Pettigrew stepped up from an offensive standpoint and led the way, proving that the Crusaders are much more than a one or two trick pony.
F Alisha Glendinning is usually WO's second scoring option, but G Becca Payne, G/F Libby Brenneman, and F Kyla Burrough have all made significant scoring contributions at one point or another during the season.
Game Thoughts & Pick
The Crusaders, naturally, are the favourites, but not by an overwhelming margin. Jacob Hespeler will certainly have to do a better job defensively against Horst, who torched them for 21 (of WO's 41 points) the first time around.
Both teams are extremely adept in the half-court offense, so I don't see much of a "pace of play" edge in this one, although W-O does a tremendous job of transition offense --- even fastbreaking off of made baskets on occasion --- so that's something to keep an eye on.
The other key thing for spectators will be a match-up between arguably two of the best power forwards in CWOSSA, Alisha Glendinning (WODSS) and Candice Wright (JHSS).
With all that being said, the Crusaders have been the favourites from the beginning of the season, so it's not going to change now.
I'll go WODSS by 6.
