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