More than any other year in recent memory, parity has been the name of the game in the WCSSAA Senior Girls' basketball season.No team finished undefeated this year, and even teams towards the middle of the pack or bottom of the standings were able to keep things close (or beat) some of the teams at the top.
For that reason, I think this year could be one of the most exciting playoff tournaments that WCSSAA has seen.
Here are three reasons why:
1. Competitive Teams at the Middle/Bottom
Although they struggled down the stretch, the Elmira Lancers (your #11 seed) only lost by 14 points to #1 Jacob Hespeler, by 9 points to #4 SJAM, and by 8 points to #5 Bluevale.
#9 Glenview Park, #10 Huron Heights and #12 Cameron Heights all had very tight games as well against teams at least several spots higher than them in the standings.
If you look at teams in the 6-8 range of the playoff bracket, both Grand River (upset win over SJAM, several other competitive games with top teams) and Preston (upset win over WCI) have certainly proven their ability to compete.
2. Dominant Performers
Several teams in the middle of the pack -- most notably Grand River and Galt -- have players that can put up big numbers and possibly take a "one and done" game over. Nancy Michael (GRCI) and Beth Fleming (GCI) have been consistently scoring in the 20+ range an outing and giving their teams a chance almost every time out on the floor (reference Michael's 20 points in an upset win over SJAM last week).
3. No True Favourite
As you might expect in a league where everyone has at least one loss, there is no overwhelming favourite as we enter the playoffs. Although most would expect one of Jacob Hespeler, WODSS, WCI or SJAM to take home the title, it's really going to depend on matchups and who gets hot at the right time. Realistically, you could make a case for any number of teams to take home the title.
Today's Games
In today's opening round, you have:
(12) Cameron Hts. at (5) Bluevale
(11) Elmira at (6) Preston
(10) Huron Hts. at (7) Grand River
(9) Glenview Park at (8) Galt
Interestingly enough, Huron Heights and Grand River just played on Tuesday with the Rens sneaking out a 43-40 win.
Bluevale was a 31-20 winner over Cameron Heights about 2 weeks ago in league play, while Preston posted a 35-24 win over Elmira last week.
The #8-#9 game between Galt and Glenview Park actually was the most lopsided match-up during the regular season, with the Ghosts posting a 53-31 victory.
....it will be interesting to see what happens. Good luck to all teams!
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