D8 Senior: Rez's OT Win over SMHS Sets Up Wild Standings Finish

It is conceivable that this year will go down as a year where the District 8 Senior Boys' basketball league was the deepest (top to bottom) in it's 25ish year history.

At the very least, the final day of the regular season schedule will prove to be one of the most important in recent memory.

Unbeaten St. Benedict (11-0) has locked up top spot in the circuit, and will have a bye for the league's final schedule date of February 8th.

After that, it gets interesting thanks to what transpired yesterday afternoon.

For the second time this season, Resurrection and St. Mary's played an Overtime thriller, and again, several key performers were out of the lineup -- Rez's Korbil Gany and St. Mary's Kanayo Nnadi did not suit up on Wednesday.

Still, both teams made big plays including a game-tying three-pointer with :05 left in regulation by St. Mary's guard Minas Abara, and a game-clinching lay-in with :20 left in the extra period by Rez's Muyang Iluya.

This means that entering the final day of the schedule, St. David and St. Mary's are tied with 6-4 records, while Resurrection and Monsignor Doyle enter play at 5-5.  Both of those "sets" of teams are slated to play on February 8th, and it's not inconceivable to see those games going either way given that SDCSS defeated SMHS, and MDCSS beat RCSS the first time around.  

Here would be the final standings given all the possible scenarios.  Each one involves a tiebreak scenario, which I've described with the final standings:

1.  St. Mary's Win + Monsignor Doyle Win
2.  St. Mary's 7-4
3.  St. David 6-5 (H2H over MDCSS)
4.  Monsignor Doyle 6-5
5.  Resurrection 5-6

* - St. David would win the H2H tiebreak over MDCSS based upon a +16 point differential in games this season (MDCSS won by 2, SDCSS by 18).

2.  St. Mary's Win + Resurrection Win
2.  St. Mary's 7-4
3.  Resurrection 6-5 (H2H over SDCSS)
4.  St. David 6-5
5.  Monsignor Doyle 5-6

* - Resurrection would win the H2H tiebreak over SDCSS based upon a +20 point differential in games this season (RCSS won by 37, SDCSS won by 17).

3.  St. David Win + Resurrection Win
2.  St. David 7-4
3.  Resurrection 6-5 (H2H over SMHS)
4.  St. Mary's 6-5
5.  Monsignor Doyle 5-6

* - In this scenario where SDCSS beats SMHS for a second time, RCSS would win a H2H tiebreak over St. Mary's -- they are even in the +/- tiebreak (SMHS win by 3, RCSS win by 3) so the next tiebreak would be H2H record vs. higher ranked teams (RCSS would be 1-3 vs. SBCSS/SDCSS, SMHS would be 0-4).

4.  St. David Win + Monsignor Doyle Win
2.  St. David 7-4
3.  St. Mary's 6-5 (H2H over MDCSS)
4.  Monsignor Doyle 6-5
5.  Resurrection 5-6

* - St. Mary's defeated Monsignor Doyle in both games this season.

Saints, Highlanders Compete at Silver Fox

My top two CWOSSA teams, the SJAM Highlanders and the St. Benedict Saints, were in action this past weekend at the prestigious Silver Fox tournament in Hamilton --- which, if you recall, was won by the St. Mary's Eagles last season.

Both the Saints and 'Landers were eliminated in the Quarterfinal round; St. Benedict fell 44-35 to eventual champion Toronto Oakwood, while SJAM dropped a 59-42 decision to Bishop Reding from Milton.

Losers of Quarterfinal games play in a "divisional championship game"; St. Benedict defeated Toronto's West Humber 50-48 in the MacLean/Newton Final, backed by 22 points from Zubair Seyed.  

That marked the second victory of the tournament for SBCSS against a HooptownGTA Top-10 ranked team, as they earlier defeated Oakville's Holy Trinity in the first round.  More impressively, the Saints were without big man Evan Rodenburg who was fighting off a flu bug.

SJAM fell 59-50 to Hamilton's Cardinal Newman in the "Joe Raso Final", with Nedim Hodzic scoring 18 points.

Both Seyed and Hodzic were named as second-team tournament all-stars.

MDCSS' Jiggie Villaver Sets Sights on Scoring Record

There's a new scoring sensation in the D8 Junior Boys' basketball league.

Monsignor Doyle's Jiggie Villaver has been turning some heads with some of his scoring performances, both in league and in tournament action this season.

Of course, none were more notable than his efforts tonight against St. David, where (I'm told) he scored 49 (yes, 49!) points in a 60-57 MDCSS win.

I'm in the process of trying to confirm if that is a single-game record for D8 Junior Boys, but I do know that if he can string together another couple of solid efforts, he'll be hot on the heels of the single-season District 8 Junior Boys' scoring record --- which is only a year old.

Last year, PRDG's Pat Martini helped that school to their first-ever "A" CWOSSA title by scoring 367 points in 14 league & playoff games for a 26.2 PPG D8 average, which established a new single-season record.

To date this year, Villaver has 230 points in 10 league games, for a 23.0 PPG clip.  With one league game remaining against Resurrection, and another playoff date with St. David on the horizon, a couple of scoring efforts in the 30s would give him a shot at Martini's mark. 

CWOSSA Senior Boys Top 10: January 18th

After some extensive tournament action and league games to start the season, here's where I currently see the "CWOSSA Top 10":

1.  SJAM / Waterloo
The 'Landers continue to roll through WCSSAA play, and did capture the tournament title at their home tournament last weekend.  However, the gap between #2 and #1 is certainly shrinking, and I wouldn't argue with those who would choose to put SBCSS in the top spot.

2.  St. Benedict / Cambridge
The Saints actually probably have a more impressive "OFSAA resume" than SJAM, given their recent tournament successes -- wins over Bishop Reding (who have now beaten SJAM 2x), Holy Trinity, West Humber, London's JP II (2x) and Brampton St. Roch to win their home tournament title last weekend among others.

3.  Bishop Macdonell / Guelph
The Celts are undefeated in the D10 league, and have represented the CWOSSA region well in tournaments outside the area --- in late December, they held a lead at halftime over Father Henry Carr, arguably the top team in the province.

4.  Eastwood / Kitchener
A couple of early season stumbles prevented me from ranking the Rebs too high in the early going, but their resume (and current undefeated status in WCSSAA) is certainly worthy of a top-five spot.  This team has the athleticism and talent to be a problem come playoff time.

5.  St. Mary's / Kitchener
For once, the Eagles will actually be underdogs entering the D8 playoffs --- but they have the offensive capabilities to play with anyone in CWOSSA.

6.  Grand River / Kitchener
Speaking of offensive capabilities, the Rens are one of the most offensively efficient teams out there.  If they can crack down on their defensive skills, a run at a WCSSAA title (and CWOSSA berth) aren't out of the question.  Recently, they played SBCSS tough at the Saints' home tourney, and pulled out a win over (then unbeaten) KCI in league play.

7 (Tie).  Waterloo CI / Waterloo & Kitchener CI / Kitchener
Yes, I realize the Raiders have 2 wins over the Vikes, but based upon the "total resume", I'll slot both of these rivals in at the 7-spot.  The Vikes had the lead last week on ECI going into the 4th, before a late Rebel charge kept them undefeated.  KCI, meanwhile, dropped a decision to Grand River -- but have the most favourable schedule on the table (avoiding both ECI & SJAM).

9.  North Park / Brantford
The Trojans certainly appear to be the class of the D5 (Brantford) league, and have one thing that is very important come playoff time --- very strong guard play.  

10.  St. David / Waterloo
With a win over Resurrection last week in league play, and another victory tonight over MDCSS, the Celts may be peaking at the right time.  True tests will conclude their D8 regular schedule, as they will play both SMHS & SBCSS again.
 

Saints Invitational: St. Benedict Takes Title At Home Tourney; First Time Since 2002

Tourney MVP Zubair Seyed

Carrying over momentum from right before Christmas where they placed second at the University of Windsor tournament (losing the championship final in a game where Zubair Seyed was ill), the St. Benedict Saints went 5-0 this past weekend at their home tournament, the 28th Annual "Saints Invitational" to take home the title.

The Saints won their home tournament for the first time since 2002, and also became the first CWOSSA-based team to take home the title since 2011 (when Resurrection won an all-CWOSSA final against Forest Heights).

St. Benedict started off the weekend on Friday by taking the two games in their pool, 84-25 over Bluevale, and 79-49 over Ancaster (Zubair Seyed, 22).

They played a very strong team on the provincial radar in St. John Paul II (London), a team that they had already defeated once this season.  Despite leading by just three (23-20) at the half, the Saints held the Jaguars to just 13 second half points, winning by a 46-33 final score.  

Seyed again had 22 in the semifinals against Grand River, where the Saints held off the Rens by a 56-53 final despite losing 6'9" Evan Rodenburg for a time in the second half with an ankle injury.  It was actually quite the finish as the Saints had a 7-point lead late in the game, before a Grand River three and Miro Iliev making all three free-throws after being fouled on a three-pointer following a steal cut things to one.  Seyed iced the game with two free-throws, before GRCI's final attempt was off the mark.  

The championship final was against a defensive clinic by the Saints, who held Brampton's St. Roch scoreless in the third quarter, allowing SBCSS to establish a double-digit lead which they wouldn't relinquish in a 51-37 win.  Justin Malnerich led the way in that one, with 15 points.

St. Roch, who are undefeated in the tough Brampton North Division (a league featuring Campion, D'Youville, St. Augustine, Brampton Centennial, Notre Dame, etc.), came into the final following a win over a fellow ROPSSAA school, the upstart St. Joseph Jaguars of Mississauga (62-55).

The 37-points allowed by St. Benedict was actually a record for the championship final, besting the previous mark of 38 points set by WCI in the 2007 championship game.

Two other CWOSSA teams won their pools before being eliminated in the semifinals.  WCI dropped a 54-47 quarterfinal decision to St. Roch, while St. Joseph topped St. Mary's 79-65 (Adham Eleeda with 20 for the Eagles).

LaSalle Secondary School (Sudbury) edged Collingwood DSS 56-55 in the consolation final.

Full results can be found at http://stbenedict.wcdsb.ca/basketball/?a=srsched.

As for individual accolades, Kuel Thomas of Huron Heights ended up as the tournament's leading scorer with a 25.3 PPG average, just missing out on joining the top-five list in tournament history (25.7).

SBCSS placed three players on the tournament's all-star team, including MVP Zubair Seyed.  Evan Rodenburg was also a first-team all-star, while defensive stalwart Lucas Cardoso was a second-team selection.

Rounding out the first-team all-stars were Pierre De'Andrae (St. Roch), Noah Lapierre (LaSalle) and Clythus Griffith (St. Joseph's).

Second-teamers aside from Cardoso were Jordan Francis (St. Roch), Spencer Standholt (Collingwood), Kurtis Brisebois (LaSalle) and Miro Iliev (GRCI).

Senior Boys: SJAM Takes Crown At Home Tournament

The SJAM Highlanders continued their winning ways over the weekend, taking home the title at the "Highlander Classic" Senior Boys' Tournament that they hosted.

The 'Landers won all of their games by double-digits, taking out Waterloo St. David (59-40), London Banting (54-40) and Windsor Catholic Central in the championship final by a 59-48 score.

The big three for SJAM -- Nedim Hodzic, Justin Hardy and Simon Petrov -- were all named to the tournament all-star team and were instrumental to SJAM's success as you'd expect.

In the championship final, Hodzic had 22 points while Petrov added 21; Hodzic went for 27 & 14 rebounds in the semifinal against Banting while Hardy added 12; and in the opener against St. David, Hardy was the leader with 20 points while Hodzic had 19 points and another 14-rebound effort.

Resurrection took the 3rd place game, 50-45 over London Banting, with Korbil Gany leading the way with a 24-point effort.

Mason Cummings had 18 points for the St. David Celtics in the consolation final, a 57-36 win over Guelph Centennial.

Full results were as follows:

First Round
SJAM 59, St. David 40
London Banting 58, Cameron Hts. 47
Resurrection 53, Centennial 51
Catholic Central def. Assumption

Consolation Semifinals
St. David 50, Cameron Hts. 47
Centennial 49, Assumption 40

Consolation Final:  St. David 57, Centennial 36

Semifinals
SJAM 54, Banting 40
Catholic Central 78, Resurrection 52

3rd Place:  Resurrection 50, Banting 45

Championship:  SJAM 59, Catholic Central 48

24-Team Saints Invitational Set To Go This Weekend

One of my favourite tournaments of the year, the Saints' Senior Invitational hosted by St. Benedict CSS in Cambridge, is set to go for this coming weekend.

The tournament is usually a large affair drawing teams from all over Ontario, and this year's edition is no exception, with 24 teams set to do battle in search of the title.

One change to this year's tournament will be the locations, as the tournament has expanded to Kitchener -- St. Mary's will be hosting games alongside fellow D8 Cambridge schools St. Benedict and Monsignor Doyle.

CWOSSA teams make up half of the 24-team senior field -- St. Benedict, St. Mary's, Huron Heights, St. John's, JF Ross, WCI, Monsignor Doyle, Forest Heights, Grand River, Bluevale, CWDHS and St. James.

Among the out of town entrants, two teams from Peel Region would appear to two of the stronger title contenders.  

St. Roch (Brampton) is one of those, having established a solid athletic reputation since the school was established in 2009.  The Ravens are undefeated in the Brampton North ROPSAA division, which is one of the strongest leagues in Ontario on a year-to-year basis (Campion, Notre Dame, D'Youville, etc.).  The Ravens have wins over Campion, Brampton Centennial, and Brampton Notre Dame in league play thus far.

St. Joseph's (Mississauga) is currently 6-0 in ROPSSAA South, and have been consistently ranked in the HooptownGTA.com's "Super 16" rankings (coming in most recently at #12).  The Jaguars won the Xavier Senior Rimrocker Tournament last month, which included several ranked GTA teams.

John Paul II (London) is the other major threat, coming off their victory at the Western University tournament last weekend --- which included victories over Windsor Catholic Central in the semifinals and St. Anne (Tecumseh) in the finals.

The top team in each pool (8) will advance to the quarterfinals, which will play down to the championship final on Saturday evening at 8:15pm, at SBCSS.

Here are my picks for this weekend's action:

Mark's Pool Picks
Pool A:  JP II (Huron Heights, St. Pat's)
Pool B:  SBCSS (Bluevale, Ancaster)
Pool C:  Westdale (CWDHS, Turner Fenton)
Pool D:  Grand River (MDCSS, Collingwood)
Pool E:  St. Mary's (Clarke Rd., FHCI)
Pool F:  St. Joe's (St. James, LaSalle)
Pool G:  WCI (Timmins, St. John's)
Pool H:  St. Roch (JF Ross, Adam Scott)

Quarterfinals:
St. Benedict over JP II (London)
Westdale over Grand River
St. Joseph's over St. Mary's
WCI over St. Roch

Semifinals:
St. Benedict over Westdale
St. Joseph's over WCI

Final:
St. Benedict over St. Joseph's

CWOSSA Alum Brandon Busuttil Receives Scholarship at Bowling Green

Brandon Busuttil, who attended SJK and later Grand River CI during his high school career, graduating from the latter, has been attending Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio (NCAA D1) over the last several years while being a walk-on member of the basketball team.

This year, Busuttil is averaging 1.6 PPG for the Falcons, who are 10-4 on the season and currently sitting in 2nd place in the MAC East.

His hard work over the years was rewarded the other day by the Bowlin Green coaching staff, who gave him a scholarship for the second semester of his senior season.  Here's a video that was captured by Bowling Green Athletics.  Pretty cool stuff: