D8: Wednesday Picks

YTD:  12-1 (.923)

A couple of games on the D8 schedule this evening:

Monsignor Doyle (1-4) at Rockway (1-5)

My Pick:  MDCSS

The Rockway Flames are on the upswing, having defeated St. David just before the Christmas break.  However, I still like the Mustangs here, who won the first meeting 65-43.  A win by Doyle would also give them a game lead over St. David in the battle for the final playoff spot (and AAA CWOSSA berth).

St. David (1-5) at St. Mary's (5-0)

My Pick:  SMHS

The Eagles should cruise past the SDCSS Celtics in this one.

FYI: Rogers TV To Again Broadcast SBCSS Final Games

Tuesday, January 10, 2012 (WATERLOO REGION) – See Ontario’s top senior basketball teams in action as Rogers TV presents exclusive coverage of the consolation and championship games of the 24th Annual Saints’ Invitational Basketball Tournament.  Coverage begins Sunday, January 15 at 2 PM with the consolation game followed by the championship final at 4 PM on Cable 20. Both games will be re-broadcast Sunday, January 22 starting at 5 PM.

Rogers TV's Gerard Magennis and Matt Hayes, both former University of Waterloo basketball stars, will be courtside at St. Benedict Catholic Secondary School in Cambridge to call the action from the tournament’s title games.

One of the largest single draw senior tournaments in Ontario, the Saints' Invitational tips off this Friday in Cambridge with 32 senior boys' basketball teams competing for top honours.  The tournament crown will be awarded to the team that wins five games over the two days. Local teams competing include Resurrection, St. Mary's, Bluevale, Eastwood, Jacob Hespeler, Galt, WCI, Huron Heights, Monsignor Doyle, Preston, and the tournament host, St. Benedict.

“Rogers TV's coverage really adds to the big league experience, showcasing the sport and the dedication of these young players to our community. It builds immense confidence and self-esteem when teenagers know their contributions are being recognized by a local TV audience,” says John Malnerich, St. Benedict Saints Head Coach and Tournament Convenor.  

"It is also great to have younger viewers watching these teenagers doing something positive in the community and, in turn, those viewers may aspire to do the same," he added.

WCSSAA Tuesday: Knights Knock Off Hawks in Senior Action

In a match-up between WCSSAA's best defense (38.8 PPG) and the league's second-best offense (68.8 PPG), defense won out as the Bluevale Knights held off the Jacob Hespeler Hawks by a 44-35 final in Waterloo on Tuesday afternoon.

Much like watching the Alabama Crimson Tide in the BCS championship game the other night, it may not be the prettiest thing to watch, but Bluevale's grind-it-out ("first team to 40 wins") style sure is effective.  

Granted, Jacob Hespeler guard Javon Bryce is still in Jamaica (returning later this week for the SBCSS tournament), but it might not have made much of a difference as the stifling BCI defense keyed on the Hawks' key offensive threats --- in fact, holding Jason Quiring to just 6 points on the evening.

The Knights started slowly, as they trailed 16-12 midway through the second when yours truly arrived after attending to a couple of errands.  However, I guess I brought some luck to the home squad with me as the Knights promptly put home the final 10 points of the quarter (essentially holding JHSS without a point during a near five-minute span) to take a 22-16 lead going into half.

Bluevale continued to control the ball and run their offensive sets effectively during the third quarter, and extended their lead to 7 entering the fourth after BCI guard Ian Farquharson was fouled on a jumper with :01 left on the third quarter clock and converted both attempts from the line.

The Hawks had things within 5 in the fourth quarter, but a couple of big back-to-back three-pointers from rookie Garrett Large pushed the lead to double digits (39-28) and the Knights were never really threatened down the stretch.

The future may be bright at Bluevale as they had 4 grade elevens (John Efechaobor, Lukas Seibert, Garrett Large, Jeevan Sidhu) on the floor at crunch time.  Jake Becker, another grade eleven, also contributed some solid minutes.  The continued progress of those 5 will be key to determining Bluevale's fate in the WCSSAA league come February.

"Coaching such a young group has its challenges at times as we are inconsistent," noted Bluevale coach Doros Theodosiou.  

"However," he continued, "defensively, it is as good a group as I have ever coached - they really work hard on that end."

Of course, it was still the veterans who still led the way on the scoresheet for the Knights as Perrin Smith had 13 and Ian Farquharson 10.  Large (7), Sidhu (6), Seibert (6) and Efechaobor (3) rounded out the BCI scoring.

Saajan Arora had a solid effort for the Hawks on Tuesday and finished with 9.  Other Hawks on the scoresheet included Brendan Vandyken 7, Sanam Arora (6), Jason Quiring (6), Simon Beeksma (3), Lucas Marsden (2) and James Roberts (2).

The win boosted the Knights to a 4-3 mark on the year, while Hespeler fell to 5-2.  Both teams have huge games on Thursday, as Bluevale travels to (5-2) Preston while JHSS visits Cameron Heights (3-4).

Waterloo-Oxford 53, Glenview Park 36

In a battle of a couple "AAA" schools, the WODSS Crusaders moved to 4-3 by knocking off the Glenview Park Panthers (2-5).  Chris Thomson (14) led a trio of Crusaders in double-digits, the others being Tyler Bowman (11) and Kyle Weber (11).  Sean Davidson led the Panthers with 9.

JUNIOR:  Bluevale 41, Jacob Hespeler 26

In a game between two teams battling for a potential playoff spot, the Bluevale Knights picked up their second win of the junior campaign (2-6) as they handled the (1-7) Jacob Hespeler Hawks in the first game of the junior-senior doubleheader.

Jamal John (12) and Ray Lin (8) led the way for the Knights, while Matt Quiring (12) and Ethan Rudd (4) were the top Hawks.

CIS Recruiting: Quiring Headed to McMaster

(This is a press release provided by McMaster University Athletics)

McMaster men’s basketball coach Amos Connolly believes in the old adage “The early bird gets the worm” and is happy to announce his first recruiting commitment for 2012. Cambridge native Jason Quiring confirmed with Connolly last week that he will be donning Maroon this fall as a member of the Marauders and signed his CIS letter of intent on Saturday. 

Quiring is a 6-foot-6 post, who is attending Jacob Hespeler Secondary School in Cambridge. His Hespeler Hawks team is one of the favourites from the WCSSAA (Waterloo County) region to qualify for the OFSAA AAA tournament in March. 

Ranked among the top 100 graduating high school players in Canada by Hoopstars Canada recruiting service, Quiring spent last year playing for the Regional Elite Development Academy (REDA) that operated out of Hamilton. He returned to Cambridge and Jacob Hespeler when the REDA program moved its base to Orangeville for this season. 

“As a quality post player Jason was a recruiting priority, so we are thrilled that he has decided to become a Marauder,” beamed Coach Connolly. “He gives us another legitimate forward to help inside, but he has some perimeter skills and can knock down shots from range. He reminds me of Cam Michaud.” 

Jason becomes the second member of the Quiring family to join the Marauder family, as his sister Rebecca plays for the McMaster women’s basketball team. 

Coach Connolly and the Marauder staff continue to work hard on the recruiting trail and expect to announce future commitments in the coming weeks. “We choose quality vs. quantity when it comes to recruiting - and are in contact with some very exceptional players. Our goal is to clearly demonstrate that McMaster is a great choice for their university experience,” said Connolly.

Tuesday: News and Notes - 2 WCSSAA Senior Games Scheduled

It'll be later this week when the rest of the CWOSSA leagues start back up after the holidays, but there are a couple of important (rescheduled) games to take care of in the WCSSAA (senior) league today.

For starters, the Glenview Park Panthers (2-4) will travel to Waterloo-Oxford (3-3) in a huge game for both teams.  The Panthers are looking to solidify their current grasp on the 12th and final playoff spot, while the Crusaders would tie Huron Heights (4-3) and Galt (4-3) with a win ---- those two teams are currently tied for the 3rd (and final) AAA spot in the standings as we speak.

That contest, which goes at 3:30pm, was pushed back from opening day due to the long season that WODSS had on the volleyball court with their OFSAA run.

Meanwhile, the Bluevale Knights, who suffered back-to-back losses (CHCI & WODSS) before the break to drop to 3-3, will host the upstart Jacob Hespeler Hawks (5-1) in a 5:00pm showdown.

The Knights will be desperate for this one, as they still have a couple of more tough games (5-2 Preston and undefeated Forest Heights, as well as Eastwood) before the exam break.  The Hawks, though, will be looking to solidify a one-game lead on WCI and a one-game lead (with the tiebreak) on 5-2 Preston in the WCSSAA standings.

This game was rescheduled due to the Hawks being in Florida just before the Christmas break.  

As for my picks, I enter these contests with a less-than-spectacular 32-12 (.727) record.  Again, the goal is 80% or better, so we have some work to do in the second half of the season.  I'll start out today by taking the WODSS Crusaders by 8 at home, and the Jacob Hespeler Hawks by 7 on the road.

Senior: Trojans Lone CWOSSA Club at Silver Fox

The Kitchener Forest Heights Trojans will be the lone CWOSSA entrant in the 41st edition of the Teacher's Life Silver Fox Invitational in Hamilton this coming weekend.

The seeded tournament features 20 teams vying for the championship, with the top 10 teams being "seeded".  The Trojans were not one of those squads, and as such will play a first round "qualifying game" against St. Catharines Governor Simcoe.  The winner of that game will then go on to play the #1 seed, London's HB Beal SS.  A loss, and the Trojans would take on the loser of #9 St. Thomas More and #8 Burlington Nelson.

The ranked teams are as follows:

#1 - Beal (London)

#2 - D'Youville (Brampton)

#3 - Cardinal Newman (Stoney Creek)

#4 - St. Peter's (Orleans/Ottawa)

#5 - Bishop Tonnos (Ancaster)

#6 - Loyola (Oakville)

#7 - St. Patrick (Ottawa)
#8 - Nelson (Burlington)
#9 - St. Thomas More (Hamilton)
#10 - MacNab (Hamilton)

Junior: Vikings Carry CWOSSA Banner at Rimrocker

The junior WCI Vikings will be participating this coming week (starting Thursday) at the Junior Rimrocker tournament in Mississauga.

This high-profile tournament is generally considered one of the top-tier junior tournaments in the province --- as we can see by the calibre of teams that will be playing pool games against the Vikes.

WCI will be in a pool with a "top 3" team in the province, Vaughan SS, a "top 2-3 team in Peel" in St. Edmund Campion, and then a traditional powerhouse from Toronto in West Hill SS.

Despite the tough draw, the Vikes should be able to pick up a win if they play to their capability --- West Hill is only 2-4 in league play and isn't quite as talented as previous years, but still a very tough squad.

Regardless of the end result, the tournament should prove key for the youthful Vikes to gain some experience as they head towards a competitive final drive in the WCSSAA league.  The Vikes play West Hill first on Thursday, and then have Friday games against Campion and Vaughan.

Senior: St. Benedict "Saints Invitational" 32-Team Tournament This Weekend

It's that time of year.

Another edition (the 24th for those counting) of the St. Benedict CSS "Saints Invitational" is set to go this weekend in Cambridge, a massive 32-team tournament that will be played at 4 gyms over two days.  Teams are coming from all areas of the province --- Chatham in the south through to Sault Ste. Marie in the north, and from all reaches of the GTA and Hamilton as well.

Last year's tournament champions, the Resurrection CSS Phoenix (who defeated Forest Heights 50-46 in the championship final) are set to return alongside two other teams currently ranked in my top four CWOSSA teams --- the St. Mary's Eagles (#2) and the JF Ross Royals (#3).  The Forest Heights Trojans (#1) will be playing in Hamilton this weekend (Silver Fox Tournament). 

Other CWOSSA top-ten teams appearing will be the Waterloo CI Vikings (#6), North Park Trojans (#7) and the Jacob Hespeler Hawks (#9).

Interestingly enough, we could see a couple of great intra-CWOSSA matchups as early as the second round as the JF Ross Royals and Jacob Hespeler Hawks as well as the WCI Vikings and Resurrection Phoenix are on collision courses to play each other in the second round.  The WCI-Resurrection game could be very interesting if that match-up comes to fruition as both teams rely on their size and interior game down low --- strength against strength.

Favourites to take the title would arguably be the Notre Dame (Burlington) Irish or the St. Basil (SSM) Saints.  Notre Dame is currently ranked at #6 in the GTA Top Ten and have an impressive win over Kitchener Resurrection on their resume to this point in the season, while the Saints are last year's "AA" antique bronze medalists at OFSAA and have already pulled out a win over the aforementioned Irish this season.  

Other challengers should include the top CWOSSA teams (St. Mary's, JF Ross, Rez) and as an outside shot, you might see Turner Fenton from Brampton make some noise.  Remember, this is the school that knocked of JF Ross in last year's first round --- and they have an equally solid squad this year that is off to a 3-0 start in ROPSSAA play.

If you want my pick, I'll take the St. Basil (SSM) - Notre Dame winner over Kitchener St. Mary's in the tournament final.  

Here's a look at first round "quadrants":

Games at St. Benedict

9:30 - St. Mary's (Kitchener) vs. Lo-Ellen Park (Sudbury)

11:00 - Galt CI vs. Parkside (Dundas)

12:30 - St. Benedict vs. North Park (Brantford)

2:00 - North Albion (Toronto) vs. Eastwood

Games at Jacob Hespeler West

9:30 - La Salle (Sudbury) vs. JF Ross

11:00 - Jacob Hespeler vs. IE Weldon (Lindsay)

12:30 - Bluevale vs. Ancaster

2:00 - West Ferris (North Bay) vs. St. Anne (Lakeshore)

Games at Jacob Hespeler East

9:30 - St. Basil's (SSM) vs. Bishop Mac

11:00 - Huron Heights (Kit.) vs. John McGregor (Chatham)

12:30 - WCI vs. Richmond Hill

2:00 - Southwood vs. Resurrection

Games at Monsignor Doyle

9:30 - Monsignor Doyle vs. Turner Fenton

11:00 - St. James (Guelph) vs. Ursuline (Chatham)

12:30 - Preston vs. Sacred Heart (Newmkt)

2:00 - St. Mike's (Stratford) vs. Notre Dame (Burl.)

FYI - A tournament pass (good for all games) is only $5.  We'll have a lot more on this tournament to come later in the week.
 

Junior: Purple and Gold 16-teamer Set for This Weekend

The 4th annual Resurrection CSS-Huron Heights HS "Purple and Gold" junior boys' tournament is set for this weekend, with a 16-team field that includes 13 CWOSSA teams.

Of those CWOSSA teams, we have six --- yes, six --- teams from my top ten including Grand River (#1), Cameron Heights (#3), JF Ross (#4), SJAM (#6), Centre Wellington (#9) and St. John's (#10).

The other CWOSSA teams include the hosts, Kitchener schools Resurrection and Huron Heights, Brantford Assumption and North Park, Cambridge St. Benedict, and Waterloo schools Bluevale and St. David.

The "out of town" contingent includes St. Basil from Sault Ste. Marie, Stratford Central, and the current #1 team from the Hamilton Public league, Saltfleet SS.

Here's a look at the past tournament winners, and this year's first-round draw (with ranked CWOSSA teams noted):

Past Tournament Finals

2009:  JF Ross over Resurrection

2010:  Cameron Heights 52, JF Ross 42

2011:  St. John's (Brantford) 66, Philip Pocock (Miss.) 65 - 3OT

First Round - At Resurrection (Friday)

8:30am - Resurrection vs. #9 Centre Wellington

10:00am - #6 SJAM vs. St. Basil (SSM)

11:30am - #1 Grand River vs. Assumption (Brantford)
1:00pm - #4 JF Ross vs. Bluevale 

First Round - At Huron Heights (Friday)

8:30am - #3 Cameron Heights vs. North Park (Brantford)

10:00am - St. David vs. Stratford Central

11:30am - Huron Heights vs. #10 St. John's

1:00pm - Saltfleet vs. St. Benedict

CWOSSA Midseason All-Stars: D10 Senior

We'll continue to finish up our mid-season discussions with a shout-out to the D10 league.  Here, we've had an interesting first half to the season, with a couple of upsets, near-upsets, and some thrilling games all mixed in between.

Thus far, the JF Ross Royals are leading the way with a 7-1 mark, ahead of Lourdes (7-2) and Centre Wellington (6-2).  While the Royals have had their share of blowouts to this point, they've also been challenged by some of the squads in the (deep) D10 league as three of their wins have come by 8 points or less.

Going forward, I look for some great semifinal games (Ross/CW/OLOL/CCVI/BMAC) as these teams have generally shown an ability to compete with each other throughout the first half of the season.  The big question will be to see if Centennial and Ross will face off in the D10 final yet again --- at this point, however, they'd be on a collision course for a semifinal meeting.

Here are a look at some of the key performers to this point in the season, with (of course) my one all-star per team minimum requirement:

First Team D10 All-Stars

Shamlo Saeed, JF Ross (MVP)
Erik Sterne, Centennial

Mike Finoro, Our Lady of Lourdes

Reid Goindi, Centre Wellington

Evan Karl, JF Ross

Second Team/Honourable Mention D10 All-Stars

Mike Friesen, JF Ross

Jesse Kendall, Bishop Mac

Justin Levesque, Orangeville

Andrew Hood, GCVI

Nick Pellizzari, St. James

Sharieff Peru, Our Lady of Lourdes

Gavin McNamara, Centre Wellington

Aleks Kaludjerovic, Centennial

Owen Brombal, Bishop Mac

WCI Juniors, St. John's Seniors Capture SJC Tournament Crowns

The junior WCI Vikings and the senior St. John's Green Eagles captured the tournament titles in their respective divisions this past weekend in Brantford.

In a hotly contested junior final, the Vikings (who I have at #7 in my latest top 10 ranking) defeated the host (and #10 ranked) St. John's squad by a 55-50 final.  Nick Johnny paced all scorers with 21 points for the Vikes.

The senior final saw Tyler Van Leeuwen pour in 27 points as the Green Eagles defeated St. Thomas Aquinas of London 58-49.  Van Leeuwen also added a 28-point effort against London Saunders and 16 against East Elgin for a three-game total of 71 (23.6 PPG).

CWOSSA Midseason Review: D8 Senior

To be honest, there really hasn't been a lot of intrigue (to this point) in the D8 senior boys' season.

As expected, the St. Mary's Eagles and Resurrection Phoenix are leading the way in the league standings, with the St. Benedict Saints trailing closely behind.  Monsignor Doyle, St. David and Rockway (all with one win each) are in a dog-fight for the fourth and final playoff spot --- most important to MDCSS and SDCSS as it also comes with a CWOSSA "AAA" berth.

Essentially, the question in D8 for the second half of the season:  will we be seeing a St. Mary's and Resurrection final, or will St. Benedict have a say in the matter?

It's more than possible that the Saints will, given a respectable single digit loss to St. Mary's and the fact that they were up one on Rez at halftime of their game before the Phoenix went on a big second half surge to win by 18.

The winner of the second RCSS-SMHS showdown will probably be your regular season champion and the top seed entering the playoffs.  The Phoenix need to win by 4 or more, while the Eagles can win, or lose by 2 or less.  A three-point Rez win will invoke a tiebreak.

At the halfway point, here are my all-star teams:

MVP:  Adam Voll, St. Mary's (6'6" F/4th Year)

First Team All-Stars

Adam Voll, St. Mary's (6'6" F/4th Year)

Cory Kenning, Resurrection (6'7" F/4th Year)

Alex Thompson, St. Mary's (6'1" G/5th Year)

Mike Pereira, Resurrection (6'4" F/5th Year)

Isaac Lance, St. Mary's (6'0" G/5th Year)

Kueth Geng, St. Benedict (6'2" F/5th Year)

Second Team & Honourable Mention All-Stars

John Moi, Resurrection

Tyler Schneider, Resurrection

Santo Dak, St. Benedict

Josh Edwards, St. Benedict

Telloy Simon, St. Mary's

Uzair Khan, Monsignor Doyle

Jake Winter, St. David

Jordan Fayez, Rockway

CWOSSA Midseason Review: WCSSAA Senior

We'll begin our "official" mid-season reviews with the WCSSAA senior boys' circuit.

Sure, the teams at the very top of the standings (Forest Heights, Grand River) are the squads that many of us thought might be there at the start of the year; however, that's not to say that things haven't been interesting at times --- the Rens fought off an Eastwood squad by 5 (after being tied at half), while FHCI needed overtime to get past a valiant Waterloo-Oxford effort the other week.

In other words, the name of the game may be parity.

After all, when most of these players were juniors a couple of years back, we saw a #8 seed (Huron Heights) upset a #1 seed (Forest Heights) in the playoffs, while the championship final was contested between a #4 seed (Waterloo CI) and a #6 seed (Grand River).

If the playoffs started today ---- there would be some dangerous low seeds.  How about Huron Heights, SJAM, Bluevale, WODSS and Cameron Heights at numbers 7 through 11?  Of course, a ton of time yet to go in the season but things could get very interesting come playoff time.

Here are five things that I look for in the second half of the WCSSAA season:

1.  The Forest Heights Trojans to take the #1 seed heading into the WCSSAA playoffs

That's not to say that they will go undefeated, but even if they do drop one of their remaining five games (SJAM & Bluevale might be the possibilities), the Trojans already have a head-to-head tiebreak over the current second-place team, Grand River.

2.  Two "upsets" (seed wise) in the postseason

After last year's playoffs, where things essentially went to form (with the exception of GRCI's win over Bluevale in the 4-5 game), I think things might be a bit more interesting this year.  With the calibre of the teams that may finish in the "double digit" seeds, I think we may see a first-round upset in the qualifiers, and maybe one in the quarterfinals as well.

3.  SJAM & HHHS to continue their hot streaks

These teams actually meet in the first game after the break, which should prove to be a good game.  After dropping their first four contests, SJAM has caught fire, winning their last 3.  HHHS, meanwhile, dropped their first couple (albeit without Sean Samuel) but have rebounded since and are sitting above .500 (4-3) at the break.  Though both squads have some challenges in the second half, they do avoid the teams at the very top of the standings --- I project top 8 finishes for both.

4.  A breakthrough in Cambridge

We haven't seen a Cambridge school playing on "semifinal Saturday" since Southwood did a few years ago.  Is this the year?  Jacob Hespeler and Preston seem like the logical choices that could "break through", based upon their current spots in the standings; however, don't discount the upstart Galt Ghosts, who could pull off an upset in a one-game playoff situation.

5.  "AAA" Intrigue

To continue from #4 (as all the Cambridge squads are AAA), we should see a great battle for the three CWOSSA berths ---- and don't forget about Huron Heights and Waterloo-Oxford, who also fall into this category.  Although North Park (Brantford) and Centre Dufferin (Shelburne) seem like the early AAA favourites, a WCSSAA team could definitely make some noise at the tournament.

Mark's Midseason Award Winners

WCSSAA MVP:  Javon Masters, Forest Heights

First Team All-Stars

Javon Masters, FHCI

Juwan Miller, FHCI

Filip Cvrkalj, GRCI

Ben Reyhani, SJAM

Jason Quiring, JHSS

Second Team All-Stars

Vedran Dmitrovic, CHCI

Jacob Ranton, WCI

Dani Elgadi, WCI

Sean Samuel, HHHS

Jack Simmons, GCI
Perrin Smith, BCI

Honourable Mentions (Note: Min. 1 per team if no 1st or 2nd Team AS)

Paul Anderson, FHCI

Chuder Teny, GRCI

Javon Bryce, JHSS

Wes Meertens, PHS

Adam Anagnostopoulos, WCI

Owais Khairi, GCI

Jesse Dodgson, WODSS

Jason Thompson, CHCI

Julian Greer, KCI

Chris Thompson, GPSS

Zack Sauer, SSS
Mirza Zahic, ECI

Walker Stewart, EDSS

CWOSSA Midseason Review: Top 10 Teams

First and foremost, Happy New Year!

With the absence of league games this week, we'll take some time to do a few "Midseason reviews" and awards in both the junior and senior ranks.  Hopefully, it will tie everyone over until play resumes next week.

As we didn't get to it during the break, here's a look at my "Top 10" CWOSSA junior and senior teams at the break.  Previous ranking is in brackets:

Junior CWOSSABasketball.com Power Ranking

1.  Grand River - Kitchener (1)

2.  St. Mary's - Kitchener (2)

3.  Cameron Heights - Kitchener (3)

4.  JF Ross - Guelph (6)

5.  St. James - Guelph (9)

6.  SJAM - Waterloo (4)

7.  Waterloo CI - Waterloo (7)

8.  Eastwood CI - Kitchener (5)

9.  Centre Wellington - Fergus (T10)

10.  St. John's - Brantford (8)

Dropped Out:  St. David - Waterloo (T10).

Honourable Mentions:  St. David - Waterloo; Huron Heights - Kitchener; Forest Heights - Kitchener; North Park - Brantford.

Senior CWOSSABasketball.com Power Ranking

1.  Forest Heights - Kitchener (1)

2.  St. Mary's - Kitchener (2)

3.  JF Ross - Guelph (3)

4.  Resurrection - Kitchener (4)

5.  Grand River - Kitchener (6)

6.  Waterloo CI - Waterloo (HM)

7.  North Park - Brantford (5)

8.  Our Lady of Lourdes - Guelph (9)

9.  Jacob Hespeler - Cambridge (8)

10.  SJAM - Waterloo (NR)

Dropped Out:  Bluevale CI - Waterloo (7), Cameron Heights - Kitchener (10).

Honourable Mentions:  Cameron Heights - Kitchener; Bluevale - Waterloo; Centennial - Guelph; Centre Wellington - Fergus.

On the Radar:  Centre Dufferin - Shelburne; Waterloo-Oxford/Baden; St. Benedict - Cambridge.

Naples News: Resurrection Catholic Beats Community School

The Resurrection Phoenix took the Consolation Title at the Gulfshore Shootout in Naples, FL, late last week.  6'7" F/C Cory Kenning was named to the all-tournament team.  Here's the report from Naples News reporter Tom Rife (retrieved from:  http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2011/dec/30/gulfshore-shootout-resurrection-catholic-beats-com/)

------
NAPLES — Making the long trip from the not-so-balmy Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, the Resurrection Catholic Phoenix benefited from the Winged Foot Scholarship Foundation Gulfshore Shootout in more ways than one.

The Phoenix captured the consolation bracket title Friday with a 64-49 win over Community School. They also patched up some discipline problems from earlier in the week.

“We came together very well as a team and played pretty well,” coach Tom Schneider said. “We came out of the tournament a better team than we came into the tournament. That’s what we were looking for.”

The Phoenix used not only their height advantage against the Seahawks, but also showed some shooting pizazz by draining nine three-pointers in their victory.

Tyler Schneider and Corey Kenning each had 12 points in the win and Jamie Kell added 11. The Phoenix had a commanding 39-16 lead at halftime, but to Community School’s credit, the Seahawks kept the hustle turned up on high and “won” the second half, 33-25.

“With the height disadvantage and all, we found a whole different style we can play,” CSN’s Greg Donahue said. “We went man-to-man all over the place and it created some problems for them. It’s something we hadn’t done before. Now we know we can do it and we have another weapon in our arsenal.”

Connor Murray paced the Seahawks with 14 points. If there was a downside at all to the loss, it was that CSN made just 15 of 30 attempts from the three-throw line.

On a scale from 1 to 10, Donahue rated his team’s overall Shootout experience a “7.”

“What I liked was that after the Jupiter game, we started really playing defense and rebounding,” he said.

Donahue said he looked forward to getting back to regular-season action against such district foes as Seacrest Country Day and Evangelical Christian.

“I’d play Resurrection Catholic every day,” he said. “It would make us a better team.”

RESURRECTION CATHOLIC 64, COMMUNITY SCHOOL 49

COMMUNITY SCHOOL (49)
Kent 1 0-1 2, Celano 0 6-6 6, Straub 2 2-4 6, Lugo 0 0-0 0, Badger 0 1-3 1, Murray 4 2-2 14, Gendron 2 2-2 7, Rochette 0 0-2 0, Defossez 1 0-0 3, Paul 2 0-0 4, Baker 1 2-8 4; Totals: 14 15-30 49.

RESURRECTION CATHOLIC (64)
Ramirez 0 3-4 3, Moi 0 0-0 0, A. Schneider 2 0-0 5, McGlynn 0 0-0 0, Keil 4 0-0 11, Gibbs 1 0-0 2, Pereira 1 0-0 3, Gilbert 2 1-2 5, Bartley 0 2-2 2, Radcliffe 1 0-0 3, T. Schneider 4 1-2 12, Cordle 3 0-0 6, Kenning 6 0-3 12; Totals: 24 7-13 64.

CS 5 11 15 18 – 49
RC 19 20 12 13 – 64

Three-pointers: RC-A Schneider 1, Keil 3, Pereira 1, Radcliffe 1, T. Schneider 3, CS-Murray 4, Gendron 1, Defossez 1; Team fouls: CS 15, RC 23; Fouled out: none; Technicals: none.