"AAA" CWOSSA Tournament Draw

Here's the participating teams and draw for the Junior & Senior "AAA" tournament.  Note - with only one site hosting, there are no semifinals ---- the winners of the two pools will meet each other in the finals.

Junior Pool A:  KCI, St. James, Westside
Junior Pool B:  Mons. Doyle, St. David, Holy Trinity

Senior Pool A:  KCI, St. James, Westside
Senior Pool B:  North Park, St. David, Holy Trinity

Junior Pool Games - Friday
9:00am - KCI vs. Westside
Noon - Holy Trinity vs. St. David
3:00pm - Westside vs. St. James
6:00pm - MDCSS vs. Holy Trinity

Junior Pool Games - Saturday
9:00am - St. James vs. KCI
Noon - St. David vs. MDCSS

Senior Pool Games - Friday
10:30am - KCI vs. Westside
1:30pm - Holy Trinity vs. St. David
4:30pm - Westside vs. St. James
7:30pm - Holy Trinity vs. North Park

Senior Pool Games - Saturday
10:30am - St. James vs. KCI
1:30pm - St. David vs. North Park

4:00pm Saturday - Junior Final
6:00pm Saturday - Senior Final

CWOSSA News & Notes

"AA" CWOSSA Postponed - 2nd Straight Day
Due to conditions in the Bluewater Board (St. Mary's - Owen Sound participating from that area), "AA" CWOSSA has been pushed back a second consecutive day.

I've been told this may create some logistical challenges, as Bishop Macdonell may no longer be able to host the junior portion of the draw.

Stay tuned....

Two "AAAA" Qualifiers Set For Today
On the other hand, I have no indication (as of yet) that the "AAAA" CWOSSA qualifiers today in Guelph have been postponed, so they appear to still be a go.

Both games are at JF Ross, with the Royals hosting the Resurrection Phoenix (Senior) and St. Benedict Saints (Junior).  Tip times are scheduled for 4pm (Gym 1 - Senior; Gym 2 - Junior).

The Ross Juniors have appeared in 11 (yes, 11) consecutive "AAAA" CWOSSA tournaments; however, that streak certainly appears to be on the line without two of their best players --- Harris Cornett (illness) and Daniel Street (elbow).  Unfortunately, Street fractured his elbow yesterday after slipping on ice, so here's hoping for a speedy recovery!

Doyle Juniors Added To "AAA" Junior Draw
From yesterday's post on the AAA tournament, the Monsignor Doyle Mustangs have been added to create a full 6-team junior draw.  Certainly a decision that makes sense by the tournament organizers, as I'd suggest that MDCSS is arguably the #2-ranked team in the tournament, behind St. David CSS.

WCSSAA: Dominant Performance By Hodzic Keys Landers to Jr. CWOSSA Tournament

Grade 10 forward Nedim Hodzic poured in 35 points and 22 rebounds as the SJAM Highlanders cruised past Grand River 65-50 in WCSSAA junior boys "CWOSSA qualifying" action last night.

Simon Petrov added 11 for SJAM, while Miro Iliev (16) and Aleks Cvrkalj (12) led the way for the Renegades.

The win means that SJAM (2-0) will qualify for the CWOSSA tournament as WCSSAA #1.  The winner of today's game between Grand River (0-1) and WCI (0-1) will qualify to play Brantford Assumption in a CWOSSA play-in game.

On the senior side of things, Grand River and WCI both clinched -- at worst -- a spot in a CWOSSA play-in game against Brantford Assumption by winning their respective games yesterday.

WCI opened up a 44-17 halftime advantage over Eastwood before cruising to a 65-45 win.  Nick Johnny (20) and Dani Elgadi (16) paced the Vikes, while Sydney Stewart (12) and Ousmane Kromah (11) led the way for ECI.

Grand River posted a 63-46 win over Bluevale, keyed by 17 from Chuder Teny and 13 by David Bajic.  Savo Krajisnik led Bluevale with 16 and Jeevan Sidhu added 12.

Grand River and WCI, both 2-0 in qualifying play, will play today (3:30pm) with the winner getting the WCSSAA #1 CWOSSA "AAAA" berth.  The loser would then be "WCSSAA #2" and play Brantford Assumption in a qualifying game for the CWOSSA tournament.

D8 Senior Final: Eagles Survive Valiant Phoenix Effortt

If you would have guessed the winner of Friday's D8 Senior Boys' championship game strictly upon body language at the final buzzer, it probably wouldn't have been immediately clear who had won.

The heavily-favoured St. Mary's Eagles, who had won both league games against Resurrection by 30+ points and were "expected to win", had to rescue victory from the jaws of defeat after leading by just one point --- 46-45 --- with 5:00 to go.

Thankfully for the Eagles, Tyrick Thompson and Jamari Stevenson hit three-pointers on consecutive possessions to restore a 7-point lead about two minutes later.

St. Mary's hadn't been involved in many close league games this year (won all 12 league and playoff contests by double-digits), and that lack of experience certainly showed in some questionable decisions (from a game management perspective) by the Eagles down the stretch.

Up 7 with 1:47 to play, St. Mary's took a contested three-point attempt, instead of trying to milk some more time off of the clock.  A Resurrection defensive rebound and two pointer at the other end by Jacob Gilbert cut the lead to 5.

Resurrection actually got it back within 4 points (54-50) and under :30 to play before the Eagles made the final three points from the free-throw line in the waning seconds. 

Needless to say, this game certainly didn't go according to script, but the Eagles repeated as D8 champions for the first time in school history and now will attempt to qualify for OFSAA "AAAA" for the second straight year next weekend in Guelph.

Telloy Simon led the way for St. Mary's with a 20-point, 5 rebound performance.  Nathan Riley (12 points and 14 rebounds) and Tyrick Thompson (12 points, 6 rebounds) were next on the SMHS scoresheet.  Other Eagles to score included Jamari Stevenson (5), Jermaine Lyle (4), Tyler Hergott (2), and Avery Sutton (2).

Patric McGlynn had an impressive game for Rez; the 6'4" fourth year guard finished with 17 points and 15 rebounds, as well as 5 blocks.  Jacob Gilbert added 16 for Rez, while Kirolos Milio (6 points + 7 rebounds), Tyler Bartley (6), Mark Wylie (3) and Onique Findlay (2) rounded out the Rez scoring.

The Phoenix still have a chance to advance to "AAAA" CWOSSA by way of a play-in game; they will take on D10 #2, JF Ross, in Guelph on Wednesday at 4pm.

Boxscore

RCSS    11-11-13-15 = 50
SMHS   08-18-12-19 = 57

Resurrection (50)
T. Hunter        0-4 FG, 0-0 FT, 3 Reb, 1 Ast - 0 Pts.
P. McGlynn   6-15 FG, 5-11 FT, 15 Reb, 2 Ast - 17 Pts.
J. Gilbert       6-20 FG, 3-4 FT, 4 Reb, 0 Ast - 16 Pts.
T. Bartley       2-3 FG, 0-0 FT, 7 Reb, 1 Ast - 6 Pts.
K. Milio         2-4 FG, 2-2 FT, 10 Reb, 2 Ast - 6 Pts.
-----------
M. Wylie       1-2 FG, 0-0 FT, 4 Reb, 2 Ast - 3 Pts.
O. Findlay      1-1 FG, 0-0 FT, 1 Reb, 0 Ast - 2 Pts.
A. Pickett       0-1 FG, 0-0 FT, 2 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.
Z. Holness      0-0 FG, 0-0 FT, 0 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.

Field Goals:  18-60 (.300).  Free-Throws:  10-17 (.588).  Three-Point Goals:  4-11, .363 (T. Bartley 2-2, M. Wylie 1-1, J. Gilbert 1-2, T. Hunter 0-2, P. McGlynn 0-4).

St. Mary's (57)
N. Riley        4-17 FG, 4-9 FT, 14 Reb, 1 Ast - 12 Pts.
J. Lyle           1-10 FG, 2-2 FT, 4 Reb, 1 Ast - 4 Pts.
T. Thompson 4-15 FG, 3-8 FT, 6 Reb, 1 Ast - 12 Pts.
T. Hergott     1-6 FG, 0-0 FT, 4 Reb, 2 Ast - 2 Pts.
T. Simon       6-12 FG, 6-8 FT, 5 Reb, 0 Ast - 20 Pts.
----------
J. Stevenson  2-5 FG, 0-0 FT, 2 Reb, 1 Ast - 5 Pts.
A. Sutton       1-4 FG, 0-0 FT, 1 Reb, 2 Ast - 2 Pts.
E. Duong       0-0 FG, 0-0 FT, 1 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.

Field Goals:  19-69 (.275).  Free-Throws:  15-27 (.556).  Three-Point Goals:  4-19, .211 (T. Simon 2-7, T. Thompson 1-3, J. Stevenson 1-4, T. Hergott 0-1, J. Lyle 0-4).

D8 Junior Final: Eagles Save Best For Last Against Saints

The St. Mary's Eagles overcame an 8-point deficit with just over 3:00 to play as they finished the game on an 11-1 run in a thrilling 38-36 win over the St. Benedict Saints on Friday at the University of Waterloo.

It certainly didn't look like St. Mary's would have much of a chance being down 8 in such a low-scoring game, especially given the regularity at which they were turning the ball over and missing shots (1-for-22 from three-point range to that point in the game).  However, they certainly "saved the best for (the) last (3:30 of the game)".

It started with a Henoak Abara lay-in that got the Eagles to within 6 and 3:00 to play.

He then converted an "and one" off of a steal to cut things down to 35-32 with 2:48 to go.  Quickly, 5 points were erased from the deficit in a matter of seconds.

After the Saints were able to kill some time off the clock, Alex Douglas converted 1-of-2 free throws for a 36-32 SBCSS advantage.

The Saints had the ball back (1:30 to go) when the Eagles forced a steal.  A great defensive strip by Zubair Seyed forced St. Mary's to inbound the ball baseline, where they found grade nine forward Minas Abara alone for a three-point attempt, which he made to cut things down to one.

Another SBCSS turnover then led to Adham Eleeda finding Minas Abara inside and, all of a sudden, St. Mary's had a one point lead with under one minute to play.

The Eagles made the mistake on the next defensive possession of leaving Saints' sharpshooter Justin Malnerich open on a three-point attempt --- but were lucky to have him miss.  St. Mary's would add one more free-throw while Malnerich missed a tough contested three-pointer with about :10 to go for the final margin.

Henoak Abara led the way for St. Mary's with 12 points, 8 rebounds, and 2 assists.  Adham Eleeda added 9, while Minas Abara had 7.  David Nguyen (6), Gordon Lam (2) and Barnaba Neil (2) were also on the St. Mary's scoresheet.

Alex Douglas had a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds for the Saints.  Justin Malnerich had 11 points off the bench, hile Zubair Seyed (3), Vicken Geokjian (3), Khiem Tran (3), Lucas Cardoso (2) and Jamal Hajo (1) also scored for St. Benedict.

St. Mary's will advance to the "AAAA" junior tournament next weekend in Guelph, while the Saints will play JF Ross on Wednesday in a qualifying game.

Boxscore

SBCSS  12-07-10-07 = 36
SMHS   11-09-07-11 = 38

St. Benedict (36)
Z. Seyed        1-10 FG, 1-1 FT, 1 Reb, 3 Ast - 3 Pts.
A. Douglas   4-10 FG, 4-8 FT, 10 Reb, 0 Ast - 13 Pts.
A. McIntosh  0-0 FG, 0-0 FT, 2 Reb, 2 Ast - 0 Pts.
V. Geokjian   1-3 FG, 1-2 FT, 5 Reb, 0 Ast - 3 Pts.
K. Tran          1-6 FG, 0-0 FT, 0 Reb, 1 Ast - 3 Pts.
---------
J. Malnerich   3-9 FG, 2-3 FT, 0 Reb, 0 Ast - 11 Pts.
M. Le             0-0 FG, 0-0 FT, 2 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.
L. Cardoso     1-1 FG, 0-0 FT, 3 Reb, 0 Ast - 2 Pts.
A. Abdi          0-1 FG, 0-0 FT, 0 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.
S. Arora         0-1 FG, 0-0 FT, 0 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.
J. Hajo           0-1 FG, 1-2 FT, 0 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.

Field Goals:  11-42 (.262).  Free-Throws:  9-16 (.563).  Three-Point Goals:  5-13, .385 (J. Malnerich 3-7, A. Douglas 1-1, K. Tran 1-3, Z. Seyed 0-2).

St. Mary's (38)
H. Abara       5-12 FG, 2-2 FT, 8 Reb, 2 Ast - 12 Pts.
D. Nguyen    1-10 FG, 4-7 FT, 5 Reb, 0 Ast - 6 Pts.
A. Eleeda      4-11 FG, 0-0 FT, 10 Reb, 3 Ast - 9 Pts.
G. Lam         1-8 FG, 0-4 FT, 7 Reb, 2 Ast - 2 Pts.
B. Niel          1-6 FG, 0-0 FT, 15 Reb, 0 Ast - 2 Pts.
-----------
M. Abara      3-7 FG, 0-0 FT, 1 Reb, 2 Ast - 7 Pts.

Field Goals:  15-54 (.278).  Free-Throws:  6-13 (.461).  Three-Point Goals:  2-23, .087:  A. Eleeda 1-5, M. Abara 1-5, G. Lam 0-2, H. Abara 0-4, D. Nguyen 0-7.

AAAA: 2 Play-In Games Announced

After a wild 48 hours last week, the CWOSSA executive came to a decision over the weekend that will allow two play-in games for the AAAA tournament.

As such, the field will be as follows:

D10 - 1
D5 - 1
WCSSAA - 1
D8 - 1
D8 #2 vs. D10 #2 - 1
D5 #2 vs. WCSSAA #2 - 1

Filling in those blanks for you, in senior....

D10 - Centennial
D5 - St. John's
WCSSAA - TBD
D8 - St. Mary's
------
D8 #2 vs. D10 #2 - Resurrection vs. JF Ross
D5 #2 vs. WCSSAA #2 - Assumption vs. TBD

And in junior....

D10 - Centennial
D5 - St. John's
WCSSAA - TBD
D8 - St. Mary's
------
D8 #2 vs. D10 #2 - St. Benedict vs. JF Ross
D5 #2 vs. WCSSAA #2 - Assumption vs. TBD

Of note, the D8 #2 vs. D10 #2 games are both scheduled for tomorrow, Wednesday at 4pm, at JF Ross.  As many of you know, Ross has two full gyms which explains why both are scheduled at the same time.

The D5/WCSSAA game is scheduled for Thursday.  This likely means that WCSSAA games originally scheduled for that day will need to be bumped to Wednesday.

AAA "CWOSSA": Format Announced

St. David CSS in Waterloo will be hosting the "CWOSSA OFSAA Qualifier" and "Junior CWOSSA Classic" tournaments this coming Friday and Saturday.

The format to be used will be essentially the one provided from CWOSSA, and participating teams are:

D4 – Westside Jr. and Sr.
D6/11(WCSSAA) - Kitchener CI Jr. and Sr.
D5 - North Park - Sr.
D10 - St. James Jr. and Sr.
D9 - Holy Trinity Jr. and Sr.
D8 - St. David Jr. and Sr.

The tournament is arranging a sixth junior team, and the draw will be released shortly.

Update:  Monsignor Doyle (Cambridge/D8) will be the 6th junior participant.

AA "CWOSSA" in Guelph - Postponed To Tomorrow

Initially scheduled for today and tomorrow, the weather and travelling conditions have bumped back the OFSAA Qualifier and Junior CWOSSA Friendship tournament to tomorrow (Wednesday) and Thursday.
 
Six teams will be competing in both the junior and senior ranks.  Juniors will be played at Bishop Macdonell and Seniors will play at Our Lady of Lourdes.

The top two teams in each pool will "cross-over" to semifinal play (i.e. First Pool A vs. Second Pool B).
 
Junior - Pool A
Sacred Heart (Walkerton)
Lourdes (Guelph)
Norwell (Palmerston)
 
Junior - Pool B
Bishop Macdonell (Guelph)
Centre Dufferin (Shelburne)
St. Mary (Owen Sound)
 
Junior Schedule - Wednesday
9:00 - Lourdes vs. Norwell
10:30 - Bishop Macdonell vs. St. Mary's
1pm - Sacred Heart vs. Norwell
2:30pm - Centre Dufferin vs. St. Mary's
5:00pm - Sacred Heart vs. Lourdes
6:30pm - Bishop Macdonell vs. Centre Dufferin

Senior - Pool A
Sacred Heart (Walkerton)
Lourdes (Guelph)
Centre Dufferin (Shelburne)

Senior - Pool B
Bishop Macdonell (Guelph)
Norwell (Palmerston)
St. Mary (Owen Sound)

Senior Schedule - Wednesday
9:00am - Bishop Macdonell vs. Norwell
10:30am - Sacred Heart vs. Lourdes
1pm - Norwell vs. St. Mary's
2:30pm - Sacred Heart vs. Centre Dufferin
5:00pm - Bishop Macdonell vs. St. Mary's
6:30pm - Lourdes vs. Centre Dufferin

Guelph Mercury: Bishop Mac Sweeps D10 Basketball Titles

Article By:  Rob Massey

GUELPH – Bishop Macdonell became the first school to sweep the District 10 boys’ basketball titles since 1999 when they took both the senior and junior crowns Saturday night at the Mitchell Athletics Centre.

The Celtics won the senior final 69-59 over the Centennial Spartans a couple of hours after Bishop Mac took the junior final 56-52 over the Lourdes Crusaders.

For the senior final, the Celtics avoided fading, something that occurred in both games of their regular-season split with the Spartans.

“Our guys learned from that,” Bishop Mac coach Marty Kendall said. “They realized that that’s not a good thing.”

“It’s the championship game, so we go hard for the whole thing,” Mitchell Wood said. He was Bishop Mac’s player of the game.

The Celtics also practised keeping their intensity throughout a game in the matches they played after the exam break.

“I think we rehearsed that and we got into their heads,” coach Kendall said. “We just challenged them. ‘How bad do you want this? If you want this, you have to play the whole game because if you don’t, Centennial is good enough to beat you.’ They’ve got great shooters and they find ways.”

Bishop Mac also paid close attention to Centennial’s top two shooters.

“I think it was all defence, that’s what it all came down to and we locked them down,” Wood said.

“We knew they had two good players, Erik Sterne and Tarang (Sharma). They’re their better players so we knew we had to lock them down and focus on them.”

The senior title win was the first for Bishop Mac since 1988 while the junior championship triumph was the fifth in six years for the Celtics.

Bishop Mac held quarter leads of 16-14, 29-26 and 43-42.

Jesse Kendall led the victors with 24 points while Wood followed with 20. Michael Ganson added 12.

Sterne connected for 25 points for Centennial while Sharma had 23 and Harnoor Samra collected eight. Sharma was player of the game for the Spartans.

Both teams advance to OFSAA qualifying (nee CWOSSA) tournaments next week. Bishop Mac goes on to the AA tournament at Lourdes Tuesday and Thursday while Centennial will be in the AAAA tournament at Ross Feb. 23 and 25.

The Celtics are not expecting an easy romp through their CWOSSA tournament.

“We are going to have a really tough time getting through CWOSSA this year,” coach Kendall said.

“Centre Dufferin is a AAA school that moved down to AA. They’ve got a bunch of fifth-year players that have played together and a couple of CIS candidates. They’ve already beat us this year at the Fergus tournament right at the beginning of the year. It’s not going to be a walk like CWOSSA normally is for us. We are going to have our hands full.”

The D10 junior final was a close affair throughout with neither team able to build a substantial lead.
“Lourdes has been tough for us all year long,” Bishop Mac coach Dennis Morris said. “They’ve been very close games -- we played them last week and we got them in overtime. The two teams are very evenly matched and it could’ve gone either way. We were just fortunate.”

Bishop Mac led 13-10 at the end of the first quarter, 26-20 at halftime and 56-52 after the third quarter.

“They were the hottest team in the playoffs, they won by the largest margins. They upset the No. 1 team, Centennial, I consider ourselves fortunate to have hung on and beaten them again. It could’ve gone either way.”

Lukas Wood hit for 28 points for Bishop Mac while Jake Chaput had 10 and Brandon Whiteside gathered nine.

Craig Valeriote had 13 for Lourdes while Alex Hudecki had 12, James Gerstenkorn 11 and Alex Hariton nine.

Both teams advance to the CWOSSA AA tournament. It starts Tuesday at Bishop Mac and wraps up Thursday at Lourdes.

“I don’t know much about the other teams. Lourdes is there so we’ll probably see Lourdes again,” Morris said. “We’ll just have to get ready for another close nail-biter and that’s what I expect.”

Retrieved From:  http://www.guelphmercury.com/sports/highschool/article/888774--bishop-mac-sweeps-d10-basketball-titles

D8 Finals: Eagles Post "Back to Back, Back to Back" Titles

For the second consecutive season, the St. Mary's Eagles swept the junior and senior boys' basketball titles held at the University of Waterloo.

The evening started with the Eagle juniors rallying from an 8-point deficit with 3:30 to go; they finished the game on an 11-1 run to win 38-36.

After St. Mary's started the game 1-for-21 from three-point range, Minas Abara hit a three-pointer with just over one minute to play that brought the Eagles within one.  After a St. Benedict turnover, an Adham Eleeda lay-up put the Eagles ahead for good at 37-36 with :55 left.

Henoak Abara led the way for St. Mary's with 12 points, while Adham Eleeda added 9 and Minas Abara had 7.  David Nguyen (6), Gordon Lam (2) and Barnaba Neil (2) rounded out the St. Mary's scoring.

St. Benedict received 24 points from two grade nines, Alex Douglas (13) and Justin Malnerich (11).  Zubair Seyed (3), Vicken Geokjian (3), Khiem Tran (3), Lucas Cardoso (2) and Jamal Hajo (1) were other Saints on the scoresheet.

On the senior side of things, the heavily-favoured St. Mary's Eagles had to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat as they led Resurrection by only one point (46-45) with 5:00 to go in the fourth quarter.

The Eagles had soundly defeated Resurrection by 31 and 35 points in both their league games.

After the Jacob Gilbert lay-in that cut St. Mary's lead to one, the Eagles got back-to-back three-pointers from Tyrick Thompson and Jamari Stephenson to re-etablish a 7-point lead.  

Patric McGlynn cut things to 54-50 inside of a minute to play, but St. Mary's added the remaining points from the foul line for a 57-50 final.

Telloy Simon led the way for the Eagles with 20 points, while Tyrick Thompson and Nathan Riley had 12 points each (Riley also added 14 rebounds).  Stephenson (5), Jermaine Lyle (4), Tyler Hergott (2) and Avery Sutton (2) rounded out St. Mary's scoring.

Patric McGlynn put home 17 points, 15 rebounds and 5 blocks for Resurrection, while Jacob Gilbert added 16 ooints.  Tyler Bartley (6), Kirolos Milio (6), Mark Wylie (3) and Onique Findlay (2) also hit the scoresheet for Rez.

We'll have full recaps and boxscores from the games to follow.

CWOSSA "AAAA": Schedule, Participants Still Up In The Air

After initial reports surfaced indicating that D8 #2 would play D10 #2 for a CWOSSA berth, with WCSSAA (2), D10 (1), D8 (1) and D5 (1) getting automatic berths as well, I've now been told that's far from a certainty.

With only 4 AAAA teams (senior) and 3 AAAA teams (junior) in WCSSAA qualifiers that started yesterday, I've been told that D10 has filed a motion asking that they receive 2 automatic berths and that WCSSAA should receive one, with WCSSAA #2 playing in a play-in game against D8 #2.

Expect a decision from the CWOSSA executive on this today. 

One thing is for sure --- league winners (or highest-finishing "AAAA" schools in their leagues) will certainly have a berth, so teams can "take care of business" on the court to avoid having their fate decided for them off the court.

D8 Junior Final: Eagles, Saints Set For Championship

D8 Junior Final Preview

(1) St. Benedict Saints (12-1) vs. (2) St. Mary's Eagles (11-2)

Today, 6:00pm, University of Waterloo ($2 admission - valid for senior portion of doubleheader as well)

Season Stats/Review
One team is looking to continue their recent D8 dominance with a third straight league title.

The other hasn't won one since 2000.

Regardless of the outcome, it'll be a pretty easy storyline for writers at the conclusion of today's D8 junior final between the top-seeded St. Benedict Saints and the second-seeded St. Mary's Eagles.

Both teams arrive battle-tested, having completed one of the toughest seasons in D8 junior history. 

The Saints were victorious in both league meetings, although by slim margins (6 and 5 points).  In the second game at St. Mary's, the Eagles sat a couple of key players for (I've been told) disciplinary reasons.

On paper, it certainly appears to be either team's game heading into the contest tonight at UW.

History Lesson
Although (as mentioned above), the Saints haven't won a D8 junior crown since 2001, a win tonight would actually move them into a tie for top spot on the all-time championship list.  They won seven straight titles between 1994-2000, and trail Resurrection (8 titles all-time) on the D8 list.

After those two schools, St. Mary's (4), Rockway (2), and St. David (1) round out the previous historical winners.

Of note, the #1-ranked team entering the playoffs has won the last 5 D8 titles.  St. Mary's was the last #2 seed to win the championship game (2007).

Key Players
We'll start with the Eagles, who have been led all year offensively by Adham Eleeda (6'1" SG) and Henoak Abara; this duo combined for 40 points in St. Mary's semifinal win over St. David.

5'10" G Gordon Lam is a solid defender who can attack the hoop well, while fellow 5'10" G David Nguyen is a good shooter who has made some key shots in big games this season.

6'5" C Barnaba Neil is a major force on the defensive end for St. Mary's, with great shot-blocking and rebounding abilities.  He's a decent offensive threat on put-backs and the odd post-up.

For St. Benedict, Zubair Seyed (5'5" PG / Grade 9) is a lightning-quick guard that "makes the Saints go".  He can hit the three or drive the lane, and has a mid-range game that is rare to see at the junior level.  He put home 26 points in the first meeting between these schools.

Alex Douglas (6'2" F / Grade 9) is coming off a 28-point effort against Resurrection in the D8 semifinals.  One can't be deceived by his size, as he's really more of a SG/SF in a "forward body" at the junior level.

Khiem Tran (5'10" F / Grade 10) is an effective three-point shooter who can also finish well in traffic and is rock-solid from the free-throw line.  The same can mostly be said for 6th man Justin Malnerich (5'9" G / Grade 9), though he prefers the deep three-ball or the mid-range pull-up.  Vicken Geokjian (6'3" F / Grade 10) is their key rebounder and shot blocker on the defensive end, and has pretty decent range for a "5 man".

Prediction
As I stated, it could certainly go either way.  I'll keep with the #1-ranked Saints to get the win --- in a close, hard-fought contest.

Pick:  St. Benedict 49, St. Mary's 45

D8 Senior: Dominant Eagles Seek Perfection Against Phoenix

D8 Senior Final Preview

(1) St. Mary's Eagles (12-0) vs. (2) Resurrection Phoenix (10-3)

Today, 8:00pm - University of Waterloo ($2 Admission)

Season Stats/Review
Dominant.

That's really the only word one can use to describe the St. Mary's Eagles in relation to the rest of the District 8 Senior Boys' basketball teams to this point in the season.

Including their semifinal playoff game, the Eagles are averaging 73.5 PPG while only giving up 33.8 --- a difference of nearly 40 points per contest.  In fact, no team has even been within single digits of St. Mary's in any of their 12 D8 games.

Even their games against second place Resurrection haven't been close --- an 78-47 win back in December followed-up with an 81-46 win in early February.

The question doesn't seem to be "who will win" so much as "by how much".  Of course, St. Mary's will have to avoid the possible overconfidence that can come with a couple of comfortable wins.

History Lesson
Since the D8's inception in 1990-91, years ending with "3" have seen some interesting results in D8 championship games:

1993:  Monsignor Doyle (#2 seed) upsets Resurrection (#1) 59-55, despite Resurrection having blown out MDCSS (58-35) just two weeks prior to the championship game.

2003:  Resurrection (#3 seed) upsets St. Benedict (#1) in championship final; St. Benedict would actually finish 2nd in CWOSSA "AAAA" that year despite the loss and advance to OFSAA.

Obviously, history doesn't predict future results, but that's a trend that Resurrection players and fans are surely hoping see continue tonight.

Meanwhile, St. Mary's is seeking their second consecutive D8 title and third since 2006, after not having won a D8 title prior to that (mostly while the school was in downtown Kitchener, though). 

Resurrection leads the all-time D8 championship senior tally with 11.  St. Mary's, with a win, would tie St. David and St. Benedict (3 each) on the list of senior titles.  Rockway (2) and Monsignor Doyle (1) round out the winners in D8 history.

Key Players
St. Mary's has some of the best guard play in CWOSSA, led by SG Telloy Simon and PG Tyrick Thompson.  Jermaine Lyle, Avery Sutton, Nathan Riley, Jamari Stephenson and Tyler Hergott are all "guards" (or have guard skills, shall we say) and all are capable of contributing on any given night.

The scary thing?  5 of the guys I mentioned above are only in grade eleven.

For Resurrection, they don't have as much depth as the Eagles, relying heavily on the contributions of fourth-year G Patric McGlynn, fourth-year F Jacob Gilbert, and fifth-year F Tyler Bartley.  The Phoenix will need someone to "step up" alongside those three, with Thomas Hunter, Onique Findlay and Zach Holness being the possible candidates.

Prediction
It may not be pretty in the end, but there's a reason why you play the game.  From Resurrection's perspective, they have absolutely nothing to lose, which could make things interesting.

I see a close game early, with the depth of St. Mary's extending the lead throughout the second half.

Pick:  St. Mary's 71, Resurrection 49

D4: Royals, Redmen Take Titles

The Centre Dufferin Royals completed their perfect season in Senior D4 action on Thursday, taking home the league playoff title with a comfortable 55-27 win over the Westside (Orangeville) Thunder.

The 28-point margin was Centre Dufferin's second smallest of the season (27 - also to Westside earlier in the year), which is certain proof that they were by far the class of the league.

Marcco Zanette (21), Carlo Zanette (12) and Dhruv Patel (9) led the way in the final for CDDHS, while Riley Crean had 15 and Connor Clark 6 for WSS.

On the junior side, there was a bit of an upset as #2 Norwell snuck past #1 (and undefeated) CDDHS in a 36-34 final.  CDDHS had defeated Norwell in both meetings during the year, by a combined 38 points (30pts & 8 points, respectively), but the Redmen were able to sneak through in the championship final.

Silas Sales led CDDHS and all scorers with 17 points, while Griffin Moore added 11.  Tory Langille had 12 for Norwell and Travis Soehner scored 8.

WCSSAA "CWOSSA Qualifiers": Junior Highlanders Look Impressive

It would appear as though the junior SJAM Highlanders are certainly not taking it forgranted that they can salvage some of their basketball season.

The 'Landers jumped out to a 56-17 lead over the Waterloo CI Vikings before cruising home in a 64-33 win yesterday at home in Waterloo.

Nedim Hodzic netted 25 for SJAM, while grade nine Simon Petrov added 18.  Shamar Bailey (8) and Aaron Grubb (7) were the top WCI scorers.

Ivan Bilandzic, a 6'5" F, and one of WCI's key players at the start of the season, transferred to St. John-Kilmarnock in Breslau after the "work to rule" at public high schools went into effect.

The other scheduled "exhibition" junior game between Grand River and KCI was not able to be played due to a scheduling conflict.

Junior "AAAA" Qualifier Standings
1.  SJAM 1-0
2.  Grand River 0-0
3.  WCI 0-1

On the senior side of things, the WCI Vikings were tested early, and were only up by single-digits in the third quarter before finishing the game on a 22-6 run to win going away in a 61-29 final.

Dani Elgadi notched 24 for the Vikings, while Zach Totzke added 14.  I've been told that the Vikes will be without F Jacob Ranton (injury) for the remainder of the season.

For Bluevale, John Efechaobor led the way with 12 while Savo Krajisnik netted 8.

The other qualifier game on Thursday saw Grand River defeat Eastwood 69-46, backed by 29 points from grade 10 G/F Jamal Murray.  Chuder Teny added 17 for the Rens, while Eastwood was led by 17 from Ousmane Kromah and 11 from Sydney Stewart.

Senior "AAAA" Qualifier Standings
T1.  WCI 1-0
T1.  Grand River 1-0
T3.  Eastwood 0-1
T3.  Bluevale 0-1