Simcoe Reformer: A Whole New Bunch of Raiders to Worry About

Article By:  Jacob Robinson

Retrieved From:  http://www.simcoereformer.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2759882

There's a running joke around Delhi that the town's secondary school should now be called "Delwich."


Although an influx of about 150 students from the recently closed Norwich District High School did enroll, Delhi District isn't about to change its name. Yet the culture around the building is much different this fall.

With several new teachers hired on and the building now operating at capacity, many parts of DDSS have seen a healthy change, with athletics being front and centre.

"The numbers as far as in the school and new faces are way up, we're basically at capacity as a school and our athletic program is definitely reaping the benefit of that," said DDSS physical education department head Dave Leatherland. "The word on the street coming into the school year was, the students coming over are really involved in athletics, school government like student's council and all those neat things . . . We're getting a lot of students coming to pick up their athletic transfer forms and school transfer forms because they're going to be involved in sports."

The timing couldn't have been better for Leatherland's football team either. The core of the team that played in the last four Haldimand Norfolk Bowl games is effectively gone, and this season more than ever, open spots are up for grabs.

"We've got quite a nice collection coming out for football, and they've never had a football team over in Norwich, so this is their opportunity to get their experience in football and see what the game's all about," said Leatherland, head coach of the football team. "We've lost a lot of key players from last year from our four-year run to the championship and I think they're going to really help to fill that void.

"They're excited and they're aggressive. They look good so far -- now that's practice and when the bodies start flying for real, that's when you really tell who's going to be a football player -- but all indications so far are positive, they're playing well."

The football team has close to a whopping 60 players at training camp, while the junior boys volleyball team has 30. Both girls basketball teams are also seeing strong numbers.

Across the board, the Norwich influence has been large.

"I would say, right now, (it's) big," said DDSS senior Curtis Hughes, who transferred from Norwich. "Two guys from the Norwich team, myself included, are playing on the senior volleyball team, so without us, they'd probably have three or four guys. The football team, I know there's quite a few Norwich kids trying out and I know there's a couple Norwich kids...that got asked to try out. They're looking pretty good I guess, and our (Norwich) soccer team went to OFSAA two years ago, and about 70 per cent of those guys have come here to play soccer."

Last year's senior boys volleyball team in Norwich was a force, and although the Raiders lost some momentum this fall when a few of their own volleyball players switched to football, they'll likely have a small, yet dedicated, club.

"It's been quite a bit different because last year, if you know anything about our volleyball team, we were really going places. So now quite a few guys are playing football and a couple guys have graduated so it's a lot different coming here to play volleyball," explained Hughes.

"But I think if you're going to start a program, you might as well start somewhere."

WCSSAA: Schedule Slated to Start Thursday

This year's WCSSAA regular season was scheduled to get under way this afternoon; however, it appears as though there has been a schedule "re-jig" to accomodate the fact that Huron Heights SS is not fielding a team in the senior ranks this season.

As a result, the league will start play on Thursday, September 23rd with the following 3:30pm starts in the Senior Division:

KCI @ Forest Heights
Glenview Park @ Cameron Heights
Jacob Hespeler @ Waterloo CI
SJAM @ WODSS (though an SJAM "home" game)
Southwood @ Bluevale
Galt @ Grand River
Preston @ Eastwood

The junior division also sees the above matchups fulfilling the back-end of doubleheaders at 5:00pm.  Elmira and Huron Heights were slated to meet in a junior game; however, that date has been changed to Tuesday, October 12th.

Also, while we're here, got to give props to WCSSAA for their new website which was unveiled today.  Looks pretty slick. 

Junior Girls: St. James Lions Off To Strong Start

Last year's defending D10 junior girls champion (and AAA silver medalists), the Guelph St. James Lions, look like they have the components in place for another strong season in 2010.

The Lions blew away their competition at their home tournament this past weekend --- even though they split their team into two teams for the tournament.

The St. James "A" squad destroyed WCSSAA schools Forest Heights (62-8) and Elmira (62-12) en route to an undefeated run through the weekend.

The St. James "B" squad fared pretty well too, finishing up with 2 wins and 2 losses (including one OT loss).

More results and information on the tournament will follow.

D10 Girls: Season Tips Off With Big Game Right off the Bat

The District 10 junior and senior girls' basketball schedule will get started today with a full slate of 4 games in both leagues.  A particular game to keep an eye on will be the senior matchup between traditional rivals JF Ross and Centennial on the first day of competition.

Early indications on favourites in the senior circuit would include the defending D10, CWOSSA and OFSAA "AA" champion Bishop Macdonell Celtics, the Guelph CVI Gaels and the Centennial Spartans.  The JF Ross Royals and Centre Wellington Falcons will be competitive for a possible CWOSSA "AAAA" berth, while the St. James Lions and Lourdes Crusaders should improve thanks to tremendous talent moving up from the junior ranks.  The Orangeville Bears are looking for improvement after winless seasons from both junior and senior teams in 2009.

Here's a quick look at today's senior games:

Bishop Macdonell at Orangeville DSS, 3:45pm
Pick:  BMAC
A rematch of last year's D10 quarterfinal game, which saw the then 14-0 Celtics cruise past the 0-14 Bears by a 61-20 final.  We should expect to see a similar result in this one.

Centre Wellington at Lourdes, 4:00pm
Pick:  OLOL
This could very well turn out to be the best game of the day, and both teams should be exciting to watch this year and next with a bunch of grade 11 talent.  Keep an eye out for CWDHS' second year senior (and grade 11) Jaime Janssen who has led the Senior Falcons to a playoff victory in each of the last 2 years (she played up in grade 9 for the last part of the season as well).  If CW is to get a road win here, they'll need her to have another big performance.

Guelph CVI at St. James, 4:00pm
Pick:  GCVI
On paper, it would appear that the Gaels have too much experience for the youthful Lions in this one.

JF Ross at Centennial, 4:00pm (Game of the Day)
Pick:  CCVI
Should be another good matchup between these two rivals on Tuesday afternoon.  However, you really have to like the Spartans in this one ---- especially considering Ross' practice schedule over the past couple of weeks was derailed by the fact that their gym floors weren't ready in time for the start of the school year.  For that reason, I'm taking the Spartans at home.

Junior Schedule:
Bishop Mac at Orangeville, 5:15pm
JF Ross at Centennial, 5:30pm
Guelph CVI at St. James, 5:30pm
Centre Wellington at Lourdes, 5:30pm

D8: Junior, Senior Celtics Dominate Rockway in Openers

On the first day of District 8 regular season play, the St. David Celtics got off to a great start by dismantling the Rockway Flames in both junior and senior girls' action.

D8 Senior Girls

On the senior side, the defending D8 champs got 14 points from Emily Brown and 12 from Kate Dye as they pounded Rockway 67-6.  Looks like it will be a rough year for the Flames, who were the #4 seed at "A" OFSAA last year but lost a ton of talent to graduation, including last year's D8 MVP Laura Burnett.  Ali Gondosch was the top scorer for RMC in this one with 3 points.

There was one other senior tilt on Monday, which saw Resurrection jump out to a quick 14-4 lead and go on to defeat Monsignor Doyle by a 58-37 final.  Resurrection's Megan Robinson had 26 points in the effort, including five three-pointers. 

D8 Junior Girls

Things were a bit closer in the junior game between Rockway and St. David, but the Celtics again had no issues as they cruised to a 49-14 victory.  Brooke Logel led St. David's balanced attack with 8 points, while Sarah Veltri chipped in 6 points for Rockway.

The Resurrection Phoenix also got off to a 1-0 start by handling the Monsignor Doyle Mustangs 39-10 in the early game at Rez.  Marley Mercier outscored MDCSS by herself, with 12 points, and Sarah Schalz added 5.  Taylor Fitspatrick was tops for Doyle with 4 points on the night.

Senior Girls - D8 Standings
T1.  St. David (1-0)
T1.  Resurrection (1-0)
T2.  St. Mary's (0-0)
T2.  St. Benedict (0-0)
T5.  Monsignor Doyle (0-1)
T5.  Rockway (0-1)

Junior Girls - D8 Standings
T1.  St. David (1-0)
T1.  Resurrection (1-0)
T3.  St. Mary's (0-0)
T3.  St. Benedict (0-0)
T5.  Rockway (0-1)
T5.  Monsignor Doyle (0-1)

D8: Season Tips Off Tonight

The District 8 Senior & Junior Girls' basketball schedules kick off this evening, with a couple of doubleheaders.

The senior contests see the Resurrection Phoenix host the Monsignor Doyle Mustangs at 5:00pm, while the St. David Celtics begin their D8 title defense with a game against the Rockway Flames --- also a 5:00pm tip time.  Both games are preceded by junior showdowns featuring the same schools.

In another note, I'm kind of surprised to see that the PRDG (Père Rene De Galinée) Chevaliers are not in the D8 circuit this season.  Last year, their junior girls were the CWOSSA "A" champions, so I'm not sure exactly what happened there.

We'll start up our usual "picks" for the senior games:

Monsignor Doyle (0-0) at Resurrection (0-0)

Pick:  RCSS

It was a lean year last year for Resurrection, as they finished outside of the D8 playoff picture.  This year, however, a plethora of talent comes up from the junior ranks and should put them in contention for a home playoff game.  Look for them to win their opener here, especially at home.

Rockway (0-0) at St. David (0-0)

Pick:  SDCSS

The Celtics aren't going to be quite as strong as last year, but they do have some decent size and should again be in the mix come playoff time.  They pick up their first win here.

Eagles Soar to Victory at Eastwood Tournament

In an early season matchup between two teams with CWOSSA "AAAA" aspirations, the Kitchener St. Mary's Eagles defeated the Eastwood Rebels by a 37-26 final in the championship game of a tournament hosted by Eastwood Collegiate this past weekend.

Kaitlyn Schenck looks like she will have no problem adjusting to the senior level as she scored over half of the Eagle points (19 of 37) in the final and averaged 20.3 PPG for the tournament.

The Eagles also did it on defense, holding Eastwood to just 26 points in the final after ECI's star forward Michelle Hudyn pumped in 24 PPG herself in the first two games.

St. Mary's opens their D8 regular season on Wednesday on the road in Cambridge against Monsignor Doyle (5:00pm).  Eastwood, meanwhile, also travels to Cambridge for their first game ---- playing on the road against Galt tomorrow (5:00pm).

St. Thomas Aquinas (Tottenham, Ontario) took 3rd place with a 35-28 win over Collingwood.  On the consolation side, Cameron Heights demolished Jacob Hespeler 54-21 in the consolation final.

Here's a quick rundown of the tournament scores and notable performances:

First Round

Eastwood 50, St. Benedict CSS 27

ECI:  Michelle Hudyn, 27 points

St. Thomas Aquinas (Tottenham) 29, Jacob Hespeler 25

St. Mary's 53, Cameron Heights 48

SMHS:  Kaitlyn Schenck, 24 points

CHCI:  Erin Robbins, 15 points

Collingwood 44, Southwood SS 29

Second Round

Consolation Semifinal:  Jacob Hespeler 23, St. Benedict 22

Consolation Semifinal:  Cameron Heights 46, Southwood 36

CHCI:  Liz McLellan, 21 points

Championship Semifinal:  Eastwood 33, St. Thomas Aquinas 26

ECI:  Michelle Hudyn, 21 points

Championship Semifinal:  St. Mary's 48, Collingwood 39

SMHS:  Kaitlyn Schenck, 18 points

Final Round

Consolation Friendly:  Southwood 40, St. Benedict 26

SSS:  Alex Palvetzian, 17 points

Consolation Final:  Cameron Heights 54, Jacob Hespeler 21

CHCI:  Erin Robbins, 19 points

3rd Place Game:  St. Thomas Aquinas 35, Collingwood 28

Championship:  St. Mary's 37, Eastwood 26

SMHS:  Kaitlyn Schenck, 19 points

Around the Horn: Wednesday, September 15th

Highlanders Not Only School With Gym Floor Woes

According to an article in yesterday's Guelph Tribune, the JF Ross Royals are experiencing some issues of their own with gym floors.

When the Royals returned to school last week, the floors (which were being redone over the summer) are not yet ready to go. 

Rod Evans, Ross' athletic director, noted that "everyone is frustrated, it’s not a great way to start the year, but (we’ll have) two new gym floors."

(For those who don't know, JF Ross has two full sized gyms --- so when their basketball teams play, the junior team plays in one gym and the senior team in the other at the same time.  Looks like both gyms are affected here.)

As of last week, the volleyball and basketball teams had only held meetings and as of Monday were looking for other locations to hold practices and tryouts.

Evans sounded confident on Monday that the floors would be ready in time for the first set of Ross' home games next week.



Lions to Host Junior Girls Tournament

Last year's defending D10 champions, the St. James Lions, will be hosting a junior girls tournament in their gym this coming weekend.  Though I don't have a schedule at this time, I can tell you that action goes Friday and Saturday with Friday games tipping off at 3:30pm.

Cvrkalj Verbally Commits to NCAA D-1 Lehigh University

After my previous post yesterday, we can now tell you that Bluevale guard Stefan Cvrkalj has verbally committed to Lehigh University, a Division I (Patriot League) school located in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

The Mountain Hawks, a young, exciting team this past season,  finished 1st in the Patriot League.  They also won their conference tournament and advanced to the NCAA tournament where they lost their first round game to #1 Kansas 90-74.

The Patriot League school seems to be a nice fit for Cvrkalj, who will be joining a backcourt that features guard C.J. McCollum (averaged 19.1 PPG as a freshman this past year).  Things are definitely looking solid for Lehigh going forward.

Cvrkalj, however, won't be the only CWOSSA alum shooting the lights out in the Patriot League.  Fellow CWOSSA alum Bryson Johnson (St. David '09) was the 3rd leading scorer for the Bucknell Bison (9.5 PPG) as a freshman this past season. 

Congratulations Stefan!

(FYI - Lehigh Men's Basketball Website:  http://www.lehighsports.com/sports/mbball/)

Bluevale's Cvrkalj Rated 10th in Canada

Bluevale's 5th year guard Stefan Cvrkalj has been rated as the 10th best Canadian prospect in the 2011 graduating class, according to Nolan Schulman's Flagrant Fouls website. 

According to his player profile, Cvrkalj is also listed as the 2nd best Shooting Guard prospect and his "schools of interest" list can be updated to include Virginia, Stanford, Bucknell, Lafayette, Penn, Davidson, Elon, Lehigh and Northeastern.

The list includes both Canadian high schoolers and Canadians who are attending prep or high schools south of the border.  The #1 prospect, Myck Kabongo from Findlay Prep (Nevada) has committed to the University of Texas.

Eastwood's Hudyn Puts up First 15+ Performance

Senior girls' basketball is officially underway, as evidenced by some tournament play this past weekend.

The Eastwood Rebels travelled to Sarnia, Ontario to participate in a very competitive tournament with some top teams across the province.  In fact, of the semifinalists, three of them were either medalists or ranked in the top 3 at their respective OFSAA championship last season.

ECI's star forward, 6'2" grade 11 Michelle Hudyn, pumped in 24 points in their opening round game against the Sarnia St. Christopher Cyclones on Friday.  It wasn't quite enough, though, as the Rebs fell 44-36 in the contest.

Eastwood went on to defeat London Westminster 38-21 in their second game before falling to Chatham Ursuline 47-27 in the consolation semifinals.   

On the other side of the bracket, thanks to the Sarnia Observer, we can tell you that the tournament was won by St. Basil (Sault Ste. Marie; ranked #3 last year at OFSAA AA) who defeated Ingersoll (last year's 3rd ranked AAA OFSAA school) in the final.  Ingersoll defeated Sarnia St. Clair (last year's OFSAA AA Silver Medalist) in the semifinals.

In case those schools sound familiar, some of our CWOSSA schools do have a history with them.  #9 KCI upset #3 Ingersoll during last year's OFSAA AAA tournament, while Guelph Bishop Mac was the school that defeated Sarnia St. Clair in last year's OFSAA AA gold medal game.

Girls 15+ Club

The Girls 15+ club template has been set up below and will be tracked throughout the 2010 season.

A reminder for exhibition & tournament game results - they can be e-mailed to cwossabasketball@hotmail.com.

Thanks!

The Record: Destroyed Gym Floor Sends SJAM Away From Home

Article By:  Mark Bryson

WATERLOO — The Highlanders might consider a name change to Road Warriors.

Sir John A. Macdonald’s volleyball and basketball teams will play their Waterloo County high school games away from the comforts of home as the school’s gymnasium undergoes extensive repairs. The gymnasium’s hardwood floor was destroyed in July when a broken pipe in the school’s irrigation system forced water inside the school instead of outside to the playing field.

Mark Schenkel, a superintendent with the Waterloo Region District School Board, was unable to provide a dollar amount for the damage, but he said the board is in conversations with “insurance people” and that a remedy is in the works.

The work is expected to be completed by late October or early November, he said.

While the girls basketball and boys volleyball teams will play their games as visitors or at neutral-site locations, the school’s physical education department is simply making the most of a trying situation.

Classes will go on.

“There’s not much you can do about something like that; you deal with it,” said Andy Lavell, the head of SJAM’s phys-ed department. “We’ve got a great staff that is going to be flexible and give the kids a great program. There’s a lot you can do without a gym.

“We’re obviously hoping for good weather, though.”

This isn’t the first time that Lavell and the phys-ed department have had to do without a gymnasium. Construction delays caused the school to open one week late in September of 2004 and the school’s gymnasium wasn’t ready for use until February of 2005.

Classes will be held outside until the gymnasium re-opens, said Lavell. Bad weather days could be used to teach health, he added.

Lavell said the volleyball and basketball teams will practise at neighbouring Abraham Erb Public School and singled out Abraham Erb principal Martha Knowlton for coming to the aid of SJAM’s varsity teams. The Highlanders will also practise at Creekside Church on Conservation Drive.

Retrieved From:  http://kitchenerwaterloorecord.ca/Sports/article/773601

WCSSAA: Girls' Schedule Information

We're now less than 2 weeks from the official start of the WCSSAA junior and senior girls' basketball seasons.

The WCSSAA schedule is slated to kick-off on Tuesday, September 21st, with a fairly big senior game between the Bluevale Knights and the KCI Raiders ---- both teams finished in the top 4 a season ago.

Here's a round-up of the "divisions" this year:

A:  Bluevale, Grand River, SJAM, Waterloo
B:  Cameron Heights, Eastwood, Elmira, Forest Heights
C:  Glenview Park, Huron Heights, KCI, Preston
D:  Galt, Jacob Hespeler, Southwood, Waterloo-Oxford

The Record's Mark Bryson has posted the schedule on his blog, which can be found here.

If you're observant, you'll notice that the SJAM Highlanders will be playing every game on the road this season.  Water damage to their gym floor is forcing the Highlanders away from home while the repairs take place.


Also, after not meeting a season ago (until the finals), the KCI Raiders and WCI Vikings will do battle on October 14th, a 3:30pm tilt at KCI.

Early indications of teams to watch would include the aforementioned Knights and Raiders, the WCI Vikings, SJAM Highlanders and Eastwood Rebels.  Some young talented upset-minded squads will include the Grand River Renegades, Southwood Sabres, and Jacob Hespeler Hawks.

Attention 2010 Senior Girls CWOSSA Coaches, Parents, Fans, Players

Back around the area after a week of summer holidays and the like. 

Now that I'm back, we're into September and the 2010 girls basketball season is just around the corner with tryouts starting next week and games kicking off in mid-September.

This will be my first full year on the site covering junior and senior girls' basketball.  As a result, there's a couple of favours that I'm asking from fans, parents, fans and even players:

1.  Let me know about exhibition and tournament games.  Shoot me an email at cwossabasketball@hotmail.com with draws, scores, high scorers, etc.  I'll gladly post up any and all information that I receive.

2.  Senior coaches, please e-mail me information on your rosters (once completed), especially with regards to the following:
-Names of Coach(es)
-Key Players
-Returning Starters (& Names)
-Key Newcomers (transfer or rookies)
-And, if desired, a short blurb about goals for the season or a general outlook (can be brief if desired:  "We should improve over last year"; "We will be competing for a CWOSSA berth" are fine examples).   

The above will be utilized for my season previews (hopefully each league - BAA, D4, D5, D8, D10, WCSSAA) which will come out around mid-September.

Please feel free to send this link via e-mail to anyone who may be interested in the above:

http://www.cwossabasketball.com/2010/09/attention-2010-senior-girls-cwossa.html

Thanks!
Mark