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| 2013 Champs: Oakwood CI |
First-round games will go tomorrow at RIM Park, which is a great facility to showcase this tournament. Those of us who remember the 2006 OFSAA Boys' Basketball tournament (or OBA events at the facility) can attest to it being a great facility to host these sort of events --- especially the ease to go back and forth between games.
It's now been 15 years since CWOSSA last tasted victory at the event (1999), when Brantford Assumption won the second of two consecutive crowns for CWOSSA schools at the Heinbuch (St. James won in 1998).
Here's a look at this year's CWOSSA contingent, including where I see them potentially finishing (albeit with a bit of my CWOSSA bias clearly shining through!). As an FYI, your "division" is based upon the result of your first two games (WW = Gold; WL = Silver; LW = Bronze; LL = Consolation):
St. Mary's (Kitchener)
The Eagles, who reached the final at last year's event, return all 5 key contributors from last year's roster and about 90%+ of their scoring offense --- in addition to a strong contingent of junior players coming up the pipeline from their "AAAA" CWOSSA championship club.
There was a lot of hype surrounding SMHS in the preseason, being given a #1 national ranking by NorthPoleHoops.com, before the Eagles went 0-2 at the FHC Early Bird. To be fair, the Eagles couldn't start practices until November 1st, only a few days before the event, whereas the Toronto-area schools had been practicing for some time.
In other words, I still have the Eagles as my #1 CWOSSA ranked team heading into the season, BUT they do have a very difficult first-round game against a disciplined Burlington Nelson team, which could be difficult. Of course, being the "home team" might help.
Prediction: Gold Division
Cameron Heights (Kitchener)
Court Heinbuch, for who this tournament is named, was a coach at Cameron Heights. This may be one of the best opportunities in years for the Gaels to make some noise at a tournament named for one of their coaching greats.
St. Patrick's from Ottawa, silver medalists at this past year's "AAA" OFSAA, are the Gaels' first-round opponents. St. Pat's is 3-3 on the year to this point, with those losses coming against tough opposition.
There's a potential for a Cameron Heights - St. Mary's semifinal, should both teams advance that far. What a game that would be --- here's hoping it can happen.
Prediction: Gold Division
SJAM Highlanders (Waterloo)
The 'Landers, like both of the teams mentioned above, return the greater majority of their starting lineup and scoring offense from a season ago.
The first-round has them in an intra-CWOSSA match-up with North Park, which I'll pick the 'Landers to win. Assuming they get past that, a tough second round game against (most likely) Welland Notre Dame would await.
Prediction: Silver Division
North Park Trojans (Brantford)
Fresh off a big tournament win at home against St. John's, the Trojans are off to a solid start to their campaign, and should be improved over a season ago, with Matt Minutillo and 6'8" Brandon John leading the way.
With three CWOSSA teams in the top bracket, we'll get to see how the Trojans relate to the other CWOSSA contingent quite quickly. I like them to win at least one of their first two games.
Prediction: Bronze Division
Grand River (Kitchener)
The Rens have probably the toughest first round match-up, having to go up against the tournament's top seed, the Oakwood Barons.
Of course, Grand River basketball fans will remember RIM Park as the site where they came so close to pulling (arguably) one of the biggest upsets in OFSAA basketball history. It will be interesting to see if GRCI can capture some of that "RIM Park magic" in this one.
Regardless, with several scoring options (Miro Iliev, Murtada Khamis, David Bajic) I see the Rens hitting the win column at some point over the weekend.
Prediction: Bronze Division
Eastwood (Kitchener)
The Rebels are making a trip back to the Heinbuch after being absent for quite some time --- I can't recall the last time, in fact, but I'd suggest it was probably in the 90s, or the latter part of the last decade during the Boyd Vassell era.
This year's version of the Rebels returns four starters from a year ago --- Cham Ujullu, Sydney Stewart, Ousmane Kromah and Izzy Nemeth. They aren't the biggest team in the tournament, but they can make up for it with athleticism.
Tough first-round match-up for the Rebs against Welland Notre Dame, and what should be a very interesting second-round tilt against a CWOSSA team (either SJAM or NPC).
Prediction: Consolation Division
Waterloo CI (Waterloo)
The Vikings are the K-W school that has made the most historical Heinbuch appearances, and they'll be making another one this season.
Unfortunately for them, they're seeded in a tough draw, with a first-round game against Hamilton MacNab followed up by a second-round game against CHCI or Ottawa St. Patrick's.
The Vikes showed some good things in winning the CWDHS tournament this past weekend, so we'll see if that confidence can carry over to the Heinbuch and result in a win or two.
Prediction: Consolation Division
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