Saints, Celtics Head To Windsor This Weekend

Two of my current "top three" CWOSSA teams are headed to Windsor this weekend for the University of Windsor's 59th Annual High School Boys' Basketball Christmas Tournament.

The tournament usually attracts some provincially-ranked teams to Windsor, and this year's edition is no different.

Bishop Mac will start their tournament against last year's OFSAA darlings, Holy Names of Windsor, with the winner of that game likely getting Father Henry Carr in the second round.

St. Benedict will take on Bishop Reding (Milton), a team that narrowly defeated SJAM (56-53) in the finals of the Brampton Campion tournament a couple of weeks ago.  That winner will take on St. Anne (Lakeshore) or Sarnia Northern.

Interestingly enough, the winner of this tournament has gone on to win the OFSAA championship fifteen times later that year.

A couple of CWOSSA teams accomplished that feat, including the 1998 Guelph St. James Lions, and the 1986 Kitchener St. Jerome's Lions.

The only other CWOSSA team to win the title down in Windsor was the 1970 Forest Heights Trojans, a team led by standout Mike Moser (who later passed away; the WCSSAA MVP award is named in his honour).

Here's a link to the program if you're interested in some more of the history:
http://www.golancers.ca/documents/2015/12/14//59thProgramWeb.pdf?id=707

Brantford Expositor: Young Green Eagles Building

Article By:  Brian Smiley

The St. John's College Green Eagles are off to a good start in the Brant County high school senior boys basketball league.

After losing Tuesday night to  the undefeated North Park Collegiate Trojans, St. John's is 3-2. While the team's coaches had no doubt the players had the skill to do well, things are falling into place a little quicker than they'd anticipated.

"We're pretty young this year," said Mike Doherty, who belongs to a coaching staff that also includes head coach Tim Dawson and Lindsay Ronson. "We have a couple of Grade 10s on our team so we weren't expecting very much early on.

"We're really planning for later in the season. We're really playing for February."

Doherty said the Eagles had more than 30 players try out for the team and the 14 that the coaches selected have unique backgrounds.

"We've got some great athletes on this team," he said. "We've got two provincial rugby players, we've got a provincial baseball player, we've got a provincial football player and we've got a couple of kids who won an OBA Division I (baseball) championship last year.

"We've got lots of athleticism on this team."

That didn't mean making selections for the team was easy.

"There were some tough decisions," Doherty said. "Because we kept two Grade 10s, we looked at the development there. They were ahead of a lot of the Grade 11s and 12s."

Despite injuries to some of its key players, St. John's started the season off well. At The Brantford Expositor/Ed O'Leary Memorial Senior Boys Basketball Tip-Off Tournament, the Green Eagles finished second to North Park.

"North Park, with Matt Minutillo, they're going to be tough to beat this year," said Doherty. "They're a very good team."

While St. John's has earned three wins during the regular season, its one loss was to the two-time defending champions from Assumption College. In that game, the Green Eagles got behind but tightened things up in the second half as they lost 56-52 in their first contest of the season.

"We put ourselves in a corner," said Doherty. "We gave up 40 points in the first half. That's a lot of points to give up, even in a game.

"We only gave up 16 in the second half which showed we were night and day.

"They've got a couple of returning players and they're well coached."

With so many athletes from different backgrounds - and some younger players on the team - the St. John's coaching staff realizes it's going to take a while for things to fall into place just the way they'd like.

"We've got a core of kids who don't really understand the system we're trying to do," said Doherty. 

"We try to build our offence on the defensive end.

"We're trying to implement some defensive things. We're still doing a lot of teaching on that, where we're trying to do a lot of ball pressure. Unfortunately for some of the newer kids coming in, they think the ball pressure is fouling and we're fouling way too much."

The Eagles will lean on their two leaders - fifth-year player Adrian Mendoza and Grade 10 player Ben Kwasnik. Those two are part of a core four that includes Zach Dawson and Danny Weagle.

St. John's is also expecting Grade 10 Ryan Kidd and senior Tommy Gemmell, recovering from injuries, to join a roster that also includes Brian Coon, Chris Brewster, Michael Dubois, Nik Kilik, Nick Koehler, Liam Macmillan, Jordan Nichols and Jacob Spencer.

As they get ready for the second half of the season after Christmas, the coaches hope their players continue to improve.

"Our practices have been fabulous," Doherty said. "The kids are really working. What we try to preach is try to make your teammates better and that's what they've been doing."

Retrieved From:  http://www.brantfordexpositor.ca/2015/12/15/high-school-boys-basketball-young-green-eagles-building

What We Learned: Jacob Ranton Memorial Tournament Edition

In a 16-team tournament that was almost (13) exclusively CWOSSA teams --- including many ranked clubs, we got a good look this weekend at teams that will be battling for league crowns, as well as CWOSSA (and OFSAA) berths.  Here are my thoughts on a couple of the notable clubs, all of whom entered the tournament with a "top 10" CWOSSA ranking:

SJAM - Certainly the #1 team at this point in the CWOSSA region, the 'Landers are not "unbeatable" but you would certainly have to figure they would be favoured in any game against CWOSSA opposition.  Given that my current #2 CWOSSA team, Bishop Mac, is "AA", the top "AAA" threat to SJAM might come from St. Benedict.

We all know about the "big three", but the 'Landers got some great contributions from their bench over the weekend, which is important for SJAM's long-term success, particularly in games outside of the CWOSSA region.

Eastwood - Probably the most "eye opening" win of the weekend was the Rebels' win over St. Mary's, a game in which the Eagles had their full roster back in action.  Eastwood's length -- led by Cham Ujullu & Hanani Ujullu -- creates issues and deflections.  Grade 10 guard Layee Jabateh displayed strong poise in that semifinal game and was also impressive.  His continued development over the season could help the Rebs make an extended playoff run.

St. Mary's - The Eagles seemed a bit "out of sorts" in the semifinal game, and I'm sure there are some adjustments coming into the new season with players figuring out their (new) roles and others reintegrating themselves into the early-season rotation after injury; keep in mind the Eagles graduated all 5 starters from last year's D8 championship team.  St. Mary's may be vulnerable now, but I expect this team to gel and improve as the season goes on, given that the talent level is there.  Keep an eye on them as we progress.

Grand River - Extremely efficient on the offensive end, the Rens can certainly pile up some points -- they did score 67 in a losing effort to SJAM.  Of course, they also gave up 70 (Resurrection), 67 (KCI) and 81 (SJAM) so they aren't quite where they want to be on the defensive side of the ball.  That said, their strong guards, led by Miro Iliev, certainly make GRCI look to be among the group of WCSSAA teams that will challenge for a WCSSAA finals berth & CWOSSA spot --- depending on how things shake out with the seeding.

WCI - Aside from say, Eastwood, the Vikes might have been the most pleasant surprise of the weekend.  They demonstrated their depth in the consolation finals win over Resurrection, a game where -- get this -- Sam Sutherland, Aaron Grubb and Adam Piazza did not play.  Along with this depth, they have length at all positions and some rapidly improving forwards (Antoney Bell & Mal Chol among them).  Despite their early season losses to KCI, which might be chalked up to a less than favourable match-up, WCI seems poised for long-term success this season.

KCI - A bit of a disappointing weekend, the Raiders went 1-2 with losses to both Grand River and St. James, although the latter was in a "friendly" game.

Probably just a "blip" in the road for the Raiders, who have several wins over top 10 teams already this season including WCI (x2) and North Park.  With one of the better backcourts in CWOSSA (Stefan Simic & David Ben-Lemotey) and a most favourable schedule -- the Raiders avoid both SJAM & ECI in league play -- I expect the Raiders to have a very high seed entering the WCSSAA playoffs. 

Resurrection - The Phoenix certainly missed 6'7" starter Jordan Kenning this weekend, as he's out past Christmas with a minor injury.  Rez could have used him on the glass as they were out-rebounded dramatically in single-digit losses to Grand River & WCI.  On the flip side, the Phoenix have a lot of offensive talent -- led by a backcourt of Korbil Gany and Ali Rashid -- and when they're at full health and firing on all cylinders, they should at least be competitive with teams in the CWOSSA "top 5".   

St. David - After a big win over St. Mary's, the Celtics have rapidly come down to earth.  A strong shooting contingent that can get hot in a hurry shouldn't discount the Celts from putting teams on "upset alert" throughout the season.

Senior: 'Landers Breeze To First Annual Jacob Ranton Memorial Tourney Title

When the big three are rolling, the SJAM Highlanders are tough to beat.  

When the big three AND the SJAM bench are rolling, the SJAM Highlanders are going to be hard-pressed to be beat.

In the first annual Jacob Ranton Memorial Tournament championship final, all ten SJAM players hit the scoresheet in an 81-53 victory over Kitchener Eastwood.

It was a similar story in the semifinal, with the 'Landers again topping the 80-point plateau in an 81-67 win over Kitchener Grand River.  That contest saw the SJAM reserves pile up 34 bench points in a game where SJAM maintained a comfortable double-digit lead for virtually the entire game (24-12 after 1Q, 41-24 at half, 60-43 after 3Q).

SJAM also posted a first-round victory over Welland Centennial (57-44), and then handled Guelph St. James by a 66-38 count in the second round.

As for finalists Eastwood CI, they had a solid weekend including a 1-point win (61-60) over WCI #1, and an eye-opening 67-55 win over Kitchener St. Mary's where they had a double-digit advantage for the majority of the second half. 

On the consolation side, WCI, who split their team among two entries in the tournament, earned some well-deserved hardware by taking the consolation title over Kitchener Resurrection, 69-61.  Antoney Bell netted 24 for the Vikes in the win, while Korbil Gany had 17 for Rez.

WCI's split teams, certainly playing with added motivation, racked up a 5-2 overall record.

As a side note, it was certainly great to see the support for the tournament and the importance of Mental Health awareness that it brought to the forefront.  In talking with players, you could tell that it was certainly a message that hit home -- so it was impressive to see that impact.

1st Round
WCI #1 60, St. David 39
Eastwood 72, Holy Cross 44
St. Mary's 74, WCI #2 61
Stratford Central 62, Forest Hts. 50
St. James 49, Bluevale 41
SJAM 57, Welland Centennial 44
Grand River 80, Resurrection 75
KCI 51, Huron Hts. 30

Championship Side:

Championship QFs
Eastwood 61, WCI #1 60
St. Mary's 85, Stratford Central 55
SJAM 60, St. James 42
Grand River 81, KCI 67

Championship SFs
SJAM 81, Grand River 67
Eastwood 67, St. Mary's 55

Championship Final
SJAM 81, Eastwood 53

Consolation Side:

Consolation QFs
St. David 59, Holy Cross 48
WCI #2 47, Forest Hts. 36
Welland Centennial 46, Bluevale 37
Resurrection 58, Huron Hts. 49

Consolation SFs
Resurrection 59, Welland Cent. 37
WCI #2 def. St. David

Consolation Final
WCI 69, Resurrection 61

Top Scoring Performances:
28 - Kuel Thomas, HHSS vs. RCSS
25 - Greg Smith, BCI vs. STJ
24 - Miro Iliev, GRCI vs. RCSS
24 - Nedim Hodzic, SJAM vs. STJ
24 - Alex Durigon, STJ vs. KCI
24 - Antoney Bell, WCI vs. RCSS
23 - Greg Smith, BCI vs. Well. Cent.
22 - Hanani Ujullu, ECI vs. HC
22 - Adham Eleeda, SMHS vs. Str. Cent.
22 - Stefan Simic, KCI vs. GRCI
22 - Cham Ujullu, ECI vs. SMHS

Senior: Saints Roll To Chancellor Title

The St. Benedict Saints have certainly established themselves as the most credible threat (at the"AAA" level) to the SJAM Highlanders.

This weekend was another step forward for the Saints, as they took the 37th annual Chancellor Tournament in Hamilton this past weekend.  St. Benedict toppled CWOSSA foe Brantford Assumption (59-22) and Sarnia Northern (49-41) to advance to the semifinals where they slipped by Hamilton Brebeuf, 63-59, behind 31 points from Zubair Seyed.

The championship final was expected to be a competitive affair, but the Saints ran away from the top Catholic program in London, John Paul II, by a 57-34 final.  

Seyed was named as the tournament MVP, while Devante Douse was a tournament all-star.

St. Benedict will have a busy holiday season; they participate in the University of Windsor tournament this coming weekend before heading out to San Diego, California for the "San Diego Classic Hoop Surf N Slam" tournament from December 28th through the 30th.  

Upon their return, they will prepare for their annual home tournament which goes in early January.

CWOSSA Senior "Top 10" Ranking

The second edition of the Senior CWOSSA ranking is below, and there isn't too much change --- this weekend's tournament action should continue to help sort things out, particularly in the bottom half of the ranking.

Any changes from last week are in brackets:

1.  SJAM / Waterloo

2.  Bishop Macdonell / Guelph (3)

3.  St. Mary's / Kitchener (2)

4.  St. Benedict / Cambridge

5.  Kitchener CI / Kitchener

6.  Waterloo CI / Waterloo

7.  North Park CVS / Brantford

8.  Grand River CI / Kitchener

9.  Resurrection CSS / Kitchener

T10.  Forest Heights CI / Kitchener (NR)

T10.  St. David CSS / Waterloo (NR)

T10.  Eastwood CI / Kitchener (NR)

T10.  Assumption CS / Brantford (NR)

Dropped Out:  Centre Wellington / Fergus (10)

Honourable Mentions:  Centre Wellington, Centennial, St. James, St. John's, Lourdes.

Senior Boys: 1st Annual Jacob Ranton Memorial Tournament Tips Off Today

Former WCI teammates - Dani Elgadi (L)
and Ranton (R).

Much like the Junior "Highlander CWOSSA Hoopla" tournament last weekend, the annual "Vikings-Knights Roundball Classic" tournament, co-hosted by WCI and Bluevale, provides some early-season clarity for my CWOSSA rankings.

The tournament tips off today, but there is one important change from years' previous.

This year, the tournament has a new name:  The Jacob Ranton Memorial Senior Boys' Basketball Tournament.

Jacob was an outstanding basketball player, and student leader at WCI, graduating in 2013.  After graduation, he attended Memorial University in Newfoundland where he was a key member of the basketball team.

Last December, Jacob took his own life.  His family is committed to using his life and death as a platform to discuss the importance of mental health issues -- and this tournament will help to play a role in that.

Proceeds from this tournament will be used to support the Waterloo Region Suicide Prevention Council (WRSPC), which will provide every athlete with information about mental health.

Mental health is certainly something that affects us all.  If you, or someone you know is struggling, the WRSPC website provides excellent resources including ways to help yourself, or someone you love.

Here's a link to the website and information - certainly worth checking out.

As for those playing in the tournament, let's use this weekend to continue to combat the stigma surrounding mental health issues, and honour Jacob's memory with some strong play on the court.

The Tournament
13 CWOSSA teams will be participating -- including top-ten ranked clubs Kitchener St. Mary's, WCI, Grand River, SJAM, Resurrection, and KCI.  

The other CWOSSA teams are no slouch either, with Eastwood & Forest Heights both being undefeated in league play, St. David (who defeated St. Mary's), last year's AAA CWOSSA champion St. James, and Huron Heights rounding out the CWOSSA contingent.

Out of town entries include Kingston Holy Cross, Welland Centennial, and Stratford Central.

First-round games tip off at both sites (WCI & Bluevale) today at noon, with championship second-round games going this evening (6:30pm & 8pm at each school).  Semifinals are noon starts on Saturday, again played at both sites with the championship round set for WCI --- consolation final at 6pm and the championship final at 7:30pm Saturday evening.

Here is the first round draw for today's games:

WCI Bracket
Noon:  WCI #1 vs. St. David
1:30pm:  Holy Cross vs. Eastwood
3pm:  St. Mary's vs. WCI #2
4:30pm:  Forest Heights vs. Stratford Central

Bluevale Bracket
Noon:  Bluevale vs. St. James
1:30pm:  SJAM vs. Welland Centennial
3pm:  Resurrection vs. Grand River
4:30pm:  Huron Hts. vs. KCI

Guelph Mercury: Lourdes Crusaders Go Outside for Senior Hoops Victory

Article By:  Rob Massey

GUELPH — The Lourdes Crusaders went outside to free up their inside game.

With the Crusaders on fire from outside the arc, the Ross Royals were forced to move out with their coverage and that opened up some working space inside for David Khayipangi.

"We were feeling it today. It's not a normal thing, but they were open shots," Khayipangi said of the three-point shooting by the Crusaders after they hit 13 in a 71-61 victory over the host Royals.

"We're a small team so any time we can shoot the three, we'll shoot it and if it goes in, it goes in."

"We're not that big of a team so we've got to play to our skill and our skill is shooting for a bunch of our kids," Lourdes' coach Mike O'Rourke said. "It's not a major part, but it's a part of our game and when they're falling, they're falling and let's keep going."

Khayipangi hit a pair of threes but most of his game-high 22 points came from in the paint.

"That's my game," he said. "If you leave me open, I'll shoot it, but I'm more comfortable inside, finishing strong at the basket, get some rebounds and going back up."

The Crusaders built a comfortable lead in the first three quarters, then saw the Royals make a charge in the fourth quarter. Lourdes held quarter leads of 23-11, 36-23 and 56-36 before the Royals scored 25 points in the fourth quarter.

The Royals also displayed some skill shooting the three-pointer as they drained 11, five coming in the fourth quarter.

Craig Valeriote and Josh Alanis had 15 points apiece for Lourdes, Alanis getting all of his points on threes while Valeriote sank a trio of threes.

Mengis Hiyabu had 19 points, including two threes, for Ross while Harris Cornett netted 11 (three threes) and Kyle Schroeder collected nine, all on three-pointers.

Senior Boys' other results:

Bishop Macdonell 72 Centre Wellington 34

Bishop Mac remained undefeated with the win while the loss was the first in league play for Centre Wellington. Jake Chaput gathered 25 points for Bishop Mac while Chris Poloniato had 18. Ty Uhrig led Centre Wellington with nine while Nate Scott had eight.

Centennial 47 St. James 46

Chris Jin struck for 10 points for Centennial while Mark Shinouda had nine and Garrett Morgan chipped in with eight. Alex Durigon had 10 for St. James and Keegan Feeney nine.

Orangeville 62 Guelph CVI 32

Orangeville had four players hit double figures as Graydon Lindsay scored 18, Nigel Carey-Kochan 15, Reid Murray 11 and Shan Lekhi 10. Kyle Kush, Kevin Duong and Ben Tofil each had six for GCVI.

D10 Jr. Boys' Basketball

Guelph CVI 62 Orangeville 33

Jerrol Smiles hit for 23 points for GCVI while Ayden Jackson followed with 21. Tyrell Asante and Erik Wouters each had six for Orangeville.

Centre Wellington 60 Bishop Macdonell 41

Cole Newton's 25 points led Centre Wellington while Zach Cudmore connected for 13. Jacob McWhirter and Ryan Matteis each had 10 for Bishop Mac.

Lourdes 54 Ross 29

William Vandenheuvel struck for 16 points for Lourdes while Jack St. Hilaire and Geeth Kenneth each had 11. Jon Howie had 13 for Ross while Tao King-Fall chipped in with six.

Retrieved From:  http://www.guelphmercury.com/sports-story/6165328-lourdes-crusaders-go-outside-in-for-senior-hoops-victory/

WCSSAA Tuesday: One Of The Most Balanced Scoring Days in History?

It was certainly an interesting day yesterday in WCSSAA Senior Boys' basketball.

I'm not talking about the winners and losers, as all of the teams that were significantly favoured posted wins as expected.

The interesting thing was the balanced scoring that we saw across the league.

In fact, among the 8 games, the day's leading scorer (Simon Petrov of SJAM) had just 17 points.  I've been doing this blog for a while, and I can't remember a game date (8 games) where there wasn't at least one 20-point scorer.

Several low-scoring games, a couple of blowouts (starters not seeing heavy minutes), and, of course, balanced attacks by teams that did play all combined to play a factor.

Four teams are still undefeated after Tuesday's action.

KCI got a bit of a push from Glenview Park on the road, but improved to 3-0 with a 49-37 win, backed by 11 points each from Stefan Simic and David Ben-Lomotey.

Eastwood didn't hit the 70-point mark for the first time in league play, but still scored 60 in a 60-39 win at Elmira.  Cham Ujullu (16) and Emmanuel Malek (15) were the high point men on the day for ECI.

SJAM, behind the aforementioned 17 from Petrov and 11 by Nino Spasik, posted a 69-40 win at Preston. 

Forest Heights also continued their winning ways, dominating their home opener in a 60-38 win over Galt.  Edwin Antwi's 16 and Rakesh Arjun's 13 (including a couple of dunks) were among the Trojan highlights.

D8 Monday: Depleted Eagles Survive Depleted Phoenix

As fate would have it, the St. Mary's Eagles (less Adham Eleeda, Gordon Lam and Minas Abara) played the Resurrection Phoenix (less Ali Rashid and Jordan Kenning) on Monday afternoon, and those that saw the court were part of an exciting game that went to Overtime and saw the Eagles prevail by a 61-58 final.

Thijien Simon led the way for the Eagles, with 18 points, while Kanayo Nnadi and Barnaba Neil had 16 each.  Jake Rush (15), Korbil Gany (14) and Muyang Iluya (13) were the leaders for Rez.

Needless to say, a loss by the Eagles would have severely crippled their chances at the #1 seed in the D8 league, given that they had just lost to St. David last week.  Of course, they should be back to full strength soon, so on the flip side, teams like Rez must be kicking themselves for an opportunity lost.

FYI - the league plays an 11 game schedule, with "A" division teams playing "B" division teams once --- PRDG, Rockway and Woodland --- and then playing a "home and home" series with the other A division schools (4 x 2 games).  

Villaver Lights Up Scoreboard For Junior 'Stangs
Jiggie Villaver of the Monsignor Doyle Juniors is off to a fantastic start this season.

The grade nine scoring machine has now put up 27, 29, and 32 points in his first three league games, a 29.3 PPG average.  I'm told that he also hit for 40+ in an early season tournament game.

More importantly, his 32 points came in a win; the 'Stangs topped Rockway 59-33 yesterday to improve to 2-1 on the season.

WCI Wins Senior Tourney at Reedemer University College

WCI was a winner this past weekend, taking a Senior Boys' title at the Redeemer University College "Battle Royal".

They posted a 59-56 win over GTA-ranked Jean Vanier (Milton) in the first-round, followed by a 65-56 win over King's Christian of Oakville. Sam Sutherland led WCI in both games, scoring 17 points in the latter.


Aaron Grubb was the leader in the finale with 13 points as the Vikes toppled Hamilton St. Mary's 69-48. Grubb was named as a tournament all-star, while Sutherland was the tournament's MVP.

Southwood Senior Tourney: St. James Takes Title; Marquis MVP

Southwood's annual senior boys tournament went down this weekend, and it was the Guelph St. James Lions who went 3-0 to take the crown, culminating with a 57-51 victory over Ancaster HS in the tournament final.

Keegan Feeney led a balanced attack for the Lions in the tournament final, scoring 12 points.  PG Nick Marquis of the Lions was named as the tournament's MVP.

St. James topped Brantford St. John's 69-53 in the semifinals, with Alex Durigon scoring 14.  Adrian Mendoza had a game-high 21 for the Eagles.

The other semi saw Ancaster top Southwood, 50-40.
First-round game scores were St. James 82, Brantford CI 36; St. John's 62, Guelph CVI 38; Southwood 56, Woodstock 36; and Ancaster 65, Jacob Hespeler 36.

Senior: Rez Takes Title On Home Floor

The Resurrection Phoenix hosted their annual 8-team tournament this past weekend, where they were able to claim victory -- thanks in part to the unique "OFSAA style" format.

With the format, first-round winners played first-round losers in the second round.  The Phoenix lost their first game to Stratford St. Michael, before defeating Georgetown Christ the King (63-45), London Oakridge (46-37), and then Guelph Lourdes (66-50) in the tournament final.

Lourdes, who advanced to the tournament final, also slipped up in their first contest against Christ the King (37-29) before knocking off St. Michael's (50-45) and Centre Wellington (58-49) in the semis.

That all-CWOSSA semifinal saw Craig Valeriote hit for 25 points for the Crusaders, while Ty Uhrig netted 18 for the Falcons.

In the championship final, Rez guard Ali Rashid had a 20-point effort, while Jake Rush added 15 and Jamu Iluya had 14.  Valeriote had 18 and David Khayipangi 16 for Lourdes.

The consolation final -- interestingly enough between two teams that won their first game -- saw Christ the King defeat St. Mike's, 46-36.

CWDHS won the "bronze" game, topping Oakridge 43-34.

First-team all-stars were all-CWOSSA players included Rez's Korbil Gany (MVP), Ali Rashid, and Muyang Iluya; Craig Valeriote and David Khayipangi from Lourdes; and Ty Uhrig from CWDHS.

Windsor Essex and Dundas Valley were the other teams not mentioned above that participated.

Tournament Wrap: Good Weekend for SJAM Fans

It was a good weekend if you are a fan of the SJAM Highlanders basketball program.

Both the Junior & Senior 'Landers had impressive results at their respective high-profile tournaments over the weekend.

On the Junior Side, SJAM went 5-0 to take the title at their annual home tournament, the SJAM CWOSSA Hoopla.  The tournament, which features 16 CWOSSA-based teams, is usually a strong indication of future success.  In fact, most of the previous champions have gone on to win their league and/or CWOSSA titles.

Dragan Stajic led SJAM with 18 points in the tournament final, a 51-37 victory over Forest Heights, who were backed by a 14-point performance by Branko Damjanovic.

SJAM actually won all of their games by 14 or more points -- 58-43 over Brantford CI (Semifinal), 62-30 over Resurrection (Quarterfinal), 53-37 over Centre Wellington (2nd Round) and 52-34 over St. David in their opener.

With a strong returning core from last year's CWOSSA championship team, we knew that SJAM would be the #1 team in the region entering play, but it looks like they are #1 by a bit of a margin.  We'll see how teams can close the gap -- if at all -- over the next few months.

Seniors in Brampton @ Campion Showdown
The SJAM Highlanders certainly made themselves some fans in the GTA over the weekend.

While I was in the stands for the tournament finale, a 56-53 loss to Bishop Reding of Milton (16-0 on the season and a top-ranked GTA team), many in my vicinity -- some of whom had no idea where SJAM was located -- had nothing but praise for the way the 'Landers played and were coached.

The 'Landers went 2-0 in their pool, with wins over Philip Pocock (Mississauga), 64-57, and Brampton Centennial (72-63).  They then defeated hosts Campion in the semifinal, 72-57, to advance to the tournament final.

Star forward for SJAM, Nedim Hodzic, posted a double-double in each game:  25+10, 43+14, 33+10, and 21+14, for tournament averages of 30.5 points and 12.0 rebounds.

The other "big three" members, Simon Petrov and Justin Hardy, also had impressive tournaments.  Petrov was named as a tournament all-star alongside Hodzic.

FYI & CWOSSA Senior Top 10

So, we're all moved into our new house --- but without internet access, which will arrive later this week.

In the meantime, to keep you occupied, here's a look at my Senior "CWOSSA Top 10" after this past weekend:

1.  SJAM / Waterloo
Notable:  Gold semifinalists at Heinbuch; OT loss (by 3) to champions Oakwood.

2.  St. Mary's / Kitchener
Notable:  Gold semifinalists at Heinbuch.

3.  Bishop Macdonell / Guelph
Notable:  Lost starter Evan Hosker to injury (broken wrist) in 1st Q of St. Mary's game (3pt. loss).  Defeated SBCSS by 10, lost to Cardinal Newman in Heinbuch Silver Final.

4.  St. Benedict / Cambridge
Notable:  Lost to MacNab (by 7) & Bishop Mac at Heinbuch.  Defeated Sarnia Northern.  Defeated Resurrection in league play.

5.  Kitchener CI / Kitchener
Notable:  Lost to Oakwood; defeated HB Beal, North Park & WCI at the Heinbuch.

6.  Waterloo CI / Waterloo
Notable:  Lost to MacNab, defeated Sarnia Northern & Grand River, and lost to KCI at the Heinbuch.

7.  North Park CVS / Brantford
Notable:  Won Ed O'Leary Brantford Tip-off (def. SJC in final).  Lost by 3 to SJAM, defeated Upper Canada College, and lost to KCI at the Heinbuch.

8.  Grand River CI / Kitchener
Notable:  Had players absent from Heinbuch this weekend; close loss to SMHS & defeated St. Thomas More (Hamilton).

9.  Resurrection CSS / Kitchener
Notable:  Defeated ECI & FHCI in tournament play.  Defeated CHCI & St. James in exhibition play.  Lost to SBCSS in league play.

10.  Centre Wellington DHS / Fergus
Notable:  Defeated OLOL & St. James in league play.

On the Radar:  Eastwood, Forest Heights, St. James, Lourdes, Centennial, St. John's, St. David.

Kitchener Post: TOTZKE: It's Time To Break the Local Team Curse at the Heinbuch

Nice article here by Brian Totzke, for those of you who aren't too familiar with the Heinbuch's history and the difficulty that K-W teams have had winning the (competitive) tournament:

http://www.kitchenerpost.ca/opinion-story/6134546-totzke-it-s-time-to-break-the-local-team-curse-at-the-heinbuch/

OFSAA: Nice Start For Green Eagles; Celtics Come Close To Upset

Kendra Van Leeuwen poured in 23 points as the #2-ranked St. John's Green Eagles raced past #11 Campion (Brampton) in their opening round game of the OFSAA "AAA" Championships here in Windsor, 55-41.

The Green Eagles led by only 6 at half, but gradually extended their lead to double-digits in the second half, a lead that they were able to maintain.

St. John's will take on St. Mary's College (#17 seed - Sault Ste. Marie) in the second round today.  Win that, and they would advance to the Quarterfinals (OFSAA medal game) against a team ranked no higher than #9.

Bishop Mac, the #16 seed at "AA", gave the #6 seed a run before losing their opener, but the Celts rebounded in time to win their second game, an elimination tilt against #18 Libermann that saw BMAC win going away, 61-26.  Sophia Nash led the Celts with 17 points, and helped them advance to today's play against #1 Theriault.

At "A" OFSAA, #15 Peninsula Shores dropped their opener to #5 O'Gorman, 48-28.  They are underway right now against #2 Westminster, where they currently trail 50-18 after three quarters of play.

Heinbuch Underway: Local Teams Seek To End Drought

St. Mary's was very close last year, but the drought continues.

Since it's expansion to the current format, a K-W area team has never won the Heinbuch Tournament.  It's also been since 1999 that a CWOSSA team raised the banner (Brantford Assumption).

That's not to say that there haven't been opportunities, or close calls (KCI in the mid-00s, St. Mary's last year are the most recent).  Of course, it also shows the depth and talent of the field attracted to the area to participate.

This year, there's again 16 teams from all over the province, including 8 from the CWOSSA region.

Here are my thoughts on each of the CWOSSA teams:

Grand River:  The Renegades get a tough draw, opening with St. Mary's and then having to play either Bishop Mac or St. Thomas More, two teams that have looked impressive to this point in the season.  We'll see if they can possibly spring an upset on St. Mary's in their early morning game, if the Eagles sleepwalk through it.  Prediction:  Consolation Division

St. Mary's:  Last year's finalists will have a revamped roster as we all know, but there's a lot of talent and depth, which can certainly be a key factor in such a tournament.  From a CWOSSA perspective, hoping that they can play Bishop Mac in the second round as I have both of those teams projected in my "top 4" to start the season.  Prediction:  Gold Division

Bishop Mac:  I think the Celtics will win one of their first two games -- just not sure in which order.  I think they have the talent (veteran roster with 3 players who started playing senior in grade 10) to make some noise and possibly take a divisional championship.  Prediction:  Silver Division

WCI:  The Vikes feature a team that was CWOSSA finalists at the junior level two years ago, now with a year of senior play under their belt.  MacNab are certainly favourites against WCI in their opener, but they do have a shot against (most likely) Sarnia Northern in their second game.  Prediction:  Consolation Division.

St. Benedict:  The Saints have already seen some tournament action against tough teams, having gone to the GTA where they hung with perennial powerhouse from Halton, Oakville Holy Trinity.  Tough draw being in the same division as MacNab, but they should win one of their first two.  Prediction:  Silver Division

SJAM:  Last year's CWOSSA champs return four starters, and the overwhelming majority of their scoring offense.  Led by Nedim Hodzic, who should make an all-star team here, the 'Landers might be CWOSSA's best chance at ending their drought.  Prediction:  Gold Division

North Park:  Winners of the "Brantford Tip-Off", the Trojans draw SJAM (like last year) in the opening round.  Playing in one of the deeper foursomes, it might be tough for the Trojans to eke out a victory.  Prediction:  Consolation Division

KCI:  The Raiders get defending champs Oakwood in the first round -- and then either J. Clarke Richardson or HB Beal in their second game, so they're certainly underdogs, although the Raiders often prefer it that way.  Prediction:  Consolation Division

Good luck to all teams this weekend, particularly our CWOSSA representatives!

Heinbuch Shifts To Conestoga College (Saturday)

Due to the labour unrest with custodial staff, high school gyms were unavailable this weekend for the Heinbuch Tournament's second day (Saturday games).

Thankfully, tournament organizers were able to secure Conestoga College as an alternative facility; the college will play host to all Saturday games.  Friday games are still a go at their original times/locations (RIM Park).

I'll post my thoughts on CWOSSA teams tomorrow morning, hopefully prior to tip-off.  Good luck to all our CWOSSA representation!

OFSAA: Today in Windsor

I'm in Windsor today, so stay tuned to the blog and my Twitter feed (@cwossabball) for some updates.

We'll be tracking the three CWOSSA teams in attendance (Peninsula Shores, Bishop Mac, and St. John's), with special attention paid to the Eagles, who enter the AAA tournament as a serious medal threat (#2 seed).

Today, Peninsula Shores (#15) plays at 12:30pm, Bishop Mac (#16) also has a 12:30pm game out in Kingsville, while SJC plays #11 Campion in a 4pm tilt.

Good luck to all three teams this weekend!

Brantford Expositor: SJC Continues Hoops Dominance (AAA CWOSSA)

Article By:  Brian Smiley

The St. John’s College Green Eagles senior girls’ basketball team’s recent dominant run at CWOSSA continued last weekend.

For the third straight year – and seventh time in the past 10 seasons – St. John’s captured a Central Western Ontario Secondary Schools Association championship.

“I couldn’t be more proud of the girls,” said SJC coach Matt Lynch, whose team went undefeated at Waterloo Collegiate Institute to win the CWOSSA ‘AAA’ title. “It was a great weekend and it’s been a great season so far.

“They’re a nice group to be around, too. In practice they work really hard and they seem to enjoy being around each other. They push each other and help each other get better.

“To see it come together with them holding the trophy up, it doesn’t get any better as a coach.”

This year’s Brant County and CWOSSA championships are the most recent items of hardware that the senior girls’ basketball team has stuffed into an overflowing trophy case. In the past 10 years, SJC hasn’t just dominated at the CWOSSA level but also at the Brant County level. This year’s Brant County championship was the team’s 10th straight.

“It is pretty special when you think about,” said Lynch, who is being helped with the coaching duties this season by Steve Van Leeuwen, Gina Tarantello and Arielle Mendoza.

“You think about all the teams in that run and all the players and they’re all pretty special groups. They have a commitment to the program and the tradition of basketball at St. John’s.”

The CWOSSA wins, including a 62-30 victory against Sir John A. Macdonald in the final, were a little lopsided on the score sheet but Lynch said the Eagles haven’t taken anything for granted this season.

“I definitely wouldn’t say it was smooth sailing,” he said. “We preach about the challenge in front of us and not looking ahead.

“At BCSSAA finals we weren’t really looking ahead to CWOSSA, we were kind of trying to take care of business. And then (last) weekend, we weren’t looking forward to the championship game, we were worrying about the game we were in right there.”

To earn the CWOSSA championship, the coaches leaned on the entire team.

“I would say it was a complete team effort,” said Lynch. “Even this weekend, we had different girls step up at different times. If I think back to the weekend, everybody had their time or their moment that they helped us get to where we are.”

The Eagles are now headed to the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations ‘AAA’ championships in Windsor, a tournament that will run from Thursday through to Saturday.

Prior to the seedings being released on Monday, Lynch felt his team would get a high ranking thanks to its 32-2 record. However, his team’s seed won’t matter because all the teams at OFSAA are capable of winning.

“I think we’ll be a top-three seed but that being said, with ‘AAA’ and ‘AAAA’ merging, essentially every team there is capable of beating any other team,” said the coach, whose team was seeded No. 2 later in the day on Monday.

“It’s not like in previous years where your second round game may not be as competitive. You have to play five, and beat five, really good teams to win it all.”

That list of teams should include No. 1 seed St. Mary’s High School from Hamilton.

“They’re a very talented group,” Lynch said of one of the two teams to hand his squad a loss this season.

“They’re very similar to last year’s team. They have seven or eight guards who can shoot the ball very well. They’re well coached and they come from a very strong tradition. They’ve won the gold medal at OFSAA the last four years in a row.

“They’re a well-rounded team.”

Not that they need any, but the Green Eagles have an added incentive to make it to the final against St. Mary’s since that’s the team St. John’s lost to last year in the OFSAA championship game.

“If you’re going to tell me that we were going to play St. Mary’s in the championship again, I would definitely take it,” Lynch said. “I think everybody would like an opportunity to play for an OFSAA medal and to play for a gold medal against the best would be something special and something you could only hope for.”

Regardless of who they play, Lynch said the players are pumped for the challenge.

“They’re really excited,” he said. “It is special. It’s special for them to win BCSSAA. It’s special for them to win CWOSSA and then a chance to go to OFSAA again and be with each other and finish the season off right. I think they’re pretty pumped up for it.

“We’re excited for the opportunity. As coaches we couldn’t be more proud of the group. We’re looking to play hard and have a good weekend.”

Members of SJC’s CWOSSA championship team include: Kendra Van Leeuwen, Leah Coon, Erin Dubois, Maddi Cohoon, Alaina McMillan, Kaitlyn Overeem, Alex Girardi, Ashley Derks, Cassidy Lacey and Emily Dignan.

Retrieved From:  http://www.brantfordexpositor.ca/2015/11/23/brantfords-st-johns-college-continues-hoops-domination