OFSAA Tips Off Today!

5 CWOSSA teams are in action today at sites around the province.  First games for each team are:

A:  #14 Georgian Bay - Noon vs. #8 North Middlesex

AA:  #9 Bishop Macdonell - 10am vs. #10 Windsor Assumption

AAA:  #10 St. James - 10am vs. #4 Toronto Emery

AAAA:  #8 SJAM - 2:45pm vs. #14 St. Anne

AAAA:  #9 St. Mary's - 4:15pm vs. #10 Vaughan

Predictions
Note:  These predictions are for "elimination" rounds only, and do not include possible consolation bracket games.

"A" is arguably the most difficult division to seed, based upon the wide variety of teams (geographically and otherwise) that make up the field.

For Georgian Bay, they're certainly in tough against #8 North Middlesex, who are playing their best basketball of the season entering the OFSAA tournament.  NMDHS, who play in the London and area TVRAA league, lost back-to-back games to Westminster (London) early in February but rebounded recently to crush Westminster 45-14 in the OFSAA play-in game.

Georgian Bay Prediction:  0-2, Consolation Round.

Bishop Macdonell, meanwhile, gets a #9 seed at "AA" OFSAA and plays #10 Windsor Assumption in their opening game.  Assumption was the "Tier 2" winner in WECSAA (Windsor), defeating Essex in the final by 10 points.  Essex played at the Resurrection Invitational in December, where they lost to CWDHS (by 6) in a semifinal and to Resurrection (by 20+) in the 3rd place game.  

A win would advance Bishop Macdonell to play the winner of #8 Sydnenham vs. #14 St. Ignatius; Sydenham's CWOSSA comparison is a 10-point tournament loss to St. Benedict earlier this year.

Things would get much tougher after that, with #1 St. Francis (St. Catharines) on that side of the bracket.

Bishop Macdonell Prediction:  2-1, Eliminated in QFs.

St. James is the #10 seed at "AAA", despite returning a large number of their players from last year's squad, which was a #8 seed at the event.

As a result, they get #4 Toronto Emery in their first game, which will be a tough game for the Lions but you never know what can happen in a one-game scenario.  I actually like St. James to take a win in their second-round game against either #7 St. Patrick's (Ottawa) or #13 Clarington Central, advancing to the semifinals.

St. James Prediction:  1-1 (L then W), Eliminated in QFs.

Over at "AAAA", SJAM enters as the team to last medal at the event for CWOSSA, way back in 2007 as a #13 seed.

This year's version of the 'Landers enters at the #8 seed, which is both good and bad at the same time.  It's good in that you play a lower-ranked team (#14 St. Anne's) in the first round, but bad in that, down the road, your potential quarterfinal game would be against #1 St. Mike's.

Of course, you can't look that far ahead as anything can happen.  Just ask the 2007 SJAM squad, who were the beneficiaries of some crazy upsets that allowed them to advance to the "final four".

SJAM is playing very well right now, and I think they'll get through to the QFs if they play like we've been seeing them.  They get #14 St. Anne's (Windsor) in the opening round --- win that, and then #9 St. Mary's (possible CWOSSA rematch) or #10 Vaughan.

SJAM Prediction:  2-1, Eliminated in QFs.

Do you want to play the Eagles right now, or not?  The Eagles have the talent to play with virtually anyone in the province (reference - Silver Fox Title), but are limping in to the OFSAA after dropping 2 games in the CWOSSA tournament.

That said, this group of 5th year players is hungry for one last "kick at the can" and you can be sure that they won't go quietly.  I see them winning at least a game, if not two.

Opening games against #10 Vaughan, then (likely) #7 D'Youville or #8 SJAM, though, provide for a tough opening path.

St. Mary's Prediction:  1-1, Eliminated Rd 2.