It's the first "official" year for the 4-team CWOSSA "AAAA" tournament --- and what a field it is on the senior side.In fact, the four teams represented --- St. Mary's, JF Ross, Grand River & Cameron Heights --- have generally been in my CWOSSA rankings as the top four senior teams for most of the season.
On the junior side, St. Mary's, who survived the extremely competitive D8 junior circuit (over top 3 CWOSSA teams St. Benedict and Resurrection), enter as the favourite to take home the title, with the WCI Vikings -- fresh off their WCSSAA title -- looking like their primary challenger.
Junior Teams - AAAA
St. Mary's (Kitchener)
Waterloo CI (Waterloo)
JF Ross (Guelph)
Grand River (Kitchener)
Senior Teams - AAAA
St. Mary's (Kitchener)
JF Ross (Guelph)
Cameron Heights (Kitchener)
Grand River (Kitchener)
Here's a link to the junior schedule and one to the senior schedule.
Junior - Saturday Games (at Brantford Assumption)
9am: WCI vs. JF Ross
10:30am: St. Mary's vs. Grand River
3:30pm: Losers of First Two Games (Winner to Semi; Loser Eliminated)
5:00pm: Winners of First Two Games (Winner to Final; Loser to Semifinal)
Monday - Semifinal 10:30am, Final 5pm.
Senior - Saturday Games (at Brantford Assumpion)
Noon: St. Mary's vs. Grand River
1:30pm: JF Ross vs. Cameron Heights
6:30pm: Losers of First Two Games (Winner to Semi; Loser Eliminated)
8:00pm: Winners of First Two Games (Winner to Final + OFSAA Berth; Loser to Semifinal)
Monday - Semifinal Noon; Final 7pm.
Junior Comments/Predictions
The St. Mary's Eagles certainly enter this one as a favourite, but, with being the favourite certainly comes the pressure of expectations.
There's also a question surrounding the status of starting PG Minas Abara, who injured his ankle in the D8 final. Although the Eagles have some depth to their roster, it would still certainly be a big loss for St. Mary's.
WCI, meanwhile, is fresh off a WCSSAA title and might be a bit sharper than St. Mary's (given the Eagles' 1+ week lay-off since the D8 final). It would certainly be a surprise if WCI and St. Mary's didn't make the junior final, but JF Ross and Grand River will be looking to spoil the party.
Predictions
WCI over JF Ross
St. Mary's over Grand River
St. Mary's over WCI (SMHS to final; WCI to SF)
Grand River over JF Ross (GRCI to SF)
Semifinal: WCI over Grand River
Final: St. Mary's over WCI
Senior Comments/Predictions
Like the junior Eagles, the senior St. Mary's squad comes into this tournament with some injury questions; floor general Jermaine Lyle did not play in the D8 championship final and he definitely makes St. Mary's a better team when he's out on the floor, particuarly on the defensive end.
Grand River will also be hoping to be at 100% physically for the tournament; guards Murtada Khamis and Miro Iliev have both been injured over the past week or so --- Iliev looked to be back at full strength at the WCSSAA final, but Khamis missed a large portion of the game with an ankle injury. Of course, with a CWOSSA title and OFSAA berths on the line, I don't expect him to miss any action.
Cameron Heights is coming off one of the best all-around quarters of CWOSSA basketball, a dominating fourth-quarter performance that helped them capture the WCSSAA final. They'll be seeking their second CWOSSA title in the past four years.
Guelph JF Ross, meanwhile, is certainly the darkhorse of the tournament. They do have a win over Grand River to their credit, and probably have the most bench depth of the teams in the tournament. Coach Bill Price always seems to get the most out of his team at CWOSSA (reference some "upsets" in the past five years), so don't be surprised to see them make a run.
Predictions
St. Mary's over Grand River
Cameron Heights over JF Ross
St. Mary's over Cameron Hts. (SMHS to final; CHCI to SF)
Grand River over JF Ross (GRCI to SF)
Semifinal: Cameron Heights over Grand River
Championship Final: St. Mary's over Cameron Heights
