(At Cameron Heights CI, 6:30pm)Regular Season: WCI 71, Grand River 54 (also played in semifinals of ECI tournament - WCI won 60-53).
Fun Fact: Rematch of 2010 WCSSAA Junior Final, where arguably two of the lowest ever seeds met in the final (WCI was #4, Grand River #6). The game went to overtime before WCI prevailed, 46-44.
Last Year of WCSSAA Title: WCI - 2010; Grand River - 2009
Last Year of CWOSSA Title: WCI - 2003 (AAAA); Grand River - 1996 (AAA - Highest Classification At Time).
How They Got Here
One of these teams (the WCI Vikings) were certainly expected to be here, coming in with just 1 league loss by a mere one point. After handling #7 Jacob Hespeler (53-30) in the WCSSAA quarterfinals, the Vikes defeated #3 Cameron Heights on their home floor by a 52-37 final in Saturday's semis.
The other, Grand River, has been playing their best basketball over the past week and a half, culminating with an upset of #1 SJAM (58-50) in the WCSSAA semifinals. Grand River's zone defense also caused issues for the #5 Bluevale Knights in a 54-33 quarterfinal romp.
Key Players
Both Grand River and WCI have a "dynamic duo" that can put up some big numbers on their respective scoresheets.
For the Vikes, PG Aaron Grubb and SF/PF Adam Piazza team up to give WCI a very nice inside-outside option. Grubb is solid running the show for WCI, and he's equally adept at attacking the lane as he is pulling up from mid-range or hitting the outside jumper. Piazza, meanwhile, has some deceiving length and can face-up and hit jump shots if you give him room.
Grand River has one of the better backcourts in the CWOSSA region with Aleks Cvrkalj and Jake Zuzan leading the way. Cvrkalj was WCSSAA's leading scorer this past season at over 20 PPG, and can fill it up in a hurry --- though WCI limited him to just 13 points last time out.
X Factors
Grand River had Cvrkalj/Zuzan as their leading scorers in 7 league games; WCI had Grubb/Piazza as their leading scorer in 6 league games.
As such, the performance of their teammates will go a long way to determining this year's WCSSAA champion. In their league game, WCI's Keegan Paleshi stepped up with 14 points, while Griffin Floto is a regular threat to crack double digits and could certainly play a big impact as well.
For Grand River, Nathan Rowe or Abdei Hamad (who has been playing quite well as of late) would fall into the category of two "under the radar" guys that could have a big game tonight.
The Game / Prediction
It seems that every time Grand River makes a run to the WCSSAA finals, there's something notable about their defensive arrangement. This year, their zone defense has been instrumental in guiding the Rens to two playoff victories and an appearance in the championship final.
Both squads are fairly efficient on the offensive end, and pace of play shouldn't be an issue for either. That said, Grand River would probably prefer a bit more of a "free wheeling" type of game in the 60s, while WCI (who are good in their halfcourt sets) would prefer a tempo more suited in the 50s.
WCI's halfcourt pressure that they've implemented throughout the season is two-fold in its benefits --- it can cause turnovers, sure, but the Vikes also use it to control tempo and pace, actually "slowing teams down" to break it.
Having played each other a couple of times already this season, there certainly aren't going to be any surprises as far as personnel are concerned, which is why I'm certainly curious to who among the "under the radar" starters or bench reserves could step up and have a big performance tonight.
Both of those games were WCI wins, so getting off to a good start, while important for both teams, is going to be extra key for Grand River in this one.
The Rens have been playing very well as of late, but I don't know if it will quite be enough. As is usual with Junior WCSSAA finals, I expect some early nerves before teams settle in --- but it should be a good one.
Prediction: WCI 53, Grand River 46
