D8 Monday: 'Stangs Gallop To Victory in The Battle of Cambridge

After winning 2 games in 2011-12, and 4 games last season, the Senior Monsignor Doyle Mustangs are certainly getting themselves on teams' radars this year.

A home tournament championship, consolation tournament championship, and now a 57-37 win yesterday over D8 Cambridge rivals St. Benedict have the Mustangs sitting 3rd in the D8 standings, two games clear of 4th place in the win column.

Yesterday's game wasn't as close as I had initially anticipated, thanks in part to a solid 23-point outing from guard Jamal Bell.  Omar Comanto replied with 9 for the Saints.

In other D8 Senior Action:

Resurrection 77, St. David 55
My Pick:  RCSS by 24
St. David has been stringing together some tough first halves lately; they actually trailed this one by single digits at halftime before Rez was able to pull away in the second half.  Leading the Phoenix were Mark Wylie (18), Zach Holness (12) and Patric McGlynn (12).  Mitchell Lavigne had 14 and Cole Brenner 11 for the Celtics.

St. Mary's 72, Woodland 33
My Pick:  SMHS by 48
Jermaine Lyle, back in action after missing this weekend's tournament, netted 18 in the win to lead the Eagles, while Tesloth Simon had 16.  Trent Fisher (13) and Justin DeWeerd (11) were both in double figures for the Cavs.

D8 Senior Standings
1.  St. Mary's 4-0
2.  Resurrection 3-0
3.  Mons. Doyle 3-1
T4.  St. David 1-2
T4.  St. Benedict 1-2
6.  Rockway 0-3
7.  Woodland 0-4

D8 Junior

Resurrection 73, St. David 62
The Phoenix held a single-digit lead at halftime, extended it to 57-37 early in the fourth quarter, but St. David trimmed that in the late stages for the final count in a high scoring junior affair.  Joe Hunter (16), Jake Rush (13) and Prince Dang (13) were double-figure scorers for Resurrection while St. David was led by Brent Lasovich with 18.

St. Mary's 66, Woodland 32
Gordon Lam led a balanced Eagle attack with 10, while Vincent Duong added 7.  Teddy Neuman scored a game-high 13 for the Cavaliers, with teammate Eric Katerburg chipping in 9.

St. Benedict 58, Mons. Doyle 22
Quadruple eights across the board for the leading scorers of this game --- St. Benedict received 8 each from Justin Malnerich and Lucas Cardoso, while the 'Stangs saw Latrell Ackie and Jordan Deveney-Reid each score 8.

D8 Junior Standings
1.  St. Mary's 4-0
2.  Resurrection 3-0
3.  St. Benedict 2-1
T4.  Rockway 1-2
T4.  St. David 1-2
6.  Mons. Doyle 1-3
7.  Woodland 0-4

BAA South: Monday Scores

Senior
Kincardine 62, Chesley 31
Walkerton 66, Saugeen 54
Sacred Heart 62, John Diefenbaker 30

BAA South Standings:  Senior
T1.  Walkerton 2-0
T1.  Kincardine 2-0
T1.  Sacred Heart 2-0
T3.  Saugeen 0-2
T3.  Chesley 0-2
T3.  John Diefenbaker 0-2

Junior
John Diefenbaker 27, Sacred Heart 21
Saugeen 65, Walkerton 19

BAA South Standings:  Junior
1.  John Diefenbaker 2-0
T2.  Saugeen 1-1
T2.  Sacred Heart 1-1
T3.  Walkerton 0-1
T3.  Kincardine 0-1

D8 Senior: Monday Picks

YTD:  9-0 (1.000)

St. Mary's (3-0) at Woodland CHS (0-3)
My Pick:  SMHS by 48
Not much to say here.....moving on to the opposite end of the spectrum:

Mons. Doyle (2-1) at St. Benedict (1-2)
My Pick:  MDCSS by 3
The battle of Cambridge should be a good one this year, and I think the MDCSS Mustangs have the offensive firepower to be able to take what should be a close game.

Resurrection (2-0) at St. David (1-1)
My Pick:  RCSS by 24
Not sure if Jacob Gilbert and Adam Schneider (who sat out the 3rd place game on the weekend with back issues) will be available for this one, but I still like Rez to win regardless.

Senior: St. Mary's Eagles Come 2nd in Kingston

Despite the absence of starter Jermaine Lyle this past weekend, the CWOSSA #1-ranked St. Mary's Eagles came 2nd this past weekend in Kingston, losing to Kingston LaSalle in the championship final.

Avery Sutton had a great tournament in Lyle's absence, and was named to the tournament's all-star team.

St. Mary's got off to a great start, knocking off Kingston CVI 70-44 (Tyrick Thompson 18; Sutton 16) before taking out a fellow CWOSSA team, Guelph Centennial, 53-42 in the second round (Tesloth Simon 16, Sutton 15).

In the semifnals, the Eagles defeated Father Goetz of Mississauga (62-57), currently ranked #11 in a recent GTA ranking.  Thompson had 18 points and Simon 14 in a thrilling game that saw a couple of dunks by both teams and the ejection of one of Goetz's key players, Freddy Ibrahim, for taunting after a dunk and hanging on the rim.

Despite a 23-point effort by Tyrick Thompson in the finals, the Eagles came up short against Kingston LaSalle, 69-64.  The Eagles got down by 12 early, but battled back to lead by 1 at half and by 3 points after three quarters, but turnovers down the stretch proved to be their undoing in the championship final.

St. Mary's is back in league action this week, starting with a game today against Woodland.

Senior: Saltfleet Takes Rez Invitational; Lions Top CWOSSA Team

The Saltfleet Storm came to Kitchener and were victorious at the Resurrection Senior Invitational Tournament this past weekend, besting three CWOSSA teams in the process --- including the Guelph St. James Lions in the tournament final.

Here's a look at the results:

First Round
Resurrection 78, Orangeville 53
RCSS:  Korbil Gany 22
ODSS:  Luke Milican 17

Saltfleet 62, CWDHS 38
CW:  Ty Uhrig, 20

St. James 51, Essex DSS 20
STJ:  Quinn Feeney & Joey Hasson 8

Lourdes 47, Eastwood 44
OLOL:  Kevin Roche 14
ECI:  Ousmane Kromah 15

Consolation Semifinals
CWDHS 57, Orangeville 56
CW:  James Scott 13
ODSS:  Deysean Thompson 24

Eastwood 43, Essex 41
ECI:  Izzy Nemeth 13

Championship Semifinals
Saltfleet 70, Resurrection 51
RCSS:  Patric McGlynn 16

St. James 58, Lourdes 33
STJ:  Mitch Marquis 12
OLOL:  Craig Valeriote & David Khayipangi 8

Consolation Final
CWDHS 55, Eastwood 44
CW:  James Scott 19
ECI:  Izzy Nemeth 14

Bronze
Lourdes 53, Resurrection 44
OLOL:  Craig Valeriote 18
RCSS:  Patric McGlynn 20
*Game Note:  No Jacob Gilbert/Adam Schneider for RCSS

Championship
Saltfleet 49, St. James 44
STJ:  Zach McClenaghan 16

Junior: St. Benedict Wins All-D8 Final at SJAM CWOSSA Hoopla Tournament

Looks like there might be a new #1 team in the CWOSSA rankings next week.

The St. Benedict Saints took home the title at this past weekend's 16-team "CWOSSA Hoopla" Junior touranment co-hosted by SJAM & Forest Heights Collegiate.  In the championship final, the Saints played a tremendous team game and came away with a 61-46 win over last week's #1 team in CWOSSA, the St. Mary's Eagles.

Zubair Seyed knocked home 20 points, while Justin Malernich added 17 for the Saints in the final.

The tournament generally went "according to form" with the top 4-ranked CWOSSA teams making the semifinals.

St. Benedict got past Waterloo SJAM (61-40), while the Eagles defeated league rivals Resurrection (60-50).

Here's a look at the results.  Unfortunately, the tourney draw was taken after the final game so I only have "winners" for some of them.  If you can help out, just let me know:

Round 1
SJAM 54, Centre Wellington 36
Bluevale 42, St. Johns 31
St. Benedict 69, St. James 30
Cameron 58, Assumption 36

Brantford CI 50, Forest Hts. #1 38
Resurrection 89, Grand River 66
St. Mary's 54, Forest Hts. #2 18
Centennial 39, Huron Heights 34

Championship Quarterfinals
SJAM 41, Bluevale 28
St. Benedict 48, Cameron Heights 30

Resurrection 75, Brantford CI 33
St. Mary's over Centennial

Consolation Quarterfinals
Centre Wellington 47, St. John's 36
St. James 85, Assumption 32

Grand River over FHCI #1
Huron Heights over FHCI #2

Championship Semifinals
St. Benedict 60, SJAM 41
St. Mary's 60, Resurrection 50

Consolation Semifinals
St. James over CWDHS
Grand River over Huron Heights

Consolation Final
St. James over Grand River

Championship Final
St. Benedict 61, St. Mary's 46

Senior: Gaels, Rens at Campion Invitational

Two highly-ranked CWOSSA teams, the Cameron Heights Golden Gaels and Grand River Renegades, went to the GTA this weekend to compete at the Campion Invitational Tournament.

The Gaels had the better weekend of the two, going 1-1 in pool play and then winning their "friendly" game on Saturday.

In pool play, the Gaels lost to hosts (and eventual tournament champs) Campion by a 79-45 score but defeated St. Roch (Brampton) 65-54.

Ivan Cucak led the way against St. Roch with 15 points, and was named as the player of the game.  Sasha Simic was Cameron's top scorer against Campion, with 18 points.

In their friendly game, Cameron defeated Jarvis CI (Toronto) 77-70, with Simic netting 20 points in that win.

Grand River, meanwhile, went 0-2 in pool play, dropping games to Brampton Centennial (72-62) and HB Beal of London (67-60). 

Murtada Khamis had 20 points against BCSS, while Miro Iliev had a 22-point effort against Beal.

The Rens did rebound to defeat Bishop Reding 74-68 in their friendly, with Petar Petkovic scoring 19 points.

Senior: St. John's Takes Southwood Invitational

The senior St. John's Green Eagles (CWOSSA #7 ranked) took home the title this past weekend in West Galt at the Southwood Roundball Classic.

In the championship final, the Green Eagles got past London Pope John Paul II by a 52-48 final score.

SJC grade eleven guard Adrian Mendoza was named as tournament MVP, while forward Cam Post was named to the tournament's all-star team.

On the consolation side of the bracket, the Monsingor Doyle Mustangs (who lost to JP II in the first round, 55-46), defeated Southwood in the consolation final by a 64-37 score.

Jamal Bell netted 20 and Ryan Stafford 16 in the consolation final for Doyle.

CWOSSA Weekly Top 10 (Junior): D8 Leads Way With 3 of Top 4

As expected, there's a heavy D8 presence at the top of the CWOSSA rankings for week one.

Needless to say, with most of these teams participating in the 16-team "SJAM CWOSSA Hoopla Tournament" this weekend, expect some movement --- but here's how I currently see things, based upon very early returns:

1.  St. Mary's HS - Kitchener

2.  Sir John A. Macdonald - Waterloo

3.  Resurrection CSS - Kitchener

4.  St. Benedict CSS - Cambridge

5.  Waterloo CI - Waterloo

6.  Centennial CVI - Guelph

7.  North Park CVI - Brantford

8.  Cameron Heights CI - Kitchener

9.  Grand River CI - Kitchener

10.  St. James CHS - Guelph

CWOSSA Weekly Top Ten (Senior): Week 1 - Eagles Back on Top

We'll have to play some catch-up from yesterday's results over the weekend, but I wanted to pass along my "top ten" for this week.

After a minor blip in an exhibition game, the St. Mary's Eagles are back in the #1 spot following their solid run at the Heinbuch Tournament.  They're followed by the Cameron Heights Golden Gaels, fresh off of a thrashing yesterday against SJAM.

Anyways, let's get right to this week's initial ranking:

1.  St. Mary's HS - Kitchener

2.  Cameron Heights CI - Kitchener

3.  Grand River CI - Kitchener

4.  John F. Ross CVI - Guelph

5.  Resurrection CSS - Kitchener

6.  Bishop Macdonell HS - Guelph

7.  St. John's College - Brantford

8.  North Park CVS - Brantford

9.  Sir John A. Macdonald - Waterloo

10 (tie).  Assumption College - Brantford

10 (tie).  Our Lady of Lourdes - Guelph

Junior: 16 Team "CWOSSA Highlander Hoopla" Set For Tomorrow

The 16-team "Highlander Hoopla", featuring at least 8 teams that I currently have eyed in my to-be-released "CWOSSA top 10", is set to go tomorrow at both SJAM & Forest Heights (co-hosts).

All 16 teams are CWOSSA teams, and the tournament is usually a good indicator of who the "teams to beat" around the region will be. 

Of note, a late withdrawal means that Forest Heights will be entering two teams in the tournament, but no word on how they will split their teams as of the time of their post.

Here are the first-round games:

Upper Bracket @ SJAM
2:00pm - SJAM vs. CWDHS
3:30pm - Bluevale vs. St. John's
5:00pm - St. Benedict vs. St. James
6:30pm - Assumption vs. Cameron Hts.

Lower Bracket @ FHCI
3:30pm - Forest Heights "1" vs. Brantford CI
5:00pm - Resurrection vs. Grand River
6:30pm - St. Mary's vs. Forest Heights "2"
8:00pm - Huron Heights vs. Centennial

The championship final will be played at 8pm on Saturday at SJAM.

WCSSAA: Thursday Picks

YTD:  9-2 (.818)

Actually a "full slate" of games today in WCSSAA, as the two schools that do not have senior teams (WODSS/EDSS) are playing each other in a junior game.

Bluevale (2-0) at Glenview Park (1-1)
My Pick:  BCI by 7
The Bluevale Knights are racking up some transportation miles early in the season, as for the 3rd time in a week they'll be on the road in Cambridge (SSS, JHSS, now GPSS).  This should be the most competitive of the three games, but I still like the Knights to win.

Galt (0-2) at Forest Hts. (1-1)
My Pick:  GCI by 19
After a couple of losses to Waterloo schools SJAM & WCI, I look for the Ghosts to get one in the win column today against Forest Heights.

SJAM (2-0) at Cameron Hts. (2-0)
My Pick:  CHCI by 10
Game of the day material with two of the league's top 3 preseason teams set to do battle.  I'll go with the Gaels at home.

WCI (2-0) at KCI (1-1)
My Pick:  WCI by 8
Always a good rivalry game, no matter who is the better team that year.  I'll go with WCI in this one, although KCI is usually a solid home team and could surprise.  Keep an eye on this one.

Preston (0-2) at Grand River (1-0)
My Pick:  GRCI by 35
The Rens should pick up their 2nd WCSSAA win today at the expense of the Preston Panthers.

Huron Heights (1-1) at Southwood (0-2)
My Pick:  HHSS by 12
The Huskies seem like a team that could be a bit streaky at times this year, so I'll hope they're "on" today against Southwood in their first road tilt of the year.

Eastwood (2-0) at Jacob Hespeler (0-1)
My Pick:  ECI by 25
The Hawks will probably need a bit of time to get back into the swing of things after long football & volleyball seasons.  ECI to win here.

D10: Thursday Picks

YTD:  7-1 (.875)

A full 4-game slate on tap today in the D10 league:

Guelph CVI (0-3) at Centennial (2-1)
My Pick:  CCVI by 19
The Spartans should move to 3-1 today at home, at the expense of the GCVI Gaels.

Orangeville (0-3) at JF Ross (3-0)
My Pick:  JFR by 23
I expect the ODSS Bears to win a couple of games this D10 season, but one of those wins won't come tonight as the Royals should take this one.

St. James (1-2) at Bishop Mac (3-0)
My Pick:  BMAC by 21
Solid rivalry between these schools sometimes makes BMAC-STJ games more interesting than they may initially appear on paper, but I like the Celtics to win regardless.

Centre Wellington (1-2) at Lourdes (2-1)
My Pick:  OLOL by 12
I'll go with the Crusaders at home in what should be the most competitive game of the day in D10.

D8 Junior: Game Of Runs Ends With Phoenix Victorious over Saints

In a battle between two of my preseason "top 3" junior teams in CWOSSA, the Resurrection Phoenix used a late-game run to get past the St. Benedict Saints by a 47-40 final yesterday afternoon in Kitchener.

Runs were certainly the theme of the game, as the Phoenix opened by going up 11-3, only to see the Saints respond with a 10-2 spurt of their own and the game was therefore tied at 13 after the opening quarter.

The Saints continued their hot offensive play --- particularly from Alex Douglas, Zubair Seyed, and Justin Malnerich --- as they outscored Rez 16-6 in the second eight minutes to lead by 10 points (29-19) at halftime.

The third-quarter was a back-and-forth affair, with Rez unable to cut into the SBCSS lead.  St. Benedict took a 39-31 lead to the fourth quarter, where Rez finally found their scoring touch.

In fact, the Phoenix went on a 14-0 run (making the score 45-39) over the first 7-plus minutes of the fourth quarter before Douglas made 1-of-2 from the line for the Saints with less than :20 on the clock. 

After St. Benedict got the rebound on the miss and another opportunity, the Phoenix ended up getting a "run out" with time winding down and Muyang Iluya converted an "and one" as the buzzer sounded for the final points of the game.  With +/- being a factor in the league standings, a discussion ensued regarding the free-throw (which Iluya made after a several minute delay).  Though the free-throw was made, initially making the final score 48-40, the FT was wiped off the books today in accordance with NFHS rules (free-throws not impacting the result of the game will not be attempted if a foul occurs simultaneously with the end of the game).

Joe Hunter (14) and Muyang Iluya (initally 12, but after the FT was voided, 11) led the scoring for Resurrection.  SBCSS' lightning-quick guard, Zubair Seyed, had 13 points to lead the Saints with Alex Douglas adding 12.

In other D8 junior action on Wednesday:

Another tight affair took place down in Cambridge, with the Monsignor Doyle Mustangs needed overtime to get past the Woodland Cavaliers, 43-42.

After scoring 25 on Monday, Jordan Deveney-Reid had 29 points to lead the Mustangs, while Latrelle Ackie netted 7.  Teddy Neuman (14) and Spencer Carrick (10) were in double-figures for the Cavs.

In the day's other game, the CWOSSA #1-ranked St. Mary's Eagles had no trouble with an improved Rockway squad, holding off the Flames in a 64-25 final.

D8 Junior Standings
1.  St. Mary's 3-0
2.  Resurrection 2-0
T3.  St. Benedict 1-1
T3.  St. David 1-1
T5.  Rockway 1-2
T5.  Mons. Doyle 1-2
7.  Woodland 0-3

D8 Senior Wednesday: Favourites Roll

No surprises in D8 senior play on Wednesday, as the three home favourites all posted 30+ point victories:

St. Mary's 84, Rockway 24
My Pick:  SMHS by 65
The Eagles rolled over the Flames backed by a 22-point effort from Bronson Botelho.  Michael Born was the top Rockway scorer, with 8.

Resurrection 79, St. Benedict 40
My Pick:  RCSS by 23
The Phoenix put up 27 points in the first quarter en route to the big win at home over SBCSS.  Jacob Gilbert (18) and Korbil Gany (17) led the Rez attack, while Tyler Moulton put home 15 points for the Saints.

Mons. Doyle 56, Woodland 22
My Pick:  MDCSS by 26
Uzair Khan scored 22 and Tyler Saris added 8 as Monsignor Doyle moved into 3rd place (for now) in the D8 senior standings.  Trent Fisher netted 8 himself to lead the Cavs.

D8 Senior Standings
1.  St. Mary's 3-0
2.  Resurrection 2-0
3.  Mons. Doyle 2-1
T4.  St. Benedict 1-1
T4.  St. David 1-1
T6.  Rockway 0-3
T6.  Woodland 0-3