There's going to be a bit of familiarity as the qualifying round tips off today in the WCSSAA Junior Girls' league.In fact, of the four games on the schedule, two (ECI/HHSS and WCI/CHCI) are match-ups that just occurred on Tuesday.
Here's a look at the schedule:
(12) Glenview Park at (5) Elmira
Regular Season: EDSS 39, GPSS 36 (10/7)
My Pick: Elmira 45, Glenview Park 30
Interestingly enough, despite their seeding, these teams battled to within 3 points during the regular season. The Panthers are one of the more interesting teams in the WCSSAA league, having defeated WCI, and played several of the top 5 teams within single digits (Galt, Elmira).
That said, I don't think Elmira will overlook Glenview here. Although Natalie Mayer was Elmira's leader during the regular season, they have a few more offensive contributors than the Panthers do, and I think that will be the difference here.
(11) Grand River at (6) Preston
Regular Season: PHS 36, GRCI 17 (10/16)
My Pick: Preston 44, Grand River 22
Early on in the season, it looked as though the Panthers might be one of the top couple of teams in the league --- and, despite their seeding, they just might be (after knocking off #3 Jacob Hespeler in their regular-season finale).
They can get another shot at the Hawks with a win here against Grand River; the Rens have only topped the 30 point mark once against a non-playoff team, so their shot at winning this would be to grind this one to a halt and keep it in the 20s. I don't see that happening.
(10) Eastwood at (7) Huron Heights
Regular Season: HHSS 40, ECI 25 (10/28)
My Pick: Huron Heights 39, Eastwood 31
The key for the Rebels today will be trying to contain Jamila Beckford, one of the league's top scorers, who even had a couple of 20+ efforts during the regular season (and 16 in their game on Tuesday).
Beckford averaged 13.7 PPG during the regular season, but had 10 or less in three of Huron Heights' four losses. I think we'll have a good idea of how this game went simply by looking at the boxscore.
Huron to win, but I think ECI learns from Tuesday and puts in a better showing.
(9) WCI at (8) Cameron Heights
Regular Season: CHCI 42, WCI 36 (10/28)
My Pick: Cameron Heights 35, WCI 28
Cameron Heights is another team that has had an interesting season. In fact, they were relatively competitive against the top two teams in the league --- being the only school that didn't lose to both by 20+ points.
They also had a blowout win (32-13) over the #6 seed, Preston, beat #5 Elmira 28-14, and kept a couple other games against top teams close. In my view, they've had the toughest schedule in the league.
Both teams have about three key scoring options (WCI - Victoria Giguere, Emma Cheeseman, Ramla Abdalla; CHCI - Zoe Hoyte, Tamara Grahovac, Kara Day) so unlike some of the other games, you can't necessarily key defensively on one player.
Should be another good game, but I like CHCI at home.
