WCSSAA Junior Finals Preview: #6 Grand River vs #4 Waterloo CI

Two of the top WCSSAA junior basketball programs over the past 15 years or so will square off on Tuesday night at Cameron Heights (7:00pm) in the WCSSAA final.

The Renegades (8-4 during the year) and the Vikings (9-3 regular season) were written off by some in favour of teams like Forest Heights and Cameron Heights who finished 1st and 2nd respectively. Yet the Rens are making their traditional late season run and find themselves against a WCI squad that has played well through the first two games of the playoffs to secure their spot in the finals.

If this game is anything like their regular season matchup on December 17th, it should be a dandy. The Vikes escaped that one with a 53-51 victory over GRCI on the Rens' home court. In that outing, 3 Vikes scored in double figures while Filip Cvrkalj had 20 for Grand River.

Now, the sweet-shooting Cvrkalj has been ill over the past week or so but it definitely didn't impact him on Saturday afternoon when he poured in 28 points in a semifinal win over Cameron. We'll see what his status is today (he didn't start on Saturday). That said, the Rens have a capable supporting cast led by grade 9 guard Chuder Teny and grade 10 forward Nate Walker.

The Vikes on the other hand have their own three-point threat in guard Jacob Ranton. He's especially dangerous on inbounds plays ---- so the Rens can't afford to forget about him there. He had 2 or 3 of his threes against Huron Heights in that manner. On the interior, big man Malcolm Piazza is a double-double threat each night and will need to have another solid effort tonight.

It will also be interesting to see what both teams throw at each other. The Vikes have had success with their half court pressure during the playoffs, while the Rens came up with their own unique way of containing CHCI's Vedran Dmitrovic and Nem Simic (triangle-and-two I think?).

Anyways it should be a classic but I'll take the Vikes, who are hot right now, in a thriller.

****Projection/Pick: Waterloo 53, Grand River 48****

Grand River Collegiate Renegades - Team Roster (Visitors - Dark Uniforms)

#3 - Chuder Teny, G/F - Grade 9

#5 - Chris Coates, F

#10 - Jag Sidhu, G

#11 - Filip Cvrkalj, G/F

#13 - Nate Walker, G/F

#22 - Jessie Johnson, G

#23 - Jon Milks, G - Grade 9
#24 - Dusan Sekulic, F - Grade 9

#32 - Jamie Rintoul, C - Grade 9

#33 - Dheeran Parmar, G

#34 - Taulant Hasani, F

#35 - Amir Zeric, G - Grade 9

#42 - Ethan Brazeau, F - Grade 9

#45 - Jimmy Lad, F

#52 - Nikola Bevan, C

Coaches: Mr. R. Lang, Mr. T. Henderson.

Waterloo Collegiate Vikings - Team Roster (Home - Light Uniforms)

#4 - Shafi Mutwari, 5'5" G, Grade 9

#5 - Adam Anagnostopoulos, 5'11" G, Grade 9

#12 - Aaron Lott, 5'8" G, Grade 9

#14 - John McGowan, 6'0" G/F

#25 - Dani Elgadi, 6'2" F

#30 - Jeyan Thangaraj, 5'5" G

#32 - Sohrab Kasi, 5'10" G/F

#35 - Landon Cowieson, 5'10" G/F

#40 - Zach Totzke, 5'11" G

#41 - Malcolm Piazza, 6'6" F

#42 - Max Pfeifle, 5'11" G/F

#44 - Jacob Ranton, 6'3" G/F

#52 - Jeremy Scott, 6'1" F

Coach: Mr. D. Ranton

D8 Finals: Phoenix Sweep St. Mary's

The Resurrection CSS Phoenix won both the junior and senior District 8 championships on Monday evening at St. David. In the process, both clubs earned trips to their respective "AAAA" Championships which will be co-hosted by the Kitchener school this weekend.

Senior: Resurrection 63, St. Mary's 53

The senior Phoenix captured their second D8 title in the past three years. In the process, Andrew Mwangi may have earned himself a D8 MVP award.

Mwangi, who is only in grade 11, poured in 23 points (on an efficient 7 for 9 shooting and 7 for 8 from the line) and grabbed 12 rebounds as the Phoenix beat St. Mary's by a 63-53 final ---- a game that wasn't as close as the score would indicate.

Like the junior final (described below), Rez got off to a slow start and the Eagles took an early 10-4 lead. The Phoenix trailed 15-11 after the first quarter, thanks to the ability of Ben Bankazo and Demar Thompson to find some room inside.

In the second quarter, Rez took over. They outscored St. Mary's 19-7 (including the final 8 points of the quarter) to head to halftime up by 8. Fifth-year forward Matt Stocco had a couple of key rebounds and did some great work inside with a couple of big buckets to close the half.

The third quarter was all Resurrection ---- and all Mwangi. The Phoenix went on a 12-0 run to start the quarter, with 10 of those points scored by Mwangi (including two three-pointers). Mwangi would add 2 more points towards the end of the quarter after St. Mary's coach Jason Hergott got t'd up for arguing what he thought should have been a Resurrection foul.

In the fourth, the Phoenix depth began to wear down the Eagles and their shots increasingly came up short. Rez went 10 guys deep in the first quarter and played all 13 on their roster at one point or another during the contest. The Phoenix extended to a 53-33 lead early in the final frame.

The Eagles, however, should be commended for never giving up. They got a few turnovers and went on an 13-4 run to cut things down to 57-46. Down the stretch, Resurrection's free throw shooting enabled them to maintain a double-digit cushion and earn the victory.

Speaking of free throws, the Phoenix were money from the line --- 21/26. St. Mary's, on the flip side, was just 11 for 21 in the contest.

Alongside Mwangi's 23 points & 12 rebounds, Mike Pereira (also in grade 11) put in 16 points and 8 rebounds off the bench.

For the Eagles, star guard Alex Thompson had a tough day going 3-16 from the floor en route to 12 points. Ben Bankazo led St. Mary's with 15.

With numerous players on each team returning next season (8 in total for RCSS, while SMHS stars Alex Thompson and Isaac Lance are among 5 Eagles in grade 11), this should continue to be a great rivalry over the next several seasons.

RCSS: 11-19-18-15 = 63

SMHS: 15-07-09-22 = 53

RCSS

M. Tyler 1-2, 0-0 FT, 4 Reb, 1 Ast - 2 Pts.

A. Mwangi 7-9, 7-8 FT, 12 Reb, 0 Ast - 23 Pts.

T. Schneider 2-12, 3-4 FT, 3 Reb, 3 Ast - 7 Pts.

R. Herron 0-0, 0-0 FT, 1 Reb, 2 Ast - 0 Pts.

M. Stocco 3-6, 1-4 FT, 6 Reb, 1 Ast - 7 Pts.

-----

M. Pereira 5-8, 6-6 FT, 8 Reb, 0 Ast - 16 Pts.

B. Lee 0-0, 0-0 FT, 0 Reb, 1 Ast - 0 Pts.

J. Moi 0-3, 2-2 FT, 1 Reb, 0 Ast - 2 Pts.

J. Chris 0-3, 2-2 FT, 2 Reb, 0 Ast - 2 Pts.

J. Rodrigues 1-2, 0-0 FT, 2 Reb, 0 Ast - 2 Pts.

C. Gibbs 0-2, 0-0 FT, 0 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.

J. Keil 0-0, 0-0 FT, 0 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.

B. Ramirez 0-0, 0-0 FT, 0 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.

Field Goals: .404, Free Throws: 21-26, .808. Three-Point Goals, 2-7, .286 (Mwangi 2-2, Tyler 0-1, Schneider 0-1, Pereira 0-1, Chris 0-1, Gibbs 0-1).

SMHS

I. Lance 1-9, 0-3 FT, 5 Reb, 3 Ast - 3 Pts.

D. Thompson 4-10, 0-1 FT, 3 Reb, 0 Ast - 9 Pts.

A. Thompson 3-16, 5-8 FT, 7 Reb, 2 Ast - 12 Pts.

J. Gibson 1-2, 2-4 FT, 5 Reb, 0 Ast - 4 Pts.

B. Bankazo 6-11, 2-2 FT, 5 Reb, 1 Ast - 15 Pts.

-----

M. Kasunic 1-3, 0-0 FT, 1 Reb, 0 Ast - 2 Pts.

T. Huynh 2-3, 1-1 FT, 0 Reb, 0 Ast - 6 Pts.

Z. Hannah 0-1, 1-2 FT, 0 Reb, 1 Ast - 1 Pt.

K. Geng 0-0, 0-0 FT, 1 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.

Field Goals: .327. Free-Throws: 11-21, .524. Three-Point Goals, 5-17, .294 (Bankazo 1-2, Huynh 1-2, D. Thompson 1-3, A. Thompson 1-5, Lance 1-6).

Junior: Resurrection 52, St. Mary's 37

In a score that closely resembled last year's D8 final (won by RCSS 51-37), the Phoenix completed their second consecutive undefeated season in District 8. In doing so, they extended their D8 league & playoff win streak to 24 games.

However, it didn't exactly start the way the Phoenix would have liked. St. Mary's showed a lot of intensity early and jumped out to a quick 13-6 lead 5:00 into the game. However, the Phoenix were able to figure out the St. Mary's zone and three-pointers by four Resurrection players (Adam Schneider, Alphonso Ellis, Mark Radcliffe and Adrian Russell) allowed the Phoenix to take a 27-22 lead going into halftime.

In the second half, the Phoenix cranked up the defensive intensity. It looked like they would pull away when Rez's Tyler Bartley became the 5th Rez player to knock down a three-ball to push the lead to 7; however Chris Walser for St. Mary's came right back with a three of his own. A couple of big baskets by Russell late in the frame allowed the Phoenix to take a 9-point lead heading into the fourth (43-34).

In the fourth, Resurrection was successfully able to run some clock and shorten the game. Reserve forward Patrick Zrebiec had a couple of key steals and an offensive rebound and did a great job on St. Mary's star forward Adam Voll (limiting Voll to just 1 second half point after 10 in the first half).

For Rez, grade 9 guard Adam Schneider had 19 points while Adrian Russell contributed 11. Adam Voll (11) and Chris Cloutier (11) were the high scorers for the Eagles.

RCSS (52)

Adam Schneider 19, Adrian Russell 11, Tyler Bartley 7, Mark Radcliffe 7, Alphonso Ellis 4, Trey Forbes 2, Cory Kenning 2.

SMHS (37)

Chris Cloutier 11, Adam Voll 11, Chris Walser 7, Tyler Hergott 5, Avery Sutton 2, Dylan Brubacher 1.

WCSSAA Senior: Knights Look to End 38 Year Streak Tomorrow

Quick flash back to 1972......well, at least courtesy of an internet search because I wasn't born yet:

-Paul Henderon's goal for Canada vs. the Soviet Union in the Hockey "Summit Series"
-Prime Minister of Canada: Pierre Trudeau
-The NBA Finals featured Wilt Chamberlain and the LA Lakers against Dave DeBusschere and the New York Knicks.

Also, it was the year that Bluevale Collegiate in Waterloo first opened to students.

Since that time, the Knights have amassed a grand total of ZERO senior boys basketball titles (WCSSAA or otherwise).

"We talk about all the great teams Bluevale has had and it's crazy (to think) they haven't won a senior title," said Knights current head coach Doros Theodosiou.

The Knights have won a handful of junior boys' titles along the way, the last being the 1997 WCSSAA championship over Grand River (a team that I was on, so I can confirm that one!). They even have a CWOSSA junior title (1989) to their credit, but no hardware at the senior ranks.

A quick look back down memory lane:

2009 - In the semifinals, a heavily favoured Knights squad featuring the "Serb Five" is upset by Arben Kalaba, John Mitchell, Gavin Berry and the upstart KCI Raiders.

2006 - Bluevale's closest call. They get to the finals (I believe as a #8 seed) but drop the final to the Southwood Sabres by 2 points (?). That was the year that Southwood went on to win gold at the AAA OFSAA championships.

1999 - A Bluevale squad led by future NCAA Division 1 player, 6'9" Thomas Hope (current HHHS Senior Coach), finishes 1st during the regular season. The Knights are eliminated from the WCSSAA playdowns on semifinal Saturday at Cameron Heights.

1996 - A solid Bluevale squad led by future UW player Josh Holden, 6'9" forward Kai Tukums, WCSSAA football MVP Jason Cave and others finished a solid year (that included a tournament championship in Winnipeg) as the #2 overall seed in WCSSAA. They were upset at home by the #7 KCI Raiders in the first round of the playoffs.

Late 1980s/Early 1990s - In the late 1980s, Bluevale had a guy by the name of, um, Sean Van Koughnett playing for them. As mentioned, they had the aforementioned junior team that took the 1989 CWOSSA title. Still, despite many great seasons, there were no county titles.

At any rate, the Knights have a chance to get the 38-year old "monkey" off their backs tomorrow during the WCSSAA finals at Cameron Heights. Standing in their way? Their new rivals, the SJAM Highlanders. The Highlanders are looking to not only spoil Bluevale's bid for a title, but win their second title in as many years.

The game goes with a start time of 8:30pm at Cameron Heights (though with the Junior Game at 7pm and the junior awards ceremony after that, I'd anticipate a tip-off time between 8:45-9:00pm). Admission is $5 for adults, and $4 for students with a valid student card.

Simcoe Reformer: Wolves Win Back to Back NSSAA Titles

"Back to Back"
By Jacob Robinson, Simcoe Reformer
Retrieved From: http://www.simcoereformer.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2457010

You'd have to go back a while to find the last time the Waterford Wolves dominated the NSSAA basketball ranks like this -- it was right about the time current SCS head coach Greg Pajor patrolled the floor at WDHS.

Pajor returned to his alma matter with the Simcoe Sabres as they took on the Wolves in Thursday's NSSAA Championship game for the fourth straight year.

The Sabres came in with all kinds of momentum. They turned a once 0-4 season around to not only get into the playoffs, but upset second-seeded Valley Heights in the semifinals.

But midnight finally struck the Cinderella Sabres as the Wolves went on a 17-7 run in the second quarter and cruised from there to a 55-37 win.

The win was much like the 11 that have come before it in Waterford's perfect season. The Wolves get hot as the game goes along and work on putting teams away from there.

"That's what we always do, we usually have a slow start when it's a pressure game, which we can't keep doing," said Hill-Stone, who scored 9 points.

"As soon as the second half comes we're hot and everybody starts getting into it."

Though Aaron Hall's early triple in the third put Waterford ahead by 19, the Sabres put in a valiant effort right until the end of the fourth. When the final whistle was blown, team captain Connor Pettersen gathered his troops for one final message.

"I said that I wouldn't rather be on any other team," Pettersen, who scored 12, explained. "I'm so proud of these guys, it's unbelievable were we came from. I had high hopes the whole season, but I didn't know what we could do. I think (a February 9 win over) HT was the game I really saw us come together. This isn't my team, if anybody thinks that (they're wrong), we're a group and it's everybody. We played together."

On the league's grandest stage, with a packed house looking on, the Wolves drained a staggering six three-point shots, four alone from Paul Malcolm who led all scorers with 21.

"Yesterday we did a new offence, and that's what we practiced because we knew they did a 2-3. At practice we never missed. Paul made nine in a row, he was feeling it and that's why we kept giving him the ball," said Hill- Stone.

When the game was said and done, the Sabres had nothing but respect for the now back-to-back champs.

"They're a good team, they've played together forever. (20-point scorer) Mike (Couperus) is obviously a big deal, Paul is good, they made their shots," assessed Pettersen.

"I think we played the best I've seen us play. We battled, they just hit the shots and played very good, congratulations to them."

Simcoe will compete in a double- A CWOSSA play-in game next week while the Wolves travel to Walkerton Thursday for single-A CWOSSA as they look to become champs again and book a return spot to the OFSAA competition in the process.

"All we've been doing from the start is trying to get ready for CWOSSA," said Hill-Stone.

"We were expected to win this, so all we cared about was going to CWOSSA, so that's the big day."


JUNIOR: Sabres Score a Norfolk Title

Posted By JACOB ROBINSON, SIMCOE REFORMER

In the face of extreme pressure and a hostile crowd, the junior Simcoe Sabres looked like the calmest citizens in Norfolk County.

The boys in blue put their first place record on the line in the NSSAA championship last night against the second place Port Dover Lakers, where a great start led to a 52-28 win.

Tommy Tran started it off with a pair of three pointers -- the only scoring in the first quarter following some cold shooting from both clubs.

The Sabres began to heat up in the second though, pulling out to a 13-0 lead.

Port Dover had drawn mostly iron from the rim before finally scoring their first basket with five minutes to go in the half. From there, the Lakers would go on a run highlighted by a Lucas Martin running floater that went in at the buzzer to cut the Sabres lead to eight at the break.

In the second though, the Sabres put up points while the Lakers would get away similar shots, but get different results.

"(The start) was big, they were the underdogs and they wanted to come out stronger than us, but we had to step it up," said Brandon Reaney.

"Free throws were big, rebounding was big -- they got a lot of offensive rebounds we couldn't get, but really we just played well."

SCS led the way for much of the third, and when Tran -- who led all scorers with 21 -- hit a running hook to end the quarter that bounced off the rim four times and eventually in, it became clear things just weren't going to go the Lakers' way.

"We were all hitting (shots) in practice before the game, but they just wouldn't go," said Oli Carleton, who led Port Dover with 11 points.

"We were having trouble with their one play in the first half, but got it in the second and started to claw are way back but, I don't know, started to fall apart a bit."

The Sabres were playing with nearly a full lineup thanks to the return of Kevin Allemang and Cody Cunningham, both of whom missed the semifinals because of a playoff hockey game. The pair decided to play for a championship with the Sabres instead of head to the rink Thursday, which proved to be a wise decision.

"That was big, Kevin especially, he shot the ball well tonight and his free throws were big -- clutch free throws," said Reaney.

Despite draining several key shots for the Sabres and scoring 16 points, Reaney was deflecting the praise to Tran and his teammates afterward.

"Tommy, he's our team. If we didn't have him, we'd be in trouble," he said. "He's our ball handler and he makes the team big time."

SCS will have a play-in game for entry into double-A CWOSSA next week while the Lakers will travel to Walkerton for the single-A championship.

D8 Senior Final: St. Mary's vs. Resurrection

D8 Final: St. Mary's Eagles vs. Resurrection Phoenix (8:00pm, St. David CSS/Waterloo)

The Senior D8 final has all the makings of a classic contest.

As you likely know by now, the Phoenix and Eagles have played a couple of big-time regular season tilts so far. Rez won the first game in December 56-51, while the Eagles rebounded with a 53-50 victory on a Kueth Geng buzzer-beater in January.

Throw in the fact that there's a D8 championship and CWOSSA berth on the line AND the fact that these squads are bitter rivals and this 8pm showdown at St. David might prove to be the best of the championship finals this week (we'll see what SJAM & Bluevale have to say about that, though).

The Eagles are making their fifth consecutive appearance in the D8 final, while the Phoenix are only making their second appearance in the D8 final in the last 5 years (though they did win the title in 2008).

This one is a coin-flip as far as I'm concerned. Both teams have been peaking at the right time ---- Rez destroyed St. David in last week's semifinal while the Eagles did the same to Monsignor Doyle. One of the referees of that contest said (of the first half in which SMHS scored 49 points) that "it was the best-played half of senior boys' basketball" he had seen in the area this season.

Rez has a distinct size advantage pretty well across the board here (and especially off the bench ---- where their depth may be a key factor). They'll need to use that to their advantage today. As for the Eagles? They need to keep doing what they've been doing ---- which is a combination of solid shooting from the outside and tenacious defensive pressure.

Projected Lineups:

St. Mary's
G - Isaac Lance
G - Alex Thompson
G - Ben Bankazo
F - James Gibson
F - Mike Kasunic

Off The Bench: Kueth Geng G/F, Demar Thompson G, Tony Huynh G, Zak Hannah G/F.

Resurrection
G - Tyler Schneider
G - Andrew Mwangi
F - Mike Tyler
F - Matt Stocco
C - Ryan Herron

Off The Bench: Mike Pereira F/C, Brandon Lee G, Cam Gibbs F, John Moi G, Jeff Rodrigues G, Byron Ramirez G, Jason Chris G/F, Jamie Keil G.

Projection & Pick
I think this one is going to be a single digit game coming down to the last few minutes today. As for my pick? Well, last time out I took the Eagles by 3 and they won 53-50. I'll reward them for that by taking them again (by that number) today.

St. Mary's 58, Resurrection 55

D8 Junior Final: Resurrection vs. St. Mary's

D8 Junior Final: Resurrection Phoenix vs. St. Mary's Eagles (6:00pm, St. David CSS/Waterloo)

It's deja-vu all over again.

For the third time in the past four years, the Resurrection Phoenix and St. Mary's Eagles will play in the District 8 junior championship final ---- and yet again with some very similar circumstances.

Like both of those previous games (2007 & 2009) the Phoenix entered the game with an undefeated record in District 8 play.

The Eagles are the 2nd place team ---- but don't take them lightly. They knocked off the higher-seeded Phoenix in the 2007 final and again in the 2008 D8 semifinals, before winning the CWOSSA AAAA championship that year. Resurrection got some revenge last year, taking the D8 title 51-37 over the Eagles before going on to give D8 a repeat victory at CWOSSA.

The two games this year were both taken by Resurrection, but only by 58-53 and 49-46 finals. With both coaching staffs knowing that they were the favourites to advance to the finals, both games were essentially played with that in mind.

"They're a very patient, well-coached team," said Rez head coach Chris Aldworth. "It should again prove to be a great championship final, and I'm sure that whatever team wins will represent the D8 well at CWOSSA."

Both team's Point Guards ---- SMHS' Chris Walser (DNP against St. David) and Rez's Adam Schneider (hand) were battling injuries over the last week so we'll see if they play and how they are affected, if at all.

As for the keys to this game? Tempo and pace will be a big one. St. Mary's would like to keep this game in the 40s, while the Phoenix would like it to be played in the 50s or 60s. Just something to keep an eye out for tonight.......

St. Mary's Eagles

G - Chris Walser (or Avery Sutton)

G - Tyler Hergott

F - Chris Clouthier

F - Dylan Brubacher

C - Adam Voll

Resurrection Phoenix

G - Adam Schneider (or Mark Radcliffe)

G - Alphonso Ellis

G - Adrian Russell

F - Tyler Bartley

C - Cory Kenning

Previous D8 Junior Championships
2009: Resurrection over St. Mary's

2008: St. David CSS over St. Mary's

2007: St. Mary's over Resurrection

2006: St. Mary's over Rockway

2005: Resurrection over St. Mary's

BAA Finals: OSCVI Seniors, Sacred Heart Juniors Take Titles

"Singbeil Up to the Challenge"
Retrieved from Owen Sound Sun-Times, http://www.owensoundsuntimes.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2458515

Article By: Bill Walker

There are no nights off for Ben Singbeil.

As the OSCVI Falcons' designated shutdown guy, the 17- year-old Grade 12 student knows he'll be matching up with the opposition's top gun each game.

This season Singbeil has been more than up for the challenge, with his latest victim being Walkerton District's Mat West.

Singbeil held West to just 12 points -- most of those coming from the free throw line -- as the Falcons won their third straight Bluewater Athletic Association championship with a 50-30 victory Friday.

"I didn't really worry about help defence very much and I just focused on him and it worked out," said Singbeil.

"Sometimes it's pretty scary but once you get in the game, you get over it pretty quickly. It's all about hard work and just being excited about winning the game."

Not only is Singbeil a tough defender, he's one of the Falcons' snipers with 10 points in the final.

Matt Monk led all scorers with 14 points while Ben Ewasko added 10 for OSCVI.

"West might be the best player in the district and (Singbeil) did a great job on him," said Falcons coach Lee Jacques, who raved about his bench, which played extended minutes and more than held their own against Walkerton. "We played 13 guys and we played them when the game was close and they did a great job."

Trevor Robinson added eight points for the Raiders.

"We started with eight guys and we need all 10 of our guys out if we're going to compete with them," said Walkerton coach Dan Rourke, whose squad will be host for a CWOSSA A qualifier against Peninsula Shores Monday.

The winner advances to the CWOSSA A championship at Walkerton District Thursday.

With the win, OSCVI advances to the CWOSSA AA championships next Friday at Walkerton's Sacred Heart.

OSCVI cruised into the final with a 54-39 win over the Kincardine District Knights. Monk had 21 points while Singbeil added 12.

Walkerton beat the West Hill Raiders 64-59. West had 33 points while Robinson added 17. Mike VanZyverden had 20 points for West Hill.

The junior final saw Walkerton drop a 43-41 decision to the Sacred Heart Crusaders. Jeff Ruttan had 13 points while Brennan Basra added 10 for the Crusaders, who hung onto the ball for the first 4:30 of the fourth quarter in a battle of wills with Walkerton.

"I felt we could beat them one on one," said Sacred Heart coach Darryl Striukas, explaining why his players hung onto the ball near the half court line and waited for the Raiders to eventually come out and challenge them.

"We tried to play big against them down low but while they might be a smaller team, they've got guys who play like they're six-five. I knew it was going to be a tough game and maybe a five-point spread either way."

JD West had 16 points for the Raiders while Calvin Robinson had 10 points.

The Crusaders earned a spot in the final with a 53-23 win over the St. Mary's Mustangs in the semifinals.

Ryne Weppler had 17 points for Sacred Heart while Jeff Ruttan added 11. Walkerton beat OSCVI 47-29 in the other semifinal. Colton Marois had 18 points for the Raiders while Robinson added 12. Jason McMillen had 15 points for the Falcons.

AAAA CWOSSA: Almost Set

After Saturday's action, we now know all but one of the teams that will participate at "AAAA" CWOSSA. The final berth will be determined tomorrow at St. David CSS when the Resurrection Phoenix play the St. Mary's Eagles in both the junior and senior finals.

Tuesday's WCSSAA finals will determine which team goes in which pool (see below):


Senior - Pool A
RCSS vs. SMHS winner
Centennial CVI
Bluevale vs. SJAM winner

Senior - Pool B
JF Ross
St. John's (Brantford)
Bluevale vs. SJAM loser


Junior - Pool A
RCSS vs. SMHS winner
JF Ross
Grand River vs. WCI winner

Junior - Pool B
St. John's (Brantford)
Centennial CVI
Grand River vs. WCI loser

Guelph Mercury: Ross Knocks Centennial Off

http://news.guelphmercury.com
/Sports/article/600355

Article By: Rob Massey, Mercury Staff

GUELPH – Once they got over the championship-game jitters, the Ross Royals made the game their own.

“Worried? No. Frustrated? Yes,” said Ross head coach Bill Price of his team’s early seven-point deficit. “They came out and they got up, but we were just nervous. You could tell. We’ve got eight Grade 11s and some Grade 12s who were thinking that we’d been here a couple of times and hadn’t won. We just had to gather ourselves and say, ‘Look, keep going.’ ”

The Royals did keep going as they used their bench liberally to rally for a 69-59 victory over the Centennial Spartans in the District 10 high school senior boys’ basketball final Saturday night at the Mitchell Athletics Centre.

“We knew that our thing is that we’re deep so we started subbing guys,” Price said. “The message was the same – stick with the plan and they’ll drop, they’ll drop.”

They certainly dropped for Shamlo Saeed, the player of the game for Ross.

“It was all right,” he said after his 23-point game helped propel the Royals to the title win. “”I wanted it so bad, it was unreal.

“We wanted this one, it’s as simple as that. All year, everyone in this building thought they were going to win. They went 16-0, but we came in here and said ‘this is ours.’ We stuck together all year. We knew we were the best and we came out and proved it tonight.”

The loss was the first of the district season for the Spartans. They had won all 14 of their regular-season games and two playoff games to get to the final. The Royals had gone 10-4 in the regular season.

“It is what it is, but it always hurts to lose,” Centennial coach Ron Conroy said. “I was proud of the way our guys played. They played strong right to the end, but Ross played great. You have to give them credit. They shot the ball really well and they deserved to win.”

Ross hit 47.3 per cent of its field-goal attempts in the game, including 55.6 per cent in the second half. At the other end of the court, Centennial shot 33.3 per cent for the game and 29.6 per cent in the second half.

The result also ended Centennial’s three-year reign as senior champions. However, the Spartans have won eight of the last 10 district championships. Ross has won the other two, their previous title win being in 2006. The St. James Lions, with their fourth championship win in a row in 2000, are the only others to capture the crown since the turn of the century.

Centennial led Saturday’s final 14-7 at the end of the first quarter, but back-to-back three-pointers early in the second quarter keyed a 13-2 run by the Royals that helped push them to a 29-23 lead at the intermission. After sinking three baskets on fast breaks in the opening minute of the second half, Ross extended its lead to 55-36 by the end of the third quarter.

Saeed’s 23 points was the team-high for the Royals as he hit half of his 14 field-goal attempts and all nine of his free throws. He also grabbed a team-high seven rebounds and had two steals.

Wil De Groot had 13 points for Ross while Jack Cornett added 11 and Ryan Cook had 10. Brad Crnkovic followed with five while Joel Mohr and Trey Larue had four apiece and Blake Linthwaite had one.

Jay Francis was player of the game for Centennial. He hit for 23 points and had eight rebounds while Rob House had 12 points and 11 rebounds. Serge Khayipangi and Adrian Varilla added seven points apiece while Shawn Mason had five and Andrew Ellis netted three.

Both teams advance to next week’s CWOSSA AAAA championship tournament at Waterloo.

“This is a huge boost,” Saeed said. “We’ve played the big teams up there and we hung in there so maybe we’ll bring another plaque down here.”

The night wasn’t one that will go down in Centennial basketball lore as the Spartans were dropped 66-39 by the defending champion Bishop Macdonell Celtics in the junior final that opened the championship doubleheader.

“It’s been a magical season for the kids,” Bishop Mac head coach Gabriel Frank said. “We had a great group of kids, a very inspired group. The group consisted primarily of Grade 9s, so it was excellent that they had a chance to step up.”

The title win was born in Bishop Mac’s preparation for the season.

“We played a very tough schedule this year which helped prepare us for District 10 competition,” Frank said. “(We played) games in Toronto against some of the top teams in the province and out in Orillia we had another great tournament where we came back from 15 points down at halftime to win the tournament. Their confidence level’s been very high all year.”

The Spartans kept the District 10 final close for a quarter before Bishop Mac seemed to have most of their shots fall in the second quarter as they stretched a 15-10 lead at the end of the first quarter to a 33-14 advantage at the half. The Celtics killed off a lot of the third quarter by passing the ball around, but still upped their lead to 47-23 at the end of the third quarter.

Mitchell Wood led Bishop Mac with 15 points while Michael Cloutier and their player of the game Ben Morris had 10 apiece. Zach Visentin netted seven with Alex Quintieri getting five, Dylan Hardiman and James Whiteside four each, Lucas Depieri three and Sean Young, Owen Brombal, Walt Olson and Victor Soti two each.

Aleks Kaludjerovic struck for 11 points for Centennial while Erik Sterne and Jeremy Seed had 10 each. Tarang Sharma and Thiviya Sithganesan collected three apiece and Jeremy DiCarlo netted two.

Centennial advances to the CWOSSA AAAA tournament at Waterloo while Bishop Mac will have to win a qualifier Tuesday to get into the AA tournament at Walkerton.

WCSSAA Senior Semifinal #2: Bluevale 75, KCI 56

In a rematch of last year's WCSSAA semifinal, the Bluevale Knights held off a feisty KCI Raider squad and pulled away at the end to win by a 75-56 final.

The Knights jumped on the Raiders early, establishing a double digit lead within the first 4:00 of the contest. The Raiders hung tight through the second frame, and a Darnell Simpson dunk in transition brought the Raiders to within 10 (32-22). The high-scoring first half ended with the Knights up 10 (49-39).

The Raiders got to single digits in the third quarter (53-44), but that was as close as they would get. The Knights outscored the Raiders 13-6 in the final frame to win this one going away.

It's funny to say that Stefan Cvrkalj didn't have his best day shooting when he scores 36 points, but he got to the foul line 14 times (and converted 13). He had 23 of those 36 points in the first half. Perhaps even more impressive than those numbers is the fact that he was under the weather this past week and missed some practice time due to that illness.

Fellow Knight Andrew Beney had 12 points and 7 rebounds against an undersized KCI front line.

Arben Kalaba led KCI with 17 points off the bench, while Darnell Simpson put home 12 points and 7 rebounds.

KCI 14-25-11-06 = 56
BCI 25-24-13-13 = 75

KCI (56)
T. Ruddock 0-1, 1-2 FT, 0 Reb, 0 Ast - 1 Pt.
D. Simpson 4-12, 4-6 FT, 7 Reb, 1 Ast - 12 Pts.
M. Bauman 0-0, 0-0 FT, 3 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.
G. Notar 1-5, 2-2 FT, 6 Reb, 0 Ast - 4 Pts.
D. Weber 1-5, 2-2 FT, 7 Reb, 0 Ast - 4 Pts.
A. Kalaba 6-14, 4-5 FT, 1 Reb, 1 Ast - 17 Pts.
A. Galea 3-5, 0-0 FT, 2 Reb, 0 Ast - 6 Pts.
L. Dabic 3-5, 3-3 FT, 0 Reb, 2 Ast - 10 Pts.
E. Bajramovic 1-2, 0-0 FT, 1 Reb, 0 Ast - 2 Pts.

Field Goals: .388. Free-Throws: .800. Three-Point Goals, 2-12, .167 (No. 30 1-2, Kalaba 1-6, Notar 0-1, No. 25 0-1, Simpson 0-1).

Bluevale (75)
S. Cvrkalj 10-24, 13-14 FT, 3 Reb, 6 Ast - 36 Pts.
A. Beney 5-12, 2-3 FT, 7 Reb, 1 Ast - 12 Pts.
F. Voll 1-2, 2-4 FT, 4 Reb, 0 Ast - 4 Pts.
D. Balak 2-2, 1-2 FT, 6 Reb, 0 Ast - 5 Pts.
K. Beney 4-6, 0-1 FT, 0 Reb, 0 Ast - 9 Pts.
P. Smith 3-6, 3-4 FT, 3 Reb, 0 Ast - 9 Pts.
A. Zack 0-1, 0-0 Ft, 2 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.

Field Goals: .481. Free-Throws: .750. Three-Point Goals: 4-12, .333 (Cvrkalj 3-8, K. Beney 1-3, Smith 0-2).

WCSSAA Senior Semifinal #1: SJAM 53, CHCI 48

The SJAM Highlanders were able to withstand an emotional Cameron Heights Golden Gaels squad and earn a 53-48 victory on the Gaels' home floor this evening.

Jake Robinet poured in 19 points and had 12 rebounds ---- including a huge dunk with :35 left in the game that essentially sealed the victory.

The game was close throughout. SJAM had taken a 24-18 lead in the second quarter, but Cameron's all-star guard Stefan Arezina hit back-to-back triples to tie the game at 24 heading into halftime.

SJAM held a slim 38-35 lead after three, and extended to a 7 point lead (44-37) with under 4:00 to play.

However, the Gaels' Adnan Shah then hit and "and one" and a three-pointer in succession to get Cameron right back in the thick of things at 44-43. On the ensuing possession, SJAM's Edem Ame was fouled and knocked down both FTs (he was 6-6 in the game), and the Highlanders took a three-point lead. They would then hold on down the stretch to win.

Robinet had a huge block with 1:15 to play and, with the Highlanders up 2, threw down the aforementioned huge dunk to ice things.

Alongside Robinet's 19, Ben Reyhani added a "quiet" 14 points on just 9 field goal attempts. For CHCI, Arezina had 18 points and Nebojsa Djeric had 10.

The big difference in this one? Free throws. The more aggressive Highlanders got to the line 17 times, compared to just 4 FT attempts for Cameron.......and the Highlanders converted 14 of those 17 tries.

CHCI 11-13-11-13 = 48
SJAM 12-12-14-15= 53

CHCI (48)
B. Murphy 1-3, 0-0 FT, 1 Reb, 0 Ast - 2 Pts.
S. Arezina 7-20, 0-0 FT, 6 Reb, 1 Ast - 18 Pts.
A. Osman 3-9, 0-1 FT, 2 Reb, 4 Ast - 6 Pts.
N. Djeric 4-8, 0-0 FT, 7 Reb, 1 Ast - 10 Pts.
S. Cucak 0-4, 1-2 FT, 5 Reb, 1 Ast - 1 Pt.
A. Shah 3-6, 1-1 FT, 3 Reb, 0 Ast - 9 Pts.
Waterman 1-1, 0-0 FT, 2 Reb, 0 Ast - 2 Pts.

Field Goals: .373, Free Throws: .500. Three-Point Goals: 8-29, .276 (Djeric 2-5, Shah 2-5, Arezina 4-13, Osman 0-3, Cucak 0-3).

SJAM (53)
E. Ame 2-8, 6-6 FT, 8 Reb, 1 Ast - 10 Pts.
J. James 0-3, 0-0 FT, 2 Reb, 5 Ast - 0 Pts.
B. Reyhani 5-9, 2-2 FT, 3 Reb, 0 Ast - 14 Pts.
K. Botchway 3-9, 1-4 FT, 1 Reb, 1 Ast - 10 Pts.
J. Robinet 7-13, 5-5 FT, 12 Reb, 0 Ast - 19 Pts.
M. Hamm 0-0, 0-0 FT, 1 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.
B. Reiter 0-1, 0-0 FT, 1 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.

Field Goals: .395. Free Throws: .824. Three-Point Goals: 5-12, .417 (Botchway 3-7, Reyhani 2-5).

Ross Upsets Centennial to win Senior D10; Bishop Mac Blows Out CCVI in Junior

The John F. Ross Royals got the last laugh --- this year.

The Centennial CVI Spartans had beaten JF Ross three consecutive years in the D10 final (Ross beat CCVI in 2006), but the Royals beat the Spartans 69-59 in this year's edition of the D10 final --- and it was a trio of unlikely grade 11 sources that stepped up.

Shamlo Saeed put in 23 points (and 7 rebounds), Will de Groot had 13 and Jack Cornett put in 11 for the Royals.

The Royals held Rob House to just 12 points in the contest, though he did register a double-double by pulling in 11 rebounds. Jay Francis led CCVI with 23 (and 8 rebounds), and Serge Khapiyangi put in 10.

More on this to come --- but it does set up an interesting "pool of death" scenario at CWOSSA. In one pool will now be Centennial, the BCI/SJAM winner, and the RCSS/SMHS winner. Yikes!

Junior: Bishop Mac 67, Centennial 39

The Bishop Mac Celtics completed an unblemished D10 schedule by defeating the Centennial Spartans in convincing fashion.

The Celts got 15 points from Mitchell Wood and 10 each from Michael Clouthier and Ben Morris en route to victory. Aleks Kaludjerovic had 11 for Centennial in the loss.

Both clubs will advance to their respective CWOSSA championship (Bishop Mac - AA, Centennial - AAAA).

WCSSAA Junior Semifinal #2: Rens Upset Gaels for CWOSSA berth

Filip Cvrkalj might want to be sick more often.

Battling an illness that kept him out of the Rens' starting lineup, their all-star guard poured in 28 points to lead them to a 54-48 overtime victory over the Cameron Heights Golden Gaels.

The loss ends CHCI's season, while Grand River will advance to AAAA CWOSSA.

This marked the third time in the last three years (including last year's championship game) that the Renegades were victorious over the Gaels at Cameron Heights ---- this time in thrilling fashion. The Rens overcame a 14-point fourth quarter deficit to send the game to overtime and earn a 54-48 OT victory.

The Gaels really have nobody but themselves to blame, as they had numerous opportunities to pull away, especially in the first half. However, they shot 0-for-7 from the FT line in the first half and took a slim 19-17 lead into the break.

In the third, it looked like the Gaels had finally put everything together. They outscored the Rens 18-6 to take what seemed like an insurmountable (given the pace of the game) 37-23 lead into the fourth quarter.

Then, the Rens caught fire.

Cvrkalj was virtually unconscious in the final frame, drilling some threes deep behind the arc. The Rens cranked up the defensive intensity and forced some turnovers with pressure. Grand River actually scored the first 16 points of the final frame (including a quick 12-0 run in 2:30 to start the quarter) to take a 39-37 lead.

With the score 44-41 GRCI and under 2:00 to go, CHCI's Vedran Dmitrovic drilled a step-back three to tie the game at 44. On the ensuing possession, Cvrkalj drilled his 6th (!) three pointer of the game to give the Rens a 47-44 lead. Dmitrovic tied the game again at 47 with his fourth three of the game --- and only about :35 remaining.

The Rens had a Cvrkalj off-balance jumper fall short at the buzzer, and we headed to the extra frame ---- a frame that was dominated by the Rens.

Chuder Teny had a field goal and several free throws and the Renegades outscored Cameron 7-1 in the extra frame to escape with a 54-48 victory and a CWOSSA berth.

Cvrkalj finished with 28 for Grand River, while Teny added 13 points. Dmitrovic did everything he could with 21 points and 17 rebounds for Cameron -- however, he finished just 1-for-6 from the free throw line.

GRCI 06-11-06-24-07 = 54
CHCI 09-10-18-10-01 = 48

GRCI (54)
C. Teny 3-9, 7-8 FT, 4 Reb, 4 Ast - 13 Pts.
N. Walker 2-8, 1-3 FT, 5 Reb, 2 Ast - 5 Pts.
T. Hasani 0-7, 0-2 FT, 4 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.
No. 34 2-9, 0-1 FT, 5 Reb, 1 Ast - 6 Pts.
N. Bevan 1-4, 0-0 FT, 4 Reb, 0 Ast - 2 Pts.
F. Cvrkalj 10-19, 2-2 FT, 5 Reb, 1 Ast - 28 Pts.

Field Goals: .321. Free Throws: .625. Three-Point Goals, 8-19, .421 (Cvrkalj 6-10, No. 34 2-7,
N. Bevan 0-1, C. Teny 0-2).

CHCI (48)
N. Simic 2-9, 1-2 FT, 2 Reb, 2 Ast - 5 Pts.
V. Dmitrovic 8-24, 1-6 FT, 17 Reb, 0 Ast - 21 Pts.
D. Malesevic 2-10, 3-4 FT, 4 Reb, 1 Ast - 7 Pts.
M. Kolovic 5-7, 1-2 FT, 7 Reb, 0 Ast - 11 Pts.
J. Thompson 2-8, 0-2 FT, 11 Reb, 1 Ast - 4 Pts.
V. Matovic 0-2, 0-0 FT, 1 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.

Field Goals: .316. Free Throws: .375. Three-Point Goals, 4-19, .211 (Dmitrovic 4-12, No. 23 0-1, N. Simic 0-2, D. Malesevic 0-4).

Junior WCSSAA Semifinal #1: WCI Handles Upstart Huskies

The Waterloo CI junior Vikings contained Huron Heights' star guard Sean Samuel and were able to pull away from the Huskies in the second half to win the first junior semifinal 59-39 earlier today at Cameron Heights.

The game was close in the first half, with WCI threatening to take a big lead several times. Each time, the Huskies were able to respond and maintain contact. The Huskies got a 4 point play from forward Hunter Jones (made a shot and then fouled on the box out --- 2 free throws which he made) to enable them to stay close going into halftime (23-18 WCI).

After a Huron Heights three-pointer by Darcy Jacobs to open the third quarter, the Vikes promptly went on an 8-0 run (thanks in part to a couple threes by Jacob Ranton) to extend the lead to double digits (31-21).

The Vikes led by 10 after three quarters (40-30), and then ran away from the tired Huskies in the final frame to win by a 20-point margin.

Props to WCI for their tremendous defensive effort on Huron Heights' Sean Samuel. They had him taking off balance shots all afternoon, and he finished the game shooting 4-for-20 from the floor and was held to just 12 points. Hunter Jones was the other Husky in double figures with 10. The Huskies as a team shot only 22.9% from the floor.

For the Vikes, Jacob Ranton had 18 points despite just one two-point field goal attempt. He shot 11 three-pointers, making 5 of them --- and also added 7 rebounds. Malcolm Piazza added 14 points and was a solid interior presence for WCI.

The win means the Vikes will be one of two WCSSAA clubs competing at AAAA CWOSSA. Huron Heights will participate at the AAA CWOSSA championship.

WCI 09-14-17-19 = 59
HHHS 05-13-12-09 = 39

WCI (59)
A. Anagnostopoulos 4-10, 0-0 FT, 3 Reb, 6 Ast - 6 Pts.
Z. Totzke 2-4, 2-2 FT, 2 Reb, 2 Ast - 6 Pts.
J. McGowan 0-2, 2-4 FT, 2 Reb, 2 Ast - 2 Pts.
M. Piazza 6-11, 2-2 FT, 7 Reb, 1 Ast - 14 Pts.
J. Ranton 6-12, 1-2 FT, 7 Reb, 1 Ast - 18 Pts.
J. Scott 1-7, 2-4 FT, 6 Reb, 0 Ast - 4 Pts.
D. Elgadi 3-5, 0-0 FT, 2 Reb, 1 Ast - 6 Pts.

Field Goals: .431. Free Throws: .643. Three-Point Goals, 6/16 .375 (J. Ranton 5-11, A. Anagnostopoulos 1-3, Z. Totzke 0-2).

HHHS (39)
D. Jacobs 1-10, 0-0 FT, 0 Reb, 0 Ast - 3 Pts.
S. Samuel 4-20, 3-6 FT, 7 Reb, 3 Ast - 12 Pts.
E. Spinache 0-3, 4-6 FT, 0 Reb, 1 Ast - 4 Pts.
T. Kozub 1-4, 2-2 FT, 5 Reb, 0 Ast - 4 Pts.
A. Deadman 2-4, 2-2 FT, 1 Reb, 0 Ast - 6 Pts.
M. Cober 0-1, 0-0 FT, 4 Reb, 1 Ast - 0 Pts.
H. Jones 3-5, 4-4 FT, 6 Reb, 1 Ast - 10 Pts.
Davey 0-1, 0-0 FT, 0 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.

Field Goals: .229. Free-Throws: .750. Three-Point Goals: 2-15, .133 (Samuel 1-4, Jacobs 1-9, Kozub 0-1, Davey 0-1).

WCSSAA Senior Semifinals - Previews

As mentioned yesterday, the game times have been flipped to accomodate CHCI fans --- who will get the 5:00pm junior game and 6:30pm senior game back to back. KCI/BCI will be the nightcap at 8:00pm.

#6 Cameron Heights vs. #2 SJAM

Firstly, throw those rankings out the window. They don't mean anything today, especially with this game being played on the Gaels' home floor.

Secondly, this game is absolutely huge. The winner will get an AAAA CWOSSA berth, while the loser's season is over. How's that for motivation?

Many in attendance might be hoping for a repeat of these teams' regular season effort, a 58-56 SJAM thriller way back on December 3rd.

In that contest, Jake Robinet poured in 27 points in the victory; the Highlanders also "held" Stefan Arezina & Nebojsa Djeric to 36 combined points.

Needless to say, the latter will again be key. Arezina went off for 27 against WCI on Thursday, and the Highlanders can't let him get going.

SJAM has received great performances this year from Edem Ame, Ben Reyhani, and (at times) Kwame Botchway and Matthias Hamm. They have several guys that can hurt you in a couple of different ways.

Cameron Heights Projected Starting 5: Nebojsa Djeric G/F, Stefan Arezina G, Amjed Osman G, Stefan Cucak F, Adnan Shah G.

SJAM Projected Starting 5: Jake Robinet F, Edem Ame F, Matthias Hamm F, Kwame Botchway G, Ben Reyhani G.

I'll give SJAM the edge here, but the Gaels are coming on. CHCI winning wouldn't be an "upset" in my eyes.

Projection: SJAM 66, Cameron Heights 62


#4 Kitchener CI vs. #1 Bluevale

Who do I cheer for here? I went to Bluevale for a couple years before moving over to KCI......

All kidding aside, the Bluevale Knights are absolutely on fire. They've been playing some great basketball down the stretch in February, a month that started with a near upset of Ajax Pickering HS, one of the top schools in the province.

The Raiders appear to be in trouble on paper here. Who's going to match up with Andrew Beney? Who is going to matchup with Stefan Cvrkalj? All signs point to Beney and Drew Balak having a field day on the offensive glass here against an undersized KCI squad.

That said, Nick White always seems to get the most out of his players. They may be undersized but they'll give their all. Last year, they were able to upset a much more talented Bluevale squad in the semifinals, so you know that the Knights have payback on their minds today.

KCI Projected Starting 5: Arben Kalaba G, Darnell Simpson F, Graham Notar G, Dan Weber F, Tristan Ruddock F.

Bluevale Projected Starting 5: Stefan Cvrkalj G, Andrew Beney C, Karsten Beney G, Fraser Voll G, Drew Balak F.

Knights get it done here and give themselves the chance to win the first WCSSAA basketball title for Bluevale since my junior boys' squad won the crown a little over a decade ago.

Projection: Bluevale 66, KCI 51