Week 1: D8, WCSSAA, D10 Players of the Week

A new feature that I'm incorporating this year will be my league "players of the week" in both the junior and senior ranks.  The criteria will be based upon league games, with some special consideration given to outstanding tournament or exhibition performances.

(I will try to include D5 as well, but getting full scoring details from all games is often an issue - if you can help me out with that, please do!)

Of course, most teams may have only played one league game last week, but that just makes my job a little bit tougher.  Here are my selections:

District 8
Note - D8 selections include games played yesterday (Monday).

D8 Junior - Sydney Guker-Wickie, Resurrection
The Grade 9 PG looked very comfortable in distributing and scoring the basketball in the Phoenix's big win against St. Benedict, and played very well in the Eastwood tournament as well, although she did miss a couple of games due to injury.  It's early, but I would bet that she'll be in the discussion for league MVP when the season is over.

D8 Senior - Megan Goar, St. David
Goar averaged 21.0 PPG -- scoring 25 & 17 in two league contests -- which saw the Celtics victorious in both.  As an "AA" school this year, the Celtics are looking at making some noise at the regional level and Goar will be a big part of their success.

WCSSAA
WCSSAA Junior - Natalie Mayer, Elmira
Mayer was a force last year as a grade nine, helping Elmira to a 5th place finish in the league standings.  Back this year, she was on her "A" game in helping the Lancers to a big road win at Cameron Heights on Thursday --- she poured in 21 points in a 42-33 win.  Look for the talented threat to be among the league's scoring leaders on a regular basis.

WCSSAA Senior - Nina Farkic, Cameron Heights
With an honourable mention to Nyamuoch Teny for scoring 23 points despite playing through an injury that will end her season in mid-October, Farkic was sensational with a 34 point outburst in helping Cameron Heights to a 43-24 victory over Elmira.

D10
D10 Senior - Ali Darling, JF Ross
A bunch of candidates on the D10 senior side, but Darling's 20-point effort in a 43-33 opening road win at Bishop Mac was certainly impressive.  The Royals, who look to be in my "top 10" rankings when they are released for the first time, followed that up on Thursday with a comfortable win over Orangeville.

D10 Junior - Bishop Mac Junior Team
OK, I cheated here, but the Bishop Mac juniors have gotten off to a great start with two lopsided wins and their balance is equally impressive.  The Celts had EIGHT players score four points or more in their opening win (53-18) over JF Ross and then placed three in double-figures (Vanessa Tassone, Grace Drewry, Rachel Guanzon) in a 61-14 victory over St. James.