The 2nd annual Jacob Ranton Memorial Senior Boys Basketball Tournament (formerly the Knights-Vikings Classic) is set to tip off tomorrow at WCI and Bluevale.The tournament was renamed before last year's event in honour of former WCI student-athlete standout Jacob Ranton, who took his own life while back home on Christmas break from Memorial University.
Ranton's parents, Doug (who is a guidance counsellor at WCI) and Sandra (who is also a teacher) have championed the important cause of mental health awareness, with the goal eliminating stigma attached to discussing mental health.
"Our number one priority is to talk about mental health and have people not being afraid to talk about mental health," Ranton told The Record earlier this week.
It was evident at last year's event that the message about mental health awareness resonated with the athletes, parents, and fans in attendance.
In addition to the dialogue about mental health, there is also a positive financial impact, with monies being raised to support the Waterloo Region Suicide Prevention Council. Last year's tournament was able to raise almost $20 000, and this year's event will easily surpass that amount once the vast array of silent auction items are factored in (for those interested, Mark Bryson's Blog has a list of what's available).
And, of course....there's a tournament to discuss, too!
The tourney itself features six teams that were ranked in the top 10 of my CWOSSA rankings (last week) -- you could argue that a couple others, including Cameron Heights and Huron Heights, are deserving of strong consideration for a top ten spot when the next ranking is released.
First Round Games (at WCI):
WCI vs. Southwood - Noon
St. James vs. Forest Hts. - 1:30pm
Huron Hts. vs. Resurrection - 3pm
Grand River vs. Welland Centennial - 4:30pm
First Round Games (at BCI):
Bluevale vs. St. David - Noon
Eastwood vs. Stratford Central - 1:30pm
KCI vs. Cameron Heights - 3pm
St. Mary's vs. SJAM - 4:30pm
....needless to say, there are a couple of very intriguing opening round matchups, most notably the SJAM vs. St. Mary's tilt at 4:30pm over at Bluevale. The game immediately prior, between KCI and Cameron Heights, should also be a good one.
Over at WCI, the Huron Heights - Resurrection game might be closer than anticipated. The Huskies have been playing well over the last couple of weeks in league play (beating Cameron Heights and Forest Heights in succession last week), and Kuel Thomas can put up some big numbers on occasion and keep his club in the game.
In terms of predictions, I'll go with the following for the championship-side semifinals:
WCI vs. Resurrection
Eastwood vs. SJAM
And, on the consolation side:
Huron Hts. vs. Forest Hts.
St. Mary's vs. Bluevale
....despite their loss on Tuesday to Cameron Heights (perhaps looking ahead to this tournament), I would expect WCI to make some noise. Even with splitting their team (A & B) last year, their "B" team posted a couple of pretty impressive victories en route to the consolation title. It was clear that they were all playing some inspired basketball, as you'd probably expect at a home tournament named for a former student.
At any rate, it should be an exciting weekend of basketball, which sees the semifinals played at noon (both WCI and BCI will host one for their "bracket") and the championship final go at 7:30pm (at WCI).
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