The annual "Purple and White" 32-team event hosted by the University of Western Ontario took place this past weekend in London, and the St. John's Green Eagles came away the best result of CWOSSA teams, finishing up as a quarterfinalist (losing to the eventual tournament champions).The Green Eagles, who barring an upset will enter my top 10 rankings as the #1 team this week, handily defeated Strathroy by a 68-8 score in their opener. Grade 9 guard Alaina McMillan paced the way for the Green Eagles with 14 points, while Megan Thompson added 13.
In round two, St. John's took out Amherst 49-17, backed by a 22-point performance from Kendra Van Leeuwen and 11 more by Leah Coon.
This set up a quarterfinal match-up against Holy Names (Windsor), where the Green Eagles were within 7 points and 3:00 to go before falling 46-36. Van Leeuwen netted 16 points in the loss.
Holy Names would go on to the tournament championship, knocking off St. Thomas More (Hamilton) in the championship final.
The Green Eagles are back in action with league play this week, before hosting their annual "tip-off classic" in conjunction with Assumption College this coming weekend. Participating teams aside from those two will include CWOSSA squads WCI, Bluevale, Galt, and Bishop Macdonell. Out-of-town entries including Brebeuf (Hamilton) and Wallaceburg DSS.
First round Friday games:
2pm (SJC) - St. John's vs. Wallaceburg
3:30pm (SJC) - Bishop Mac vs. Galt
2pm (ACS) - Assumption vs. Brebeuf
3:30pm (ACS) - WCI vs. Bluevale
