CWOSSA Senior Boys Power Ranking - February 7th

With the exam break, there's not too much shifting that has gone on in my CWOSSA Senior Boys' Power Ranking.

Here's a look at my current thoughts:

1.  St. Mary's HS - Kitchener (1)

2.  John F. Ross - Guelph  (2)

3.  Grand River CI - Kitchener (3)

4.  Cameron Heights CI - Kitchener (4)

5.  Sir John A. MacDonald - Waterloo (5)

6.  Bishop Macdonell CHS - Guelph (6)

7.  Our Lady of Lourdes CHS - Guelph (9)

8.  St. John's College - Brantford (8)

9.  St. James CHS - Guelph (7)

10.  Assumption College - Brantford (T10)

WCSSAA Senior: Lall Goes Off for 40+....Again

Galt CI's TJ Lall did his part to make sure that the Galt Ghosts wouldn't lose a winnable game to the Bluevale Knights on Thursday.

The Grade 12 G/F poured in 41 points --- for the second time this WCSSAA season --- as the Ghosts defeated the Bluevale Knights 71-58 at home.

Lost in the spectacle of Lall's monster effort was a pretty solid game by BCI's Garrett Large, as he had 29 points himself.

Here's the rest of the action from Thursday:

Grand River 68, Eastwood 55
My Pick:  GRCI by 13
Chuder Teny notched 21 and David Bajic added 18 as the Rens topped their Kitchener rivals.  Ousmane Kromah had 17 for the Rebels, with Cham Ujullu adding 11.

Cameron Hts. 61, Glenview Park 35
My Pick:  CHCI by 15
No trouble for the Gaels here; their balanced attack was keyed by 13 from Sasha Simic and 10 from Ivan Cucak.  Sean Davidson had a game-high 21 points for Glenview.

Forest Hts. 43, Preston 39
My Pick:  PHS by 3
The Trojans nipped the Panthers to pick up an important win, locking down a playoff berth in the process.  Elijah Callendar had 14 for FHCI, while Lucas Moffitt led Preston with 9.

KCI 62, Huron Hts. 49
My Pick:  KCI by 10
As has been noted, important win here for the Raiders.  Stefan Simic had 15 and Seif Adan 12 in the win; Nathaniel Ernst-Finnie had a game-high 16 for Huron with Arshid Babury adding 10.

WCI 50, Jacob Hespeler 35
My Pick:  WCI by 23
Nick Johnny had 20 and Shafi Mutware 14 as the Vikes eliminated the Hawks from playoff contention.  Shawn Thompson had 13 for the Hawks, in what was their final regular season game.

SJAM 60, Southwood 30
My Pick:  SJAM by 26
Nedim Hodzic had 13 and Simon Petrov 7 for the 'Landers here, while Steve Warner led the way for the Sabres with 6.

WCSSAA Senior Standings (11 Game Schedule)
T1.  Cameron Hts. 9-1**
T1.  Grand River 9-1**
T1.  SJAM 9-1**
T4.  WCI 7-3**
T4.  KCI 7-3**
T6.  Galt 6-4**
T6.  Eastwood 6-4**
8.  Glenview Park 5-5**
9.  Forest Hts. 4-6**
10.  Huron Hts. 3-7**
11.  Bluevale 2-8**
12.  Preston 2-9**
-----
13.  Southwood 1-9
14.  Jacob Hespeler 1-10

** - Clinched Playoff Berth

Of note, Southwood (1-9) is eliminated from playoff contention as they have lost to both Bluevale & Preston.

Playoff Breakdown - Remaining Games
GRCI @ WCI - GRCI by 19
KCI @ GPSS - KCI by 3
SJAM @ BCI - SJAM by 25
SSS @ GCI - GCI by 24
HHSS @ CHCI - CHCI by 20
ECI @ FHCI - ECI by 18

I've bolded the game to keep an eye on, as it will make a huge difference in the WCSSAA standings.  A KCI win would put them 4th, while a loss could drop them to 7th.

WCSSAA Junior: 'Landers Win, Clinch Top Seed

The SJAM Highlanders continued their strong play in the WCSSAA Junior league, posting their 11th straight league victory on Thursday with a convincing 68-27 win over the Southwood Sabres.

Nik Milosevic led the way with 20 points, while Nino Spasik added 11.  Isaiah Robinson had 9 to top the Southwood scoring.

The win assures SJAM of the #1 seed entering the WCSSAA junior playoffs, as they hold the head-to-head tiebreaker over #2 WCI (10-1).

Here's the rest of Thursday's results:

Cameron Hts. 63, Glenview Park 41
The Gaels clinched a first-round bye with this win, thanks to 19 points from Raghu Podipireddy and 13 by Landon Peng.  Peter Hastings-Clarke led the way for Glenview with 13.

Preston 43, Forest Hts. 19
Jaskaran Attwal had 19 and Mitchell Devonish was also in double-figures for PHS with 10 in this one.  Sahil Joshi was the top Trojan with 5.

KCI 48, Huron Hts. 46
A very important win for the Raiders here, as entering play on Thursday there were 7 teams at 5-5 or 4-6, these being two of them.  Sam McLean notched 15 for KCI, while Adan Abdul added 8.  Ben Jenkins had 13 and Kuel Thomas 11 for the Huskies.

Grand River 78, Elmira 38
The Rens ran away from Elmira at home, backed by 23 from Aleks Cvrkalj and 16 by Jake Zuzan.  Alex Vujosevic led the way for the Lancers with 8.

Bluevale 55, Galt 34
Matt Drannen and Trevelle Edwards chipped in 10 points each for the Knights, who moved to 8-3 on the year with the win.  Sullivan Murphy had a game-high 12 for the Ghosts.

WCI 53, Jacob Hespeler 31
Aaron Grubb (22) and Adam Piazza (15) were a solid one-two punch for the Vikes in this one, as they moved to 10-1.  Sean Borkhoff (10), and Eric Purdy (7) were the top Hawks.

Eastwood 53, WODSS 32
The Rebels actually played two games yesterday --- this one and an exhibition game against Cambridge St. Benedict.  Waterloo-Oxford's Wes Lobosco-Kirch had a game-high 11 in this one.

WCSSAA Junior Standings
1. SJAM 11-0**
2. WCI 10-1**
T3. Grand River 9-2**
T3. Cameron Heights 9-2**
5. Bluevale 8-3**
T6. Jacob Hespeler 6-5**
T6. KCI 6-5**
T6. Preston 6-5**
9. Eastwood 5-6
T10. Galt 4-7
T10. Southwood 4-7
T10. Huron Heights 4-7
T10. Glenview Park 4-7
14. Forest Heights 1-9
15. Elmira 1-9
16. WODSS 0-10

** - clinched playoff berth
Note:  SJAM, WCI, GRCI & CHCI have all clinched first-round playoff byes (top 4 seeds).

Playoff Picture
As you can see by the standings, there's a couple of log-jams, particularly in the middle and in the fight for the final playoff berth.

Today's schedule features:
KCI @ GPSS
ECI @ FHCI
JHSS @ EDSS
PHS @ WODSS
SJAM @ BCI
GRCI @ WCI
SSS @ GCI
HHSS @ CHCI

Looking at that schedule, one would expect both PHS (6-5) and Jacob Hespeler (6-5) to post victories over Elmira & WODSS respectively.  KCI is also favoured over Glenview Park, but it's not a "gimme" on the road in Cambridge.

Eastwood should also beat Forest Heights today, securing (at least) the 9th spot in the standings for the Rebels.

The winner of the Galt-Southwood game will secure a playoff berth, while Huron Heights would appear to have the toughest game on the schedule today among those 4-7 teams (Cameron Heights).  That said, they do have a H2H win over Glenview Park which could be big, depending on how everything plays out.....should be interesting!

D10 Thursday: Royals Clinch Top Spots in Junior, Senior Leagues

The JF Ross Royals will be starting from the "pole position" in both the junior & senior D10 playoffs this season.

The Royals solidifed top billing in both leagues by sweeping both ends of a junior-senior doubleheader with Bishop Mac yesterday afternoon.

On the senior side, the Royals raced to a double-digit halftime lead and didn't look back in a 72-54 victory.

Tommy Yanchus had a big effort for Ross, with 24 points, while Ryan Stulp added 15.  Jesse Kendall had a game-high 32 points for Bishop Mac.

The junior Royals finished with an 11-3 mark (the same as St. James, but the Royals hold the tieberak) after they won a 57-50 affair.

Julien Renzetti (14), Curtis Gordon (13) and Mengis Hiyabu (11) were all in double-figures for Ross, while Jack Morris was the top Celtic scorer with 11.

Here's a look at the other action from Thursday, starting in the Senior circuit:

St. James 70, Centennial 39
My Pick:  STJ by 15
Both teams were essentially locked into their playoff spots, but the Lions are the squad that will finish the regular season on a winning note.  Joey Hasson (19) and Erwin Tapnio (14) led the way for St. James, while Chris Jin had 11 for the Spartans.

CWDHS vs. Guelph CVI - Score Not Reported

(FYI:  CWDHS vs. Orangeville - lone game remaining, to be played today)

D10 Senior Standings
1.  JF Ross 13-1
2.  Bishop Mac 11-3
3.  Lourdes 10-4
4.  St. James 9-5
5.  CWDHS 4-8
6.  Centennial 4-10
7.  Guelph CVI 2-11
8.  Orangeville 1-12

Junior
I'll go on record by saying it now -- the D10 Junior playoffs could be the most intriguing in years.

JF Ross and St. James finished tied atop the standings, but both teams had 3 losses during the regular season.  At the other end of the standings, Guelph CVI finished at 4-10, but five of those losses were by single digits. 

Needless to say, it should be a very exciting playoffs next week.

Here's yesteerday's scores, aside from the Ross-BMAC one mentioned above:

St. James 61, Centennial 50
Seven players scored in double-figures in this contest --- for Centennial:  Harman Goyal (18), Jasmer Brar (12), and Andy Ly (12). St. James was led by Alex Durigon (15), Nick Marquis (15), Andrew Sherriff (11), and Keegan Feeney (11).

Guelph CVI 53, CWDHS 49
Kevin Duong continued his strong play as of late for the Gaels, netting 16 in the win, while teammate Kyle Kush added 9.  Nate Scott had a game-high 21 for the Falcons, with Eli Heese adding 14.

D10 Junior Standings
1.  JF Ross 11-3
2.  St. James 11-3
3.  Centennial 8-6
4.  Orangeville 6-7
5.  Lourdes 6-8
6.  Bishop Mac 5-9
7.  CWDHS 4-9
8.  Guelph CVI 4-10

Note:  One game remaining today between CWDHS-ODSS.  Regardless of the result, ODSS is assured of finishing 4th (2-0 H2H vs. Lourdes) and CWDHS will finish no worse than 7th.  If CWDHS wins, they would move to 6th as they have defeated Bishop Mac twice.

Brantford Expositor: Lions, Green Eagles to Play for Senior Championship

Article By:  Susan Gamble

The Assumption Lions took an early lead in the Brant County high school senior boys basketball one-game sudden death semifinal Thursday night. But they soon learned that no lead was a safe one with the North Park Trojans nipping at their heels.

Assumption won – but just by a single point, 53-52.

Assumption will go on to play St. John’s College in next week's Brant County final.

With just a one point lead of 8-7 after the first quarter, the Lions were able to increase the spread until it was a satisfying 36-27 after the third.

But as Assumption coach Mike Petrella said, “When you're playing against North Park, honestly a 10-point lead is not safe.”

Sure enough, the Trojans fought tenaciously through the last quarter, right to the last seconds when final basket gave the Lions the win.

“North Park plays great defences and all credit to them,” said Petrella.

“We played well and we had that lead but it only takes a couple of minutes for North Park to fight back.”

Petrella said he's been trying to preach intensity to the team but hasn't always seen the kind of aggressive, intensive game the Lions brought on Thursday.

He pointed out players such as Andre Toic who “sets the tone for us” as the team's main ball-handler, and players like Mike King and Austin Tlustos who “hit the big shots”.

“Also Tanner Baldin is our No. 1 defender and plays phenomenal defence.”

For the Trojans, it was a heartbreaker but coach Todd Andrew said his players ended their year valiantly.

“We knew going into the year the room for error was very small and unfortunately tonight we needed one more bounce and we didn't get it.”

Andrew said Jon Dulmage was critical to the play Thursday night.

“He's a fifth-year kid and he's likely going to go on to play at the next level. Matt Minutillo, our shooting guard also played an important role. He's the type of kid who can catch fire quickly and he did tonight.”

Andrew said the close game was basketball at its best – the “best bang for your buck – great for the kids, the coaches and the fans.”

Retrieved From:  http://www.brantfordexpositor.ca/2014/02/06/high-school-boys-basketball-lions-green-eagles-to-play-for-senior-championship

Former Renegade Busuttil Now a Walk-On at Bowling Green

Grand River ('12) grad Brandon Busuttil (who also played at SJK during his high school career) is now listed as a walk-on on the Bowling Green State University roster (NCAA D1 - MAC conference).
 
He has yet to appear in a game for the Falcons, but has dressed for several affairs:

#BGSU men's hoops: #Falcons also will have walk-on Brandon Busuttil in uniform today. He is a sophomore and native of Kitchener, Ont.
— JWagnerBlade (@jwagnerblade) December 22, 2013

Bowling Green currently sits 5th (4-5 record) in the MAC East division.

Busuttil joins Stefan Cvrkalj (Junior - Lehigh University) and Murphy Burnatowski (Senior - Colgate University) as former CWOSSA players on NCAA D1 rosters this season.

Update: D8 Announces Changes to Playoff Schedule

With the postponement of yesterday's D8 playoff games, the playoff schedule will now look like this:

Quarterfinal Games:  Monday, February 10th

Semifinal Games:  Wednesday, February 12th

D8 Finals:  Friday, February 14th
(Note: Finals will be hosted at site of highest remaining senior seed)

WCSSAA Senior: Thursday Picks

YTD:  45-13 (.776)

After a couple of postponements, we're ready to get back underway today with the latter part of the WCSSAA boys' basketball season.

If you're a basketball fan in Cambridge, today's your lucky day as all five Cambridge schools are hosting home games today.  Here's a look at at the action, starting with my "game of the day":

Eastwood (6-3) at Grand River (8-1)
My Pick:  GRCI by 13
With many players on these two teams knowing each other, it's always an interesting rivalry, regardless of their records heading in.  The Rens should win this one over the ever-improving Eastwood Rebels. 

Bluevale (2-7) at Galt (5-4)
My Pick:  GCI by 17
Both these teams need a big win here --- Galt for playoff seeding and the Knights for their playoff hopes.  Advantage Ghosts.

Forest Heights (3-6) at Preston (2-8)
My Pick:  PHS by 3
Actually a pretty interesting game here as both of these teams have been playing much better basketball in January.  I'll go with the Panthers but I'm anticipating a tight one over in Preston.

WCI (6-3) at Jacob Hespeler (1-9)
My Pick:  WCI by 23
The Hawks need to beat WCI (it's their final game of the season) to have a shot at the playoffs, but despite the added motivation I don't think it'll happen.

KCI (6-3) at Huron Heights (3-6)
My Pick:  KCI by 10
As I discussed in my playoff seeding possibilities post, the Raiders could theoretically finish anywhere between 4th and 7th; winning here will set them up for a big game tomorrow.

Cameron Hts. (8-1) at Glenview Park (5-4)
My Pick:  CHCI by 15
Two wins separate Cameron Heights from the #1 seed in the WCSSAA playoffs; I believe they'll get the first of those here today.

SJAM (8-1) at Southwood (1-8)
My Pick:  SJAM by 26
The Highlanders will take this one over in West Galt.

D10: Wednesday Results & Thursday Picks

YTD:  31-5 (.861)

In yesterday's action, the CWDHS/ODSS game was postponed due to weather (rescheduled to Friday), but the JF Ross-Lourdes game did go ahead as scheduled, with the Royals dominating that affair in a 59-30 win.

Tommy Yanchus and Daniel Street had 11 each for JFR, while Craig Valeriote led Lourdes (and all scorers) with 14.

The junior affair was also played, a 58-48 victory for JF Ross.  Mengis Hiyabu (16) and Curtis Gordon (13) paced the Royals, while Sean Gade notched 12 for the Crusaders.

Today, there are three games on tap, including a very big game at the top of the standings:

Bishop Mac (11-2) at JF Ross (12-1)
My Pick:  JFR by 7
The winner of this game will get the #1 seed in the D10 playoffs, as Bishop Mac defeated JF Ross in their previous outing.  I like the way the Royals have been playing as of late, so I'll peg them to get the "W" here.

CWDHS (4-8) at Guelph CVI (2-11)
My Pick:  CWDHS by 8
The Falcons need a win in either of their last two games to solidify the #5 seed; they should be able to do that seeing as they have the 7th and 8th place teams yet to play.  I think they take care of business today, but it could be close.

Centennial (4-9) at St. James (8-5)
My Pick:  STJ by 15
Both of these teams are essentially locked in to their playoff spots, so it will be interesting to see how this one turns out --- but I do like the Lions here anyways.

Update: D8 Postpones Today's Playoff Games

Just announced, the D8 league has pulled the plug on today's scheduled basketball games due to inclement weather.

The games will be rescheduled at a TBA date/time.

Stay tuned for updates.

Norfolk News: Weekend Tourneys Get Teams Set for Stretch Run

Article By:  Darryl G. Smart

With a Christmas break and an exam break, the winter high school sports season at times feels like a marathon.
                          

For coaches like Derek Rowntree, they’re very thankful Simcoe Composite School and Holy Trinity put on basketball tournaments the weekend before things heat back up for the stretch drive.

                          

“It’s a huge opportunity for us because it is a weird season with all the breaks,” Rowntree, the Waterford Wolves junior boys basketball coach said. “It’s hard to get in any practice time because of exams, so this tournament is perfect for us and the other teams. Everything’s done now, so we can concentrate on our final run in the regular season, and then on to the playoffs and hopefully CWOSSA.”

 

In their first game of the Sabres Shootout at SCS, the Wolves easily got by the Delhi Raiders 46-17, en route to the consolation championship.

                          

“This tournament is about getting them back into the groove,” Rowntree said. “A lot of our guys only play high school ball, and there’s been so much improvement since the start of the year. This is a great chance to give those guys the extra games. You need that to keep developing.”

                          

Rowntree’s Wolves are in the hunt near the Norfolk Secondary School Athletic Association loop with the Simcoe Sabres and Holy Trinity Titans.

                          

“It’s close this year which is great for the league.” Rowntree said. “We knew Simcoe and Trinity would be tough. As long as we can make a run at it, I’ll be happy.

                          

The Simcoe Sabres flexed their muscle over the weekend, making it to the championship game before losing to Brantford’s North Park Collegiate Trojans 56-36.

                          

To get to the final, the Sabres beat Woodstock’s Huron Park 43-22, and Brantford Collegiate Institute 30-26.

                          

Across town at Holy Trinity, the Titans hosted the Knights of Norfolk Basketball Tournament.

                          

“This is all about getting games in,” Titans coach Paul MacCormack said. “It’s a long layoff. We’ve got some good teams here that will help us get better.”

                          

Despite a no show by one of the teams, the tournament forged on with a make shift schedule that had the hosts only playing a pair of games, losing 53-25 to Ingersoll, before beating the Waterford Wolves 54-44.

                          

“It was tough with one less team, so we had to shuffle things around,” MacCormack said. “It would’ve been great to play a third game, but that’s the way it goes. This was a chance for our guys to get ready for the stretch run.”

                          

Brantford Collegiate Institute ended up winning the tournament title thanks to a 48-43 overtime win over Ingersoll.

 

Knights of Norfolk results - Senior

 

Final

Brantford CI 48, Ingersoll 43

 

Waterford 50, Simcoe 32

Ingersoll 53, Simcoe 25

Brantford 65, Waterford 46

Holy Trinity 54, Waterford 44

Brantford 51, Simcoe 31

Ingersoll 53, Holy Trinity 25

                    

Simcoe Sabres Shootout results - Junior

Holy Trinity 34, Delhi 30

North Park 48, Waterford 27

Brantford 50, McKinnon Park 29

Simcoe 43, Huron Park 22

Waterford 46, Delhi 17

McKinnon Park 38, Huron Park 34

Huron Park 44, Delhi 15

North Park 35, Holy Trinity 12

Simcoe 30, Brantford CI 26

Holy Trinity 37, Brantford CI 35

 

Consolation Final

Waterford 36, McKinnon Park 20

 

Championship Final

North Park 56, Simcoe 36

D8: Quarterfinal Wednesday

The top two seeds in both the junior (SMHS/SBCSS) & senior (SMHS/RCSS) D8 leagues have byes today, while teams that finished 3rd through 6th will be vying for a spot in the league's semifinals next week.

Here's a look at the games, starting on the senior side:

(3) Monsignor Doyle vs. (6) Rockway
Regular Season:  MDCSS 73, Rockway 46
My Pick:  MDCSS by 27
It's certainly been a while since the Monsignor Doyle Mustangs have finished in the top 3 in the D8 standings; I look for them to move through to the semifinals here with a convincing win over Rockway.  An MDCSS win coupled with an SDCSS loss would also clinch a CWOSSA berth (AAA) for the 'Stangs.

(4) St. Benedict vs. (5) St. David
Regular Season:  SBCSS 73, SDCSS 55
My Pick:  SBCSS by 8
Certainly a game that could go either way, although the Saints did perform quite well in the regular season game (which was a game to determine which team would remain in the "A" division).  St. Benedict has been playing better as of late, and I think they should win this one by single digits at home.

Junior Quarterfinals

(3) Resurrection vs. (6) Rockway
Regular Season:  RCSS 67, RMC 38
My Pick:  RCSS by 32
Props to the Rockway Flames for their improvement in the D8 standings this past year; they should actually be one of the favourites at "A" CWOSSA.  However, the Resurrection Phoenix should win this one handily at home.

(4) St. David vs. (5) Mons. Doyle
Regular Season:  SDCSS 56, MDCSS 41
My Pick:  SDCSS by 12
Big game here, as the winner will also get D8's "AAA" CWOSSA berth.  St. David has the edge here, especially at home.

D10 Tuesday Results & Wednesday Picks: Crusaders Outlast Celts in Double OT

Well, that was a good way to start things up after the exam break.

The Bishop Mac Celtics got TWO buzzer beaters --- one in regulation by Owen Brombal and one in the first overtime period by Jesse Kendall --- to force extra play twice against the Lourdes Crusaders.  However, it was the 'Saders who would eventually prevail in the second overtime period, 71-68.

Kendall (21) and Adam MacEachern (19) led the way for the Celts, while David Khayipangi (19) and Craig Valeriote (15) were the top Lourdes performers.

The win improves Lourdes to 10-3 on the year, while dropping Bishop Mac to 11-2.  Both of Bishop Mac's losses have come against Lourdes, by a combined 4 points.

In other senior action on Tuesday:

St. James 63, CWDHS 30
In what could be a (4 vs. 5) first-round playoff preview, the Lions showed that they should be the favourite in that one, if it comes to fruition.  Liam McCormack had 16 to lead St. James, with Quinn Feeney adding 9.  James Scott netted 8 for CW.

JF Ross 56, Centennial 42
The Royals are now in first place by themselves with this win and Bishop Mac's loss --- for now, anyways.  Ryan Stulp had 17 and Tommy Yanchus 16 in the win for Ross; Harnoor Samra chipped in 14 for the Spartans.

Guelph CVI 59, Orangeville 47
Full scoring details weren't immediately available in this one, but the winner of this game has the inside track of finishing 7th in the standings (GCVI), while ODSS will finish 8th unless they can upset CWDHS.

Today's Senior Picks:
JFR over Lourdes (by 12)
CWDHS over Orangeville (by 3)

D10 Senior Standings
1.  JF Ross 11-1
2.  Bishop Mac 11-2
3.  Lourdes 10-3
4.  St. James 8-5
5.  CWDHS 4-8
6.  Centennial 4-9
7.  GCVI 2-11
8.  Orangeville 1-12

D10 Junior
A team that appears to be peaking at the right time in D10 junior seems to be the Centennial Spartans.  One day after handling the Bishop Mac Celtics (62-39), the Spartans took care of their rivals, the JF Ross Royals, by a 63-38 score.

Harman Goyal had 21 for the Spartans, with Jasmer Brar adding 10.  Julian Ranzetti and Mengis Hiyabu had 12 each for Ross.

Other games in the junior circuit on Tuesday:

St. James 65, CWDHS 56
Alex Durigon had a game-high 21 points and Nick Marquis added 15 for the Lions as they can now clinch first place with a win in their final game and a JF Ross loss to either Lourdes or Bishop Mac.  Eli Hesse (17) and Nate Scott (16) paced the Falcons.

Lourdes 50, Bishop Mac 47
Like the senior game, a three-point result was the final on the junior side as well.  Alex Arguelles had 16 points to lead the way for OLOL, while Greg MacEachern had a game-high 18 points for the Celts.

GCVI 62, Orangeville 58
You can't really call anything this year in D10 an "upset", but the last place Gaels defeated the Bears in this one, backed by 22 points from Kevin Duong.  Kyle Tuohy had 15 for the Bears.

D10 Junior Standings
1.  St. James 10-3
2.  JF Ross 9-3
3.  Centennial 8-5
T4.  Orangeville 6-7
T4.  Lourdes 6-7
6.  Bishop Mac 5-8
7.  CWDHS 4-8
8.  Guelph CVI 3-10

Ontario Junior Catholic: D8 Teams Post Solid Performances in Tournament

Gerry Graham / HamiltonScores.com Photo

The CWOSSA #1-ranked St. Benedict Saints and the #3-ranked Resurrection Phoenix both travelled to Hamilton this weekend to participate in the 37th Annual Father Kennedy "Ontario All Catholic" Junior Boys' tournament.

Brantford St. John's was the other CWOSSA team taking part in the 16-team event, which featured many of the top Catholic teams from around the province.

In the first round, the Saints overcame a slow start, trailing at the half against Hamilton's Bishop Ryan (on their home court) and gradually pulled away for a 44-29 win.  Zubair Seyed paced all scorers with an 18-point effort for the Saints.

Things didn't go so smoothly for the other teams in the first round.  The Resurrection Phoenix, who were without the services of starting guard Jake Rush this past weekend, were upset by the other co-host, St. Thomas More, in a 55-53 game that wasn't without controversy.

The Knights took a 1-point lead late in the game on a free-throw where a violation was called on the shooter for coming into the lane too soon.  However, the referees erroneously ruled that because the basket was made, the violation did not count.

Ali Rashid had 14 points for Rez, while Moe Harb led STM (and all scorers) with 16.

On the positive side, this ensured a CWOSSA team would advance through to the consolation semifinals as the Phoenix would play Brantford St. John's (who were defeated by Oakville Holy Trinity earlier) in the second round.  Resurrection took that one by a 54-35 final, with Rashid again leading the way with 12.  Michael Dubois hit 6 three-pointers en route to 20 points for the Eagles.

Back on the championship side, St. Benedict took on Cardinal Newman, the first-place team from the Hamilton Catholic loop.  A 10-0 third quarter run enabled the Saints to increase their 21-20 halftime lead in a game that they'd eventually win by a 51-43 score.

Seyed, Justin Malnerich and Alex Douglas paced the Saints attack with 15, 14 and 11 points, respectively.

This advanced Resurrection (consolation side) and St. Benedict (championship side) to Sunday action.

On the championship side, it was a low-scoring affair between St. Benedict and GTA #3 Jean Vanier SS, which ended up 37-35.....in overtime (that's not a typo). 

Vanier would go on to take the championship final over GTA #2 Toronto St. Mike's.

On the consolation side, the Phoenix raced to a 17-point lead over Hamilton Cathedral but some hot shooting allowed the Gaels to make a game of it in a 59-55 final.  Ali Rashid poured in 26 points for Rez, with Muyang Iluya adding 19 more.

In the consolation final, Resurrection took on Bishop Ryan of Hamilton.  In a back-and-forth affair, the Celtics overcame a 6-point third quarter deficit to take a fourth quarter lead and hang on for a 59-54 win.

Jacob Gosk led the way for the Celtics with 21 points, while Joe Hunter had 16 for Rez.

As expected given their play over the weekend, both Zubair Seyed (St. Benedict) and Ali Rashid (Resurrection) were named to the 10-player tournament all-star team.

Silver Fox: CWOSSA Teams Fail To Advance in Playoff Round

After all finishing at 1-1 in pool play, all three CWOSSA teams failed to advance any further in the Silver Fox playoff rounds last Friday.

In final pool games not previously discussed here on the blog, Kitchener St. Mary's put up a valiant effort against highly-regarded Thornlea SS, before falling by a 59-49 final.  Tesloth Simon led the way for the Eagles with 25.

North Park received 14 each from Matt Minutillo and Jon Dulmage in a 53-50 win over Windsor's Herman SS, to even their pool mark at 1-1.

Cameron Heights posted a 61-54 win over St. Theresa (Midland) on Friday morning, with Sasha Simic notching 20 points.

Playoff Scores
St. Mary's was felled by Oakville Holy Trinity in a one-point squeaker (61-60); Jermaine Lyle was the top Eagle in that contest with a 16-point effort.

Cameron Heights drew Father Henry Carr in their playoff game, and were defeated by an 84-63 score.  Sasha Simic led the way with 22 points for the Gaels in that one.

North Park was again led by Matt Minutillo (16 points) in their playoff game, a 55-45 loss to Hamilton Brebeuf.

CWOSSA did score some hardware thanks to Tesloth Simon's performance in the three-point shootout; he registered 32 made three-pointers to win the title at that event.