The Record: Saints Open Schedule With Win Over Phoenix

Photo Via @RCSSBasketball

Article By:  Mark Bryson

KITCHENER — The fight to challenge the St. Mary's Eagles for District 8 basketball supremacy is shaping up to be a good one. 

The St. Benedict Saints fired the opening shot on Wednesday by downing the Resurrection Phoenix 46-35 in a senior clash between the two teams that appear best equipped to give the three-time defending champion Eagles a run for their money. 

Grade 11 guard Zubair Seyed scored a game-high 21 points as the Saints rebounded from a 21-18 halftime deficit and opened their regular-season schedule with an impressive victory at Resurrection Catholic Secondary School. The Phoenix fell to 1-1 after opening the season Monday with a 77-46 win over the Monsignor Doyle Mustangs. 

"This means a lot to us and it's obviously a great way to start the season. We lost to them here in the first game last year (in junior) so it's nice to bounce back," said Seyed. 

"It gives us bragging rights and confidence for the next time we play them." 

The third quarter turned out to be the decisive one as the Saints switched to a zone defence at the break and outscored the Phoenix 13-0 to build a 31-21 lead. 

The Phoenix fought back in the fourth and narrowed the Saints' lead to 34-32 on the strength of three consecutive three-point efforts by Korbil Gany. 

That, however, was as close as it would get. 

Seyed responded with a three-pointer of his own to make it a five-point game and Khiem Tran added three points on a basket and foul shot to stretch the lead to eight. Tran finished the game with eight points. 

Muyang Iluya had 14 points for Resurrection and Gany had 11. 

As for the matter of the highly touted Eagles, Seyed said it's in his team's best interests to ignore the hype that surrounds them. The Eagles reached the final of the prestigious Heinbuch Classic this past weekend and are considered one of the top teams in Ontario. 

"We just have to block it out, block out the media that is talking about St. Mary's and just play our own game and not be scared of them," Seyed said. 

"We approach every game like a championship game and it won't be any different when we play them." 

The Saints play the Eagles on Dec. 13 in Cambridge, while the Phoenix take on their Kitchener rivals on Monday. 

"We all love challenges right, so we're looking forward to seeing them," said Saints head coach John Malnerich. "The pressure's on them, not us." 

Phoenix head coach Chris Aldworth was confident his team would learn from its defeat and bounce back. 

"We played well for three quarters and it was just one of those situations. Sometimes you come out flat after halftime and that's what happened," he said. 

"I'm confident we can beat that zone, we just missed some layups and outside looks we normally hit. It's correctable." 

Meanwhile, the Eagles (2-0) recorded their second straight romp of the week, with a 75-30 win over the Mustangs. 

The St. David Celtics (1-0) will get a better idea where they fit into the D8 picture on Monday when they take on St. Benedict in Cambridge. 

Retrieved From:  http://www.therecord.com/sports-story/5180551-saints-open-d8-schedule-with-win-over-phoenix/

Guelph Mercury: Quick Lions Remain Undefeated in D10 League

Article By:  Rob Massey

GUELPH — Lacking a little in height, the St. James Lions will rely on their speed for any success they have in the District 10 high school boys' basketball league this season. 

"We weren't very big last year and we're shorter this year," St. James coach Bob Sharpe said. "I think we're quicker than we were last year and I think we're deeper than we were last year. And we're a year older." 

"We're very fast," Alex Durigon said. He led the Lions with 17 points in a 68-51 victory over the Lourdes Crusaders Tuesday that was the third win in as many league outings this season for St. James. "We're not very big, but we make up for it with our speed." 

The returning Lions are trying to build on their success from last season. They finished fourth in the D10 league and reached the semifinals before advancing to the CWOSSA AAA tournament that they won. 

"We've got a very veteran team," Sharpe said. "We start five 12 pluses and academically so. They're not back just to play basketball because I wouldn't have it that way. We expect a lot from them because they are a veteran team. Some of these guys we've had for three years and they've been playing together longer than that." 

The Lions can also rely on their depth. They had eight players on the bench in the win over Lourdes and all eight saw floor time. 

"If somebody in our starting lineup has an off game, we have enough guys on the bench that can step up and have a good game," Durigon said. He came off the bench to lead the Lions in scoring. 

"Everybody can play." 

The teams started Tuesday's game cautiously and were tied 9-9 after four minutes before the Lions jumped into a lead they wouldn't relinquish with a 15-2 run in the remainder of the first quarter. St. James was up 24-11 after that quarter, 35-21 at halftime and 55-36 after the third quarter. 

Joey Hasson had 15 points for the Lions while Mitch Marquis collected 12, Quinn Feeney had eight and Erwin Tapnio netted six. 

David Khayipangi hit for 14 points for Lourdes while Alex Hudecki had 12, Adam Samson 10 and J.J. Mamon six. 

For the Crusaders, this season has started with three consecutive losses. They had little preparation time before the start of league play thanks to the success of the school's football team that reached the CWOSSA final. Khayipangi and Craig Valeriote were members of the football squad. 

"We're probably two weeks behind and we need to build from here," Lourdes coach Mike O'Rourke said. "We have a winning culture in that locker-room right now from football and from other sports. We just need to keep building." 

Retrieved From:  http://www.guelphmercury.com/sports-story/5177950-quick-lions-remain-undefeated-in-d10-basketball/

D8: Wednesday Picks

There was one game to report from yesterday in the D8 Senior league, and it was between the league's two "A" schools.

Woodland toppled Rockway, 43-33, backed by 11 points from Shane Clarke.  Connor Huxman had a game-high 18 for the Flames.

The win improved the Cavs to 1-1, while the Flames dropped to 0-2.

The Flames did take the junior side of the twin-bill, knocking off Woodland 50-42, with Matt Kipfer scoring 20 points in the win.

Onto the two games today:

Monsignor Doyle (0-1) at St. Mary's (1-0)
My Pick:  SMHS by 43
Tough opening week for Monsignor Doyle, as they get Resurrection and St. Mary's back-to-back.  The Eagles will soar to a big victory in their home opener here.

St. Benedict (0-0) at Resurrection (1-0)
My Pick:  SBCSS by 4
Interesting first-week game here, between two teams that almost seem on a collision course to meet in the playoff semifinals (we'll see what SDCSS or MDCSS have to say about that, though).  I'll stick with my rankings at this point and go with the Saints in a close one.    

Brantford Expositor: Trojans Build On Experience

Article By:  Brian Smiley

Although their first game of the Brant County high school senior boys basketball season didn't take place until Tuesday night, the North Park Collegiate Trojans already seem to be in mid-season form.

The Trojans captured The Expositor Ed O'Leary Memorial Tip-Off Basketball Tournament and the consolation championship at the prestigious Court Heinbuch Classic in Waterloo before the calendar flipped to December.

"I think it's a really good start to the season," said Andrew. "To start off, we're in a good spot.

"We were lucky to get a little earlier start this year. Unlike other schools we weren't impacted by football and volleyball running on too long. So, I think that has allowed us to be a little further along at this point then we usually are or definitely other schools are."

The Trojans, who were playing Paris District High School on Tuesday, normally have senior volleyball teams that make deep runs into the playoffs. But this year the volleyball Trojans were eliminated early.
With the football team also out of the post-season mix fairly early, Andrew got the full attention of the 23 players who were trying out for the basketball team.

In the end, he kept a group of 12 that includes nine players from last season's team and three junior graduates.

"We've got some experience but we're still young," said Andrew. "We're not greatly impacted by the fifth-year kids.

"Our main nucleus of our top-level kids are just in Grade 12. A lot of our other kids who are playing significant roles are just fourth-year kids.

"We're still kind of young in the scheme of things."

North Park has three big starters returning in guard Matt Minutillo and forwards Matt Krason and Brandon John.

"We're probably one of the bigger teams in the league," said Andrew, while noting that six-foot-eight Grade 10 student Brandon John and six-foot-four Grade 12 student Matt Krason are complemented by Minutillo, a fantastically gifted Grade 12 offensive threat.

"Our offensive abilities circle around Matt," he said. "Matt is a big-time high school scorer."

Ryan Timms will take up the other starting spot and a rotation of Will McArthur, A.K. Rai and Manraj Brar will fill out the final slot. All four of those players are also returnees.

Andrew will use his other senior players - Dyshane Powell-Hodges and Noah Kunej - off the bench, along with junior graduates Kyle Webster, Nic Rankin and Brandon McIvor.

Andrew said the players, as a group, will be working on playing on their own side of the court.

"Team defence is always something that you're working on and then fine-tuning on the offensive end and adjusting as the game goes on," said the coach.

"It's always a constant thing to be fine tuning."

With league play now under way, Andrew is going to use that to get everyone experience.

"Hopefully, within the league, you're trying to bring along two or three guys," he said. "The game is that much faster, the guys are that much stronger.

"The older guys are there to help the younger guys get up to speed faster which will make our team stronger in the end. The more bodies you can get into games, the better off the team is in the long run."

And in the long run, when the season is winding down, Andrew sees no reason why his team shouldn't be fighting for a Central Western Ontario Secondary Schools Association berth and a chance to play at the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations championships.

"Our goal is to definitely go out and take a run at the city championship," he said. "We're also setting our sights to hopefully get to AAA CWOSSA and making a run at winning that which would ultimately get us to AAA OFSAA.

"Knowing what's out there and what we have, it's totally within the realm of possibility. It should be another exciting year and we just hope to be there in the end."

Retrieved From:  http://www.brantfordexpositor.ca/2014/12/02/high-school-boys-basketball-trojans-build-on-experience--n

WCSSAA Senior: Tuesday Results

It was just the way I like to start the year --- 7-0 in the picks column.

To be fair, there weren't too many tricky games, with the game I projected as the closest (FHCI/KCI), living up to that billing in a 58-48 KCI win.

Here are the results:

KCI 58, Forest Hts. 48
Stefan Simic hit 22 --- including a buzzer-beating three-pointer to end the first half --- and David Ben-Lomotey added 15 as the Raiders won their league opener.  Jalen Nong and Tim Gajdos had 13 each for the Trojans.

Eastwood 48, Jacob Hespeler 28
Ousmane Kromah notched 12 and Cham Ujullu added 9 for the Rebs in their win over the Hawks.  Jared Beeksma had 8 for Hespeler.

SJAM 72, Elmira 23
The 'Landers cruised past EDSS, with Devon Gallivan scoring 18 and Simon Petrov adding 10.  Dan Howell had 8 for the Lancers.

Galt 61, Huron Hts. 35
TJ Lall lit the nets up for 28 points as Galt took home a win to start their WCSSAA season.  Lazar Stevanovic had 11 more for the Ghosts, while Arshid Babury had 11 for the Huskies.

Cameron Hts. 67, Southwood 41
Sasha Simic poured in 31 points for Cameron in their win over Southwood.  Jake Dekker added 8 for CHCI; Moiz Masud (9) and David Gutschon (8) paced a balanced Sabre attack.

Grand River 80, Preston 24
After struggling a bit offensively in their finale at the Heinbuch, the Rens found those points and then some against PHS.  David Bajic (17) and Aleks Cvrkalj (16) led the way for GRCI; Jaskaran Attwal had 7 for the Panthers.

WCI 64, Bluevale 46
Nick Johnny had 22 to pace a trio of Vikes in double-figures (Aaron Grubb 14; Etai Mizrahi 10) in their win over Bluevale.  Savo Krajisnik had 19 to lead Bluevale.

WCSSAA Junior: Tuesday Results

One thing was in short supply on the opening day of the WCSSAA Junior Boys' Basketball League --- close games.

In fact, the closest margin of victory was a 15-point win for Huron Heights over Galt Collegiate.

One thing that was not in short supply was points.  Three teams topped 70 points, while three others hit 60+.  Not too shabby for the opening day of junior action.

Here's a look at the final scores from yesterday:

Eastwood 75, Jacob Hespeler 30
Layee Jabateh knocked home 18 and Prabhjit Sangha added 16 as the Rebels rolled Jacob Hespeler on the road.  Chris Vangalen had 6 for the Hawks.

Forest Heights 71, Elmira 9
Yes, that's not a typo.  James McBean had 19 and Branko Damjainovic 15 as the Trojans took out Elmira.  Isaac Neuman had 4 for the Lancers.

Huron Heights 61, Galt 46
Big performance on Tuesday from Kuel Thomas (24 points) helped the Huskies overcome Galt CI.  Everett Alford added 15 for HHSS, while Sullivan Murphy was the leader for Galt with 15.

Cameron Heights 75, Southwood 27
The Gaels came out of the gate strong on Tuesday, with Steven Sanders and Ivan Rocafor notching 16 each in the win.  Arron Kuch (12) and Noah Robinson (11) had double-digit efforts for the Sabres.

KCI 58, WODSS 28
Will Urosevic (13) and Aleks Novicic (11) led the Raiders to a big victory over the Crusaders.  Cam Mehring had 15 for WODSS.

Grand River 66, Preston 25
Last year's WCSSAA runners up started their season with a win; Luka Ninkovic had 20 and Abdei Hamad added 11.  Mohammed Saleh and Isaac Mapp notched 6 each for PHS.

SJAM 64, Glenview Park 37
The 'Landers moved to 1-0 with a road win in Cambridge.  Nicolas Milosevic had 20 and Brian Zapp 11; Rebein Rashid scored 7 for the Panthers.

Bluevale 54, WCI 30
The Knights took care of the Vikes in this all-Waterloo battle; Greg Smith poured in 25 points in the win for BCI, while Drew Ferguson added 8.  Bryce Scarrow (9) and Ben Dobson (8) led the way for WCI.
 

D10 Tuesday: Lions Continue Winning Ways

Senior
The St. James Lions (CWOSSA #5 in last week's ranking) continued their winning ways, picking up their third consecutive impressive league win.

The Lions dumped the Lourdes Crusaders, 68-51, on the road yesterday, with rookie Alex Durigon leading the way (17 points).  Joey Hasson added 16 and Mitch Marquis 12.

David Khayipangi (14), Alex Hudecki (12) and Adam Samson (10) had double-digit efforts for Lourdes.

Meanwhile, it was a "down-to-the-wire" affair between rivals JF Ross and Centennial, with the Royals prevailing by a 68-65 margin.

Andrew Folkerson notched 25 points and Tommy Yanchus adding 17 for the Royals, while Jasmir Brar had 21 and Mark Shinouda 19 for the Spartans.

The other game on Tuesday saw Bishop Mac start slowly, but come on in the second half in a 61-34 win over Guelph CVI.  Chris Poloniato had 24 for the Celtics, while Mac Riley had 12 for GCVI.

Orangeville and CWDHS was postponed.

Standings
T1.  St. James 3-0
T1.  Bishop Mac 3-0
3.  JF Ross 2-1
T4.  Orangeville 1-1
T4.  CWDHS 1-1
6.  Centennial 1-2
T7.  Lourdes 0-3
T7.  GCVI 0-3

Junior
Guelph CVI and St. James continued their hot starts in the D10 junior circuit.

GCVI toppled Bishop Mac, 65-37, with Tapan Aghera scoring 12.  Three other Gaels had 11 in that one, while Melvin Servida had 10 for BMAC.

Three Lions hit for 14 points each --- Mike Piovesan, Jeff Morales, and Erik Zabielski --- in their 73-40 win over Lourdes.  David Casupanan had 13 to lead the Crusaders.

Centennial had an impressive performance on Tuesday as well, clobbering JF Ross 74-35.  Jimmy Omino (15) and Andrew Gray (10) were the top CCVI performers; Brody Beamish had 10 for the Royals.

Standings
T1.  GCVI 3-0
T1.  St. James 3-0
3.  Centennial 2-1
T4.  Orangeville 1-1
T4.  CWDHS 1-1
6.  JF Ross 1-2
T7.  Bishop Mac 0-3
T7.  Lourdes 0-3

Ranking the CWOSSA "Power Conferences": Week 1

Or, in other words, "comparing apples to oranges".

I've devised a math formula to try to compare the four "power conferences" on the same level, if you will.  

One of the questions that consistently gets asked in basketball circles is, "how does League A compare to League B?"

To be fair, there's no easy way to answer that question.  For instance, comparing WCSSAA to any of the other three major leagues is difficult if only for the fact that the WCSSAA league comprises (at least) twice as many schools as any of the others.

What I've done is used my initial power rankings release to aid in compiling a "league strength rating"; leagues with fewer teams are aided by a "division factor" to put them on the same plane as WCSSAA.

Consider it a sort of "ratings RPI", if you will.

1.  WCSSAA - 3.00
2.  District 8 - 3.67
3.  District 10 - 4.76
4.  District 5 - 5.29

Certainly, no surprises there with the top 4 teams being either WCSSAA (2, 3, 4) or D8 (1) in the opening release.  

With this as a starting point, it will be interesting to monitor these numbers throughout the season.

D4: Sales, Lyver Pace Royals To Victory

Centre Dufferin DHS received 25 points from Silas Sales and 19 more by Brendan Lyver as they opened up their Senior Boys' D4 schedule with a 64-52 win over Palmerston's Norwell SS.

That was the only game on the D4 agenda yesterday.  Last week, Wellington Heights topped Westside SS 45-40 to tip off the season.  Caleb Hill led the Wolverines with 13 points.

Only one D4 junior game has been played to date, which was Centre Dufferin topping Norwell 41-21, backed by 8 points from Jordan Gardiner.

WCSSAA & D10: Quick Picks

There's a full slate of games today in the WCSSAA and D10 leagues, with WCSSAA's games being the first of the season.

WCSSAA
SJAM at Elmira
My Pick:  SJAM
The 'Landers shouldn't have too much difficulty against the Lancers in this one.

ECI at Jacob Hespeler
My Pick:  ECI
Not sure about the status of ECI guard Izzy Nemeth here, but I'll go with the Rebels regardless.

Preston at Grand River
My Pick:  GRCI
The Rens should get past the Panthers with ease in their home-opener.

Galt at Huron Heights
My Pick:  GCI
TJ Lall will pick up his first 20+ effort in league play in a game that I think the Ghosts should win.

Bluevale at WCI
My Pick:  WCI
Always an interesting "rivalry game" between these two.  Vikes have gotten off to a better start, so I'll go with them here.

Southwood at Cameron Hts.
My Pick:  CHCI
I expect improvement from the SSS Sabres this year, but it won't be enough to get past a talented CHCI squad today.

Forest Heights at KCI
My Pick:  KCI 
Expecting a tight one here in what is the "game of the day".  Could see either one of these clubs winning this one, but I'll go with the home court Raiders.

D10
CWDHS (1-1) at Orangeville (1-1)
My Pick:  CWDHS
Two teams in league play that should be improved from a season ago.  Orangeville, in fact, has as many wins as they did all of last D10 season.  CWDHS is a veteran club with many 5th years, and I think they'll ride that experience to victory here today.

St. James (2-0) at Lourdes (0-2)
My Pick:  STJ
The tough schedule for the Crusaders continues; this is a club that is certainly better than their 0-2, and possibly 0-3 start would indicate.  That said, still have to go with a Lions team that is looking good in the early stages of the season.

JF Ross (1-1) at Centennial (1-1)
My Pick:  JFR
Rivalry game here, and you never know what can happen (reference their D10 football game earlier this year).  Royals are the favourites, so I'll take them as my pick.

BMAC (2-0) at Guelph CVI (0-2)
My Pick:  BMAC
Looks like it could be a long year for the GCVI Gaels; these teams should continue their respective streaks in this one. 

D8 Monday: Favourites Roll To Victories On Schedule's First Day

Things went to form on the opening day of the 2014-15 District 8 Boys' Basketball schedule.

Yes, there were a couple of large margins of victories but those should dissipate as the season progresses.  All teams (junior and senior) will play a single-round robin before the leagues are split into two "tiers" for a remaining schedule where the teams play each other twice.

On the senior side of things Monday, it was three grade eleven rookies that provided the scoring punch for the teams that tasted victory.

Resurrection's Muyang Iluya had 25 points in a 77-46 Rez win over Monsignor Doyle.  Zach Holness added 9 more for the Phoenix, while Ryan Stafford (16) and Sohrob Sultani (15) did most of the offensive legwork for the Mustangs.

CWOSSA #1 ranked St. Mary's got a 24-point performance from Minas Abara in an 82-22 win over Woodland Christian.  Thijien Simon added 13 for the Eagles (who's starters didn't play in this one), while Teddy Neuman and Neil Dauz had 6 each for the Cavs.

Mason Cumming notched 21 points and Mitchell Lavigne added 10 as the St. David Celtics started their season out with a 62-35 win over the Rockway Flames.  Jesse Reusser had 9 for RMC.

Junior D8
The junior circuit had a full 4-game schedule on Monday, as PRDG from Cambridge is making its return to D8 basketball after a brief absence.

They were welcomed back rudely by fellow Cambridge school St. Benedict in a 78-41 Saints victory.  Pat Martini from PRDG was the game's high scorer, though, with a 20 point effort.

Michael Carali had 15 and Jason Jaros 12 as the defending champion St. Mary's Eagles dealt the Woodland Cavaliers a 70-10 defeat.  David Bruinsma had 8 of WCHS' 10 points.

Resurrection got off to a 1-0 start with a 64-20 win over Monsignor Doyle.  Jamu Iluya and Scott Flynn each had 13 for Rez, while Bryan Aulia had 8 and Caleb Figuirio 7 for the 'Stangs.

St. David topped Rockway, 57-21, in the other game on Monday.

Monday CWOSSA Round-Up

Galt Second at CHCI Invitational
The Galt Ghosts defeated Preston HS and FE Madill (Wingham) en route to a Silver Medal at the annual Cameron Heights Senior Boys' Invitational.

The Ghosts were dropped in the final by a strong Brampton D'Youville team, 63-41.

Full results were as follows:
 
Round 1
Galt 59 (TJ Lall, 21), Preston 39 (Aaron Kani, 18); FE Madill 59 (Robbie Bramhill, 27), Centennial 50 (Jasmir Brar, 21); D'Youville 71, KCI 43 (Stefan Simic, 12); Riverside (Windsor) 53, Bluevale 45 (Savo Krajisnik, 10).

Consolation Side
Centennial 67 (Andy Ly, 15), Preston 49 (Aaron Kani, 16); KCI 69 (Stefan Simic, 19), Bluevale 43 (Abdul Finn, 14).  7th Place:  Bluevale 53 (Savo Krajisnik, 17), Preston 40 (Aaron Kani, 12); Consolation Final:  KCI 65 (Stefan Simic, 20), Centennial 55 (Chris Jin, 16).

Championship Side
Galt 61 (TJ Lall, 24), FE Madill 39 (Mitch Daw, 16); D'Youville 87, Windsor Riverside 28.  3rd Place:  FE Madill 52, Windsor Riverside 39; Championship Final:  D'Youville 63, Galt 41 (TJ Lall, 18).

Rez Seniors in Windsor
At the Freed's Invitational, the Resurrection Senior Boys had a mixed bag of results.

The Phoenix opened up with a 58-39 win over Stanstead College of Quebec, with Muyang Iluya notching 26 points in that one.

Rez lost their second game against hometown Windsor Catholic Central, 72-49 (Korbil Gany, 17). This advanced the Phoenix to the "Silver Flight" of the Freed's Draw where they lost a 64-59 overtime battle against St. Anne's of Windsor (Korbil Gany, 18).

Gany was named as a Second-Team All-Star.

SJAM Juniors Get GTA Experience
SJAM's juniors, who are projected to be one of the top programs this season, went 0-2 at the competitive D'Youville Junior Jam against a couple of teams ranked in the GTA's Top 16 this past weekend.

Ajax JC Richardson topped the 'Landers 52-36 in their opener (Brian Zapp, 9 for SJAM) while their second pool game was a 63-53 defeat by Brampton Campion (Nino Spasik, 16).

Sharma Hits 44; PJ Wins Tournament
Pauline Johnson CVS from Brantford was victorious at the Senior Boys' tournament hosted by McKinnon Park SS of Caledonia over the weekend.

The Thunderbirds opened with a 72-58 over Hamilton District Christian, with shooter Swapnil Sharma scoring 44 points in that one, topping his 33 point effort (10 three-pointers) from last weekend.

The T-Birds took out McKinnon Park 56-17 in the second round, and then also won the championship game (details not available).

CWOSSA Teams At The Heinbuch

Overall, it was a pretty decent weekend for local teams at the Heinbuch, as St. Mary's advanced to the championship game, while Cameron Heights (Silver) and North Park (Consolation) took home divisional championships.

All 4 Division Finals had at least one CWOSSA team, while 6 of the 7 CWOSSA participants went 2-2 or better.  Overall, CWOSSA teams' record at the Heinbuch was 15-12.  Here's a recap:

St. Mary's (Gold Finalists, 3-1)
St. Mary's 62, Burlington Nelson 33
SMHS:  Barnaba Neil, 12

St. Mary's 84, Ajax J. Clarke Richardson 41
SMHS:  Tesloth Simon, 25

St. Mary's 77, Hamilton MacNab 61
SMHS:  Tesloth Simon, 18

Oakwood 57, St. Mary's 52
SMHS:  Tesloth Simon, 14

SJAM (Gold Semifinalists, 2-1)
SJAM 62, Brantford North Park 45
SJAM:  Nedim Hodzic, 20
NPC:  Brandon John, 17

SJAM 83, Eastwood 65
SJAM:  Nedim Hodzic, 31
ECI:  Sydney Stewart, 16

Oakwood 75, SJAM 60
SJAM:  Brett Parrott, 20

Cameron Heights (Silver Champions, 3-1)
Cameron Hts. 49, Ottawa St. Patrick 35
CHCI:  Sasha Simic, 17

MacNab (Hamilton) 72, Cameron Hts. 66 (OT)
CHCI:  Ivan Cucak, 24

Cameron Heights 74, Ajax J. Clarke Richardson 70
CHCI:  Sasha Simic, 22 

Cameron Heights 48, Eastwood 44
(Scoring Details Unavailable)
Eastwood (Silver Finalists, 2-2)
Eastwood 58, Welland Notre Dame 51
ECI:  Ousmane Kromah, 16

SJAM 83, Eastwood 65
SJAM:  Nedim Hodzic, 31
ECI:  Sydney Stewart, 16

Eastwood 51, Windsor Herman 42
ECI:  Izzy Nemeth, 14

Cameron Heights 48, Eastwood 44
(Scoring Details Unavailable)

Grand River (Bronze Finalists, 2-2)
Oakwood 62, Grand River 48
GRCI:  David Bajic, 16

Grand River 61, Ottawa Lisgar 47
GRCI:  Miro Iliev, 13

Grand River 64, Welland Notre Dame 60
GRCI:  Vatrik Odouk, 27

St. Thomas More (Hamilton) 48, Grand River 25
GRCI:  Aleks Cvrkalj, 5

North Park (Consolation Champions, 2-2)
SJAM 62, Brantford North Park 45
SJAM:  Nedim Hodzic, 20
NPC:  Brandon John, 17

Welland Notre Dame 44, North Park 31
NPC:  Brandon John, 10

North Park 79, Ottawa Lisgar 46
NPC:  Matt Minutillo, 36

North Park 56, WCI 52
NPC:  Brandon John, 19
WCI:  Sam Sutherland, 13


WCI (Consolation Finalists, 1-3)
MacNab (Hamilton) 72, WCI 40
WCI:  Etai Mizrahi 10

Ottawa St. Patrick's 69, WCI 60
WCI:  Nick Johnny, 16

WCI 38, Burlington Nelson 37
WCI:  Sam Sutherland & Aaron Grubb, 12


North Park 56, WCI 52
NPC:  Brandon John, 19
WCI:  Sam Sutherland, 13

The Record: St. Mary's Falls Short At Heinbuch

Article By:  Mark Bryson

WATERLOO — The St. Mary's Eagles were just minutes away from a historic victory and then, depending on how you want to look at it, they either coughed it up or had it ripped away from them. 

What we know with certainty is that D'Wan Williams scored half of his game-high 20 points in the fourth quarter as the Oakwood Barons rallied for a 57-52 victory over the Eagles in the championship final of the 31st Heinbuch Classic senior boys' basketball tournament. 

Oakwood won the championship of the 16-team tournament for a record fourth straight year – two straight over St. Mary's – in front of a packed house at Sir John A. Macdonald Secondary School. It was also their fifth win in six years and sixth overall, tying Toronto Runnymeade as the school with the most Heinbuch victories. 

"We just made history and that can't be erased so this feels good," said Barons guard and tournament MVP Calvin Epistola. "I look forward to this tournament every year, this is my fourth time here and this is probably the best one I've ever been to." 

The Barons again prevented the Eagles from becoming the first team from Waterloo Region to win the prestigious tournament. The KCI Raiders lost in the 2004 final and the Eastwood Rebels came up short in 1984 when it was an eight-team event. 

The Eagles led 26-18 at halftime on Saturday and stretched that lead to 12 points in the third quarter before the Barons started chipping away. They completed their comeback and took the lead for good when Epistola nailed a three-point shot with less than three minutes to play that gave his team a 48-47 lead. 

First-team all-star Tesloth Simon led the Eagles with 14 points but said he was disappointed with his personal performance in the final after three outstanding games leading up to it. The reigning MVP of the District 8 league picked up his third foul early in the second half and said that had a negative impact on his play the rest of the way. 

He gave credit to Oakwood for being a talented and hard-working team but said the Eagles let this one slip away. 

"I played great the whole tournament except this game and I feel like I let my team down. They all look up to me as the leading scorer and captain and I wasn't the same Tesloth today, you know, smiling and energetic. It just wasn't there," he said. 

"There's a light ahead of us though and we're going the right way. Coach (Jason) Hergott and (assistants) Isaac Lance and Chad McPherson are doing a good job and I think we're going to make a lot of noise this season." 

Jermaine Lyle added 13 points for the Eagles, Jamari Stevens had nine and Tyrick Thompson had eight.

The Eagles crushed Hamilton's Sir Allan MacNab Lions 77-61 to advance to the final and Oakwood handled the Sir John A. Macdonald Highlanders 75-60. 

Meanwhile, the Cameron Heights Golden Gaels scored a 48-44 win over the Eastwood Rebels in the Silver Division final, Hamilton's St. Thomas More Knights beat the Grand River Renegades 48-25 in the Bronze Division final, and Brantford's North Park Trojans topped the Waterloo Vikings 56-52 in the Consolation final. 

Sasha Simic of Cameron Heights join Williams, Epistola, Stevenson and Simon on the first-team all-star squad, while Ousmane Kromah of Eastwood, Xavier Ellis of St. Thomas More, Nedim Hodzic of SJAM, Nikola Farkic of Cameron Heights and Shai Alexander of MacNab were selected to the second team. 

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