WCI upset, St. John's Cruises at "AAAA" in Hamilton

Lindsay Taylor scored 13 and Shelby Kurt added 8 points but it wasn't enough for the 3rd seeded Waterloo CI Vikings at the "AAAA" OFSAA Championships in Hamilton as they fell to the 9th seed, London's Pope John Paul II by a 54-51 final. The Carriere sisters, Danielle (15) and Katelyn (14) set the pace for the Jaguars.

Brantford St. John's, the #1 seed in the tourney, had no trouble with #11 Toronto Northern. They jumped to a 28-11 halftime lead and cruised to a 52-24 final. The Eagles' balanced attack featured Arielle Mendoza leading the way with 11, while Kelly VanLeeuwen and Rachel Cleary contributed 9 each.

This means that if St. John's and WCI both win their next game, the teams would then meet in the quarterfinals in what would be a rematch of last weekend's CWOSSA championship game --- at least guaranteeing a CWOSSA medal.

D10 Results - Thursday, November 26th

SENIOR

Centre Wellington 79, Orangeville 45
My Pick: Centre Wellington
My Line Was: CW by 7

Tim Francis scored 23 points, and Gavin MacNamara added 12 in the Falcons' rout of Orangeville. For the Bears, Josh McCallum led the way with 11.

Our Lady of Lourdes 47, Guelph CVI 39
My Pick: Lourdes
My Line: Lourdes by 9

Almost picked this one bang on ---- thought it would be a bit higher scoring, however. Mike Finoro and Sharieff Peru continued their hot start for Lourdes with 20 and 16 respectively. Noman Yamini (11) and Anti Wesley-James (10) were high scorers for GCVI.

St. James 51, JF Ross 37
My Pick: JF Ross
My Line: Ross by 11

I said that JF Ross should be able to limit Ryan Higgins --- and they did, holding him to 17 points. However, they couldn't score themselves and the Lions end up starting the year 2-0. Kudos to them. Owen Moynihan and Brad Crnkovic led the Royals with 9 each.

Year To Date D10 Senior Picks Record: 7-1 (.857)

Junior Results
St. James 58 (Emilio Pavato 21), JF Ross 48 (Nick Maule 23)
Lourdes 48 (Chris Watson 16), GCVI 40 (Aaron Loder 15)
Centre Wellington 55 (Travis Laitar/Sivan Heeralall 10), Orangeville 26 (Josh Chua/Kyle Holmes 9)

KCI Upsets #3 Ingersoll 52-49 at "AAA" OFSAA

....huge win for KCI in their quest for a medal. Firstly, it keeps them on the opposite side of the draw as #1 General Amherst, meaning they will avoid potentially meeting up with them in the quarterfinals if both were to advance that far.

Secondly, you have to like their chances of possibly advancing to the semifinals with the following teams on their side of the bracket:
(11) Martingrove
(6) Bishop Ryan/(16) Westview (WINNER of that game)
(8) AN Myer/(14) Fr. Leo (LOSER of that game)

....in other words, the highest potential remaining seed on their side of the bracket would be 6th-seeded Bishop Ryan.

Still a lot of work to be done, but they're off to a good start. Good luck Raiders!

Girls OFSAA Updates......

****Latest Updates at the Top****

**FINAL SCORE ALERT - AAA OFSAA**
(9) KCI 52 (3) Ingersoll 49

**FINAL SCORE ALERT - A OFSAA**
(10) Sacre-Coeur 40 (4) Rockway 28

**FINAL SCORE ALERT - AA OFSAA**
(1) Bishop Mac 44 (11) North Grenville 29

Girls OFSAA Action Begins Today

The KCI Raiders' Senior Girls basketball team, seen to the right in this photo (courtesy The Record, 11/25/09) are one of five CWOSSA representatives in total at this week's OFSAA Basketball Championships.

The Raiders will play at 2:00pm in London at Catholic Central High School in London against #3 Ingersoll.

The Bishop Macdonnell Celtics of Guelph (#1 seed at AA) are the first CWOSSA team to tip-off, as they play at 1:00pm in Belleville against the #12 seeded North Grenville Knights.

The Rockway Flames (#4 in "A" OFSAA) do battle at 1:30pm against #10 Ecole Secondaire Sacre-Coeur from Sudbury.

CWOSSA's "AAAA" representatives have to wait until this evening before seeing action. #1 St. John's of Brantford takes on #11 Toronto Northern SS at 5:00pm, while #3 Waterloo CI battles #9 John Paul II HS. The St. John's game will be played at Hamilton's St. Mary's HS, while WCI heads over to Cathedral for their game.

Stay tuned through the day for updates as time permits.

CWOSSA 20+ Points Club

Note to readers: the CWOSSA "20+ points club" is now active at the bottom of the page (i.e. underneath the blog entries).

If you have any stats from games to forward my way, please let me know.

Poll Results - Readers think CCVI, SJAM best bets at Heinbuch

The annual Court Heinbuch Tournament tips off today at St. Mary's High School in Kitchener.

Today's games feature half the draw, including:

3pm - Guelph Centennial vs. Toronto Oakwood
4:30pm - Toronto Emery vs. Waterloo St. David
6:15pm - Waterloo SJAM vs. London Westminster
7:45pm - London HB Beal vs. Waterloo Bluevale

The other CWOSSA participant, KCI, plays tomorrow at noon against Scarborough Mother Teresa. Given the OFSAA schedule in London, I would think that KCI will be without head coach Nick White, who is down there with the KCI Senior Girls.

At any rate, over on the right side of the blog, there is a poll (still open for voting) on who you think will have the best performance of the local (CWOSSA) teams.

Thus far, 32 votes have been cast. Results to date:
Centennial - 11 (34%)
SJAM - 10 (31%)
Bluevale - 7 (22%)
KCI - 4 (13%)
St. David - 1 (3%)

Can't say I disagree with our readers, who have picked the veteran Centennial Spartans to this point. I'm a little surprised with SJAM coming in second, however, given the fact that a couple key players (i.e. Jake Robinet) will be away at OFSAA volleyball.

As per the hooptowngta.com website's "Super 16" ranking of GTA teams, they have Oakwood at #3 and Mother Teresa at #5. Toronto Emery is not in the top 16, but is an honourable mention.

Needless to say, looks like a tough opening round for our local teams, but the funny thing with the Heinbuch is that it seems to bring out the best in our CWOSSA guys. Who can forget a couple of years back when Mary's lost a close game to Carr (I believe) by 2 on their home court? Last year saw a bunch of tight games as well......perhaps the trend will continue.

Another trend that will continue, in my opinion, will be the WCSSAA/D8 championship drought, as it doesn't look like this will be the year for any of our locals to pull out the victory.

District 10 Picks - Thursday, November 25th

Games Scheduled For Thursday, November 25th....

All Senior Games Tip at 4:00pm, Junior Games go at 5:30pm.

Senior
Orangeville (0-1) at Centre Wellington (0-1)
Guelph CVI (0-1) at Our Lady of Lourdes (0-1)
JF Ross (1-0) at St. James (1-0)

Orangeville (0-1) at Centre Wellington (0-1)
My Pick: Centre Wellington
My Line: CW by 7

The Bears of ODSS came close to Bishop Mac in their first game, but I think the Falcons will be a bit too much at home.

Guelph CVI (0-1) at Our Lady of Lourdes (0-1)
My Pick: Lourdes
My Line: Lourdes by 9

Rookies Sharieff Peru and Mike Finoro pumped in 50 points combined in a narrow loss to JF Ross on Tuesday. I think they'll get it done at home against the Gaels.

JF Ross (1-0) at St. James (1-0)
My Pick: JF Ross
My Line: Ross by 11

Ross has some quality defenders that should be able to limit Ryan Higgins --- note that I said "limit", not "stop" (there's a difference there). Ross takes this battle of East Guelph.

Year To Date D10 Senior Picks Record: 5-0

Junior
Orangeville (0-1) at Centre Wellington (0-1) --- Pick: CWDHS
Guelph CVI (0-1) at Our Lady of Lourdes (1-0) --- Picks: Lourdes
JF Ross (0-1) at St. James (1-0) --- Pick: JF Ross

Wednesday, November 25th Results - D8 & D10

D10 - Senior

Centennial 63, Bishop Mac 27
My Pick Was: Centennial
My Line: CCVI by 23

Robert House scored 16 and top rookie Serge Khayipangi added 13 for Centennial in a romp over the Celtics at Bishop Mac.

For BMac, two rookies combined for 20 of their 27 points --- Justin Manarang had 12, and AJ Lacasmana scored 8.

After a narrow win over Orangeville and a blowout loss to Centennial, it looks like it could be a long year on Clair Rd....

D10 Junior
Bishop Mac 62, Centennial 48
BM: Mitchell Wood 14, Jessie Kendall 10
CCVI: Erik Sterne 20, Aleks Kaludjerovic 11

D8 - Senior

St. Mary's 59, St. David 49
My Pick Was: St. David
My Line: SDCSS by 7

The Eagles step up and beat the Celtics on the road. Can't say I'm surprised, as Mary's does have a nice team, but there goes my perfect prognosticating right off the bat in D8....

Alex Thompson led St. Mary's with 16, and Ben Bankazo added 14 for St. Mary's. Dan Hummel had 15 and Tyson Lavigne 10 for the Celtics.

St. Benedict 64, Monsignor Doyle 54
My Pick was: St. Benedict
My Line: St. Benedict by 12

Tyrone Tyndale pumped in 25 points in a winning effort for the Saints. Fellow Saint Derrick Strickland added 17.

For Monsignor Doyle, Shayne Teet had 22 and Brody VanGestel had 11.

D8 - Junior

Resurrection 77, Rockway 26
RCSS: Adam Schneider 13, Ryan De Vega 12
RMC: Jordan Fayez 9, Nick Reid 9

St. Benedict 38, Monsignor Doyle 28
SBCSS: Kevin Heath 17, Steve Zatychies 7
MDCSS: Ryan Clayton 10, Mark Sanchez 5

District 10 Picks & Spreads - November 25th

One game today in the D10 league.....bumped up from Thursday as a result of Centennial's participation in the Heinbuch:

Centennial (1-0) at Bishop Mac (1-0)
My Pick: Centennial
My Line: CCVI by 23

The veteran Spartans should be too much for the Celtics in this one. Was BM looking ahead to their game with Centennial when they played Orangeville yesterday? I guess we'll find out. I don't think that the Celts have the offensive horses right now to hang with Rob House and co.

This game is slated for a 4:00 tip over at Bishop Mac. The junior game will be played today as well afterwards (scheduled for 5:30).

Year To Date D10 Senior Picks Record: 4-0

District 8 Picks & Spreads - November 25th

St. Benedict @ Monsignor Doyle
My Pick: St. Benedict
Line: SBCSS by 12

Big game for both these clubs early as they look to establish themselves as a contender for a playoff spot.

At this point, I think the Saints have a bit too much firepower for the Mustangs.

St. Mary's @ St. David
My Pick: St. David
Line: SDCSS by 7

And, right off the bat, a finals rematch from last year's D8 championship. St. Mary's improved more (personnel wise) than St. David did over the offseason, but the champs are still the champs.

Resurrection @ Rockway - Postponed due to Rockway at OFSAA Volleyball

Junior Games & Picks
Resurrection @ Rockway (Pick: Resurrection)
St. Mary's @ St. David (Pick: St. Mary's)
St. Benedict @ Monsignor Doyle (Pick: St. Benedict)

District 10 Results - Tuesday, November 24th

Will update as the results come in.

SENIOR

Centennial 67, Centre Wellington 36
My Pick was: Centennial
My Line was: CCVI by 35

No trouble in the opener for the defending D10 champs. Robert House scored 24 points while Adrian Varilla contributed 13 for Centennial. For the Falcons, Tim Francis had 11 and Reid Goindi scored 10.

St. James 49, GCVI 42
My Pick Was: St. James
My Line Was: STJ by 8

Grade 12 star Ryan Higgins had 24 points in a winning effort for St. James. GCVI's James Ingram had 13, and Jon Warnholtz had 8.

JF Ross 74, Lourdes 65
My Pick Was: JF Ross
My Line Was: JFR by 22

Grade 11 rookies Sharieff Peru and Mike Finoro wasted no time in putting up some numbers at the senior level --- Peru scored 26 and Finoro 24, albeit in a losing effort.

For JF Ross, top returnee Ryan Cook led a balanced attack with 16. Four other Royals contributed 8 each.

Bishop Mac 44, Orangeville 39
My Pick Was: Bishop Mac
My Line Was: BM by 31

A bit surprised by how close this was, but then again it's early. Kyle Phillips led BM with 12 points, while Gordon Dewar had 13 points and Cody McMahon 10 for Orangeville.


JUNIOR

Lourdes 67, JF Ross 58
Lourdes is a veteran team and I expect them to have some success this year. If I'm not mistaken, they only lose 2 players to senior ---- although they were the two guys who combined for 50 points in Lourdes' senior loss to JF Ross.

Chris Watson had 24 for OLOL while Jordan Trimble scored 9. Ross was led by Mike Friesen's 19, while Nick Maule had 13.

Bishop Mac 74, Orangeville 30
Mitchell Wood (Connor's younger brother) scored 14 points for the Celtics, while teammate Sean Young put in 10.

ODSS' Kyle Holmes led all scorers with 16, and Jamie McMahon had 6 more for the Bears.

Centennial 54, Centre Wellington 44
Alex Kaludjerevic scored 21 for Centennial, and teammate Eric Sterne scored 15. Braewyn Bird netted 15 in a losing effort for the Falcons.

St. James 48, Guelph CVI 36
Ron Kinga scored 15 for St. James, while teammate Emilio Pivato added 10. Aaron Loder responded with 16 for the Gaels.

D8 Senior Basketball Preview - 2009/10

The District 8 basketball season kicks off on Wednesday, with a couple of games --- including a very interesting matchup right off the bat in St. Mary's visiting St. David (3:30pm start). Monsignor Doyle and St. Benedict will meet in a Cambridge clash, while Rockway and Resurrection's Wednesday tilt has been postponed due to the Flames participation in "A" Volleyball.

Here's a quick run-down of the teams, in my predicted order of finish.

St. David Celtics
Last Year: D8 & CWOSSA "AAA" Champions

No Bryson? No problem. The Celtics, coached by Dave MacNeil, return a bunch of guys from last year's CWOSSA "AAA" Championship team, and they are expected to contend for the D8 title as well as the CWOSSA Crown.

Tyson Lavigne & (hopefully a healthy) Dan Hummel will lead the charge for the Celts --- keep in mind this team will be mostly comprised of guys that went undefeated in junior a couple years back.

St. David doesn't get much help from a third place junior squad, but rookie Nick Batten adds some size in the frontcourt.

St. Mary's Eagles
Last Year: D8 Finalists & CWOSSA "AAAA" Semifinalists

St. Mary's surprised a bunch of people, myself included, by managing not only to secure D8's "AAAA" CWOSSA berth, but by advancing to within one game of the OFSAA championships.

This year's squad returns some nice size in the frontcourt for coach Jason Hergott, including veteran Mike Kasunic.

The Eagles, who had arguably the second-best junior team in the region after Resurrection, will add a few solid rookies to the senior squad, incluing guard Alex Thompson, guard Isaac Lance, forward Daniel Harun and guard/forward Zak Hannah.


Resurrection Phoenix
Last Year: 3rd Place D8

Matt Kras' Phoenix get an influx of talent from their 48-2 junior "AAAA" CWOSSA championship team, but I still think they might be a year away from serious senior-level success.

Hoping to make that prediction wrong will be rookies Tyler Schneider, Andrew Mwangi, Cam Gibbs, John Moi, and Jamie Keil, to name a few. Brandon Lee will be called upon for leadership in the backcourt, while fellow fifth year veterans Mike Tyler and Matt Stocco will combine with Ryan Herron to provide some solid size in the frontcourt. It might be tough for some teams to handle, but will it be enough to get a CWOSSA berth? Time will tell.

St. Bendict Saints
Last Year: Did Not Make Playoffs

An interesting trivia question - what is the only D8 team to ever qualify for AAAA OFSAA? No, not St. Mary's or Resurrection ---- it's the St. Benedict Saints (2003).

The Saints are nowhere near OFSAA calibre this year, but they should be able to claim the 4th playoff spot in a deep D8 league.

Derrick Strickland, Tyrone Tyndale and Dane Osborne are key returnees for the Saints.

Rockway Flames
Last Year: 4th Place D8

The Flames lose Tim Minkarious, and, likely a spot in this year's D8 playoffs after a solid run over the last few years.

Veteran Zach Steckley will lead the charge for Rockway, who also add a prolific scorer from the junior ranks in Josh Klassen.

Monsignor Doyle Mustangs
Last Year: Did Not Make Playoffs

It is expected to be another long year for the Monsignor Doyle Mustangs --- but I will say that they are starting to build a program. Their junior team almost made the playoffs last year, while having a midget team as well over the last few years has further increased the number of kids playing basketball at the school. Hopefully they'll begin to see some dividends over the next couple of years.

As for their 09-10 squad, look for veterans Shane Teet, Brody Van Gestel and Corin Langille to lead the way offensively. Grade 11 rookie Tyler Declan will add some muscle up front for the 'Stangs.

Around the Horn - Tuesday, November 24th

Raiders Seeded 9th at "AAA" OFSAA
The KCI Raiders, fresh off their CWOSSA victory, are seeded 9th overall heading into the 16-team OFSAA "AAA" tournament in London.

The tournament is set-up as such where the first round games are "seeding" games, and you are guaranteed at least 2 games. The Raiders play #3 Ingersoll in their first game --- and the loser of the first round game between the #8 and #14 teams.

Rockway Gets #4 Ranking at "A" OFSAA
After blowing away the competition at "A" CWOSAA last week, the Rockway Flames have earned the 4th overall seed at the OFSAA Championships in Cornwall.

Rideau District HS of Elgin is the #1 seed, while Ridley College (St. Catharines - #2) and Ecole Sécondaire Confédération (Welland - #3) are the other clubs ranked ahead of Rockway.

Rockway opens play against the 10th seed, Ecole Sécondaire du Sacre-Coeur from Sudbury.

Arezina off to Strong Start for Gaels
Stefan Arezina poured in 30 points as the Cameron Heights Golden Gaels defeated the Resurrection Phoenix in Senior Boys' exhibition play at RCSS on Monday night by a 54-45 score.

Yes, the Phoenix are finally back at full strength after football season and haven't made their final roster yet, but I think the Gaels are a team that might be able to make some noise in the WCSSAA ranks. Along with Arezina, the Gaels have some quality rookies including Amjed Osman, Adnan Shah, and Stefan Cucak, who all hit the scoresheet last night.

For Resurrection, Tyler Schneider had 12 points and Ryan Herron contributed 8.

The Junior Phoenix defeated Cameron Heights 53-46 in a game in which both teams substituted freely.

D8 Schedule Change
Due to the Rockway Flames Senior Boys' Volleyball team qualifying for the OFSAA "A" championships this week, their league opener against Resurrection (originally scheduled for this Wednesday @ 4:00pm) has been postponed.

In addition, the junior game between the Flames and Phoenix has been moved up from 5:30pm to the 4:00pm timeslot.

D10 Kicks Off Tonight
The D-10 (Guelph & area) league kicks off regular season play tonight with all teams seeing action. Games and tip-times are:

Bishop Mac @ Orangeville (Senior 3:45, Junior 5:15)
Centennial @ Centre Wellington (Senior 4:00, Junior 5:30)
St. James @ Guelph CVI (Senior 4:00, Junior 5:30)
Lourdes @ JF Ross (Senior 4:00 - Gym 1, Junior 4:00 - Gym 2)

Heinbuch Classic Set to Go This Weekend

The annual "Heinbuch Classic" Senior Boys' roundball tournament, hosted by Huron Heights SS and St. Mary's HS in Kitchener, is set for this coming weekend (November 26-28).

Local CWOSSA teams include the KCI Raiders, Bluevale Knights and SJAM Highlanders (WCSSAA); the Centennial Spartans (D10/Guelph); and the St. David CSS Celtics (Waterloo/D8).

Opening Round Matchups for the Locals Include:

Centennial vs Toronto Oakwood (3pm Thursday - St. Mary's)
Toronto Emery vs St. David (4:30pm Thursday - St. Mary's)
SJAM vs London Westminster (6:15pm Thursday - St. Mary's)
Bluevale vs London HB Beal (7:45pm Thursday - St. Mary's)
KCI vs Scarborough Mother Teresa (12 noon Friday - St. Mary's)

A Kitchener/Waterloo/Cambridge team has never won the Heinbuch Classic. The KCI team of 2004-05 was the closest, losing in the Gold Final to Mother Teresa by a 61-49 score.

CWOSSA has had some success before though - Guelph St. James won in 1998, and Brantford Assumption gained a repeat win for CWOSSA in 1999.

Here's the current list of most games won for schools throughout the history of the Heinbuch:
1. Toronto Runnymede CI (35)
2. Hamilton Cathedral (24)
3. Hamilton St. Mary's (23)
T4. Kitchener Grand River (19)
T4. Hamilton St. Thomas More (19)
T6. Sudbury LaSalle (16)
T6. Ajax Pickering (16)
T8. Brantford North Park (15)
T8. Brantford St. John's (15)
T8. Waterloo Bluevale (15)
T8. Guelph Centennial (15)
T8. Waterloo CI (15)
T8. Scarborough Mother Teresa (15)
T8. London HB Beal (15)
15. Kitchener CI (14)
16. Markham Milliken Mills (13)