D10: Tuesday Picks

YTD:  8-0 (1.000)

Trying to keep the perfect streak intact, so here goes:

Bishop Mac (2-0) at Orangeville (0-2)
My Pick:  BMAC by 33
The Celtics should improve to 3-0 here today.

JF Ross (1-1) at Centennial (1-1)
My Pick:  JFR by 3
Always an interesting rivalry game; both teams have already played Bishop Mac, with the Royals losing by 12 at home and the Spartans by 17 on the road.  I'll split the difference and add in a couple points for homecourt advantage......Royals in a squeaker.

Lourdes (1-1) at Guelph CVI (1-1)
My Pick:  OLOL by 12
The Crusaders should get back in the win column today in this battle between schools that are less than 1 kilometre apart.

Centre Wellington (0-2) at St. James (2-0)
My Pick:  STJ by 31
The Lions are playing their home opener tonight, and I expect it to be a successful one.

BAA: Monday Results

Play in the Bluewater Athletic Association also opened on Monday, in the South Division (which plays games Mondays & Wednesdays).  The BAA's North Division sees play get under way today.

In senior action last night, John Diefenbaker SS got past Walkerton by a 35-21 count.  The other game was decided in overtime, with Kincardine DSS nipping Saugeen by a 30-28 final.

The junior league saw Sacred Heart defeat Chesley 20-8, while Kincardine bested Saugeen 28-8.

In the latter contest, Amber Howard notched 8 points for Kincardine while Mallory Earnshaw had 6 for the Royals.

The score from the WDSS-JDSS junior game wasn't reported as of the time of this post.

D4: Monday Results

It was the first day of action in the D4 league on Monday; here's a quick look at the scores:

Senior

Westside 28, Centre Dufferin 26
WSS:  Kami Sidhu 8
CDDHS:  Micayla Pflance 8

Wellington Hts. 34, Erin DHS 18
NDSS:  Nicole Bauman 22
EDHS:  Natasha Piroutz 9

Norwell 39, Emmanuel Christian 16
NDSS:  Laura Rumph 25
ECHS:  Laura Kottelenberg 8

Junior

Westside 47, Centre Dufferin 19
(Scorers Unavailable)

Norwell 18, Emmanuel Christian 8
NDSS:  Regan Cook 6
ECHS:  Leah VanVeen 6

D8: Monday Results

The two teams that have established themselves as clear favourites in the D8 junior league, the Resurrection Phoenix and St. Benedict Saints, continued their winning ways on Monday in league play.

The Saints got a game-high 18 points from Afifa Salaad in a 37-21 win over St. David, knocking the Celts from the ranks of the unbeaten.  Julia Mascarenhas had 5 more before leaving with a hand injury, while Megan Goar (9) and Megan Dalley (6) were the top Celtic scorers.

The Resurrection Phoenix had no issues with tiny PRDG as they romped to a 54-5 win over the Chevaliers.  Krissia Vasquez had 8 and Jana Bin-Edward 7 for Rez in that one.

The other game on Monday saw the St. Mary's Eagles escape Rockway with a 20-14 win.  Brittany Emary had 4 for the Eagles while Katarina Klassen had a game-high 7 for the Flames.

D8 Junior Standings
T1.  Resurrection 3-0
T1.  St. Benedict 3-0
T3.  St. David 2-1
T3.  St. Mary's 2-1
5.  Mons. Doyle 1-1
6.  Woodland 0-2
T7.  Rockway 0-3
T7.  PRDG 0-3

Senior
In the most competitive game of the day, the St. David Celtics remained unbeaten by taking out the winless St. Benedict Saints (and in spite of my Saints pick), 41-34.

Of course, I probably wasn't expecting junior star Megan Goar to play up with the seniors and score 12 points (in addition to the 9 in the junior game).  Bobbi-Sue Hentges led SDCSS with 16; Dana Milani and Kayla Leusink had 9 each for the Saints.

St. Mary's and Resurrection also remained unbeaten by posting easy wins on Monday.

The Eagles cruised past Rockway 52-13, backed by Maggie Srouji (9) and Beth Zebib (8).  Lindsay Mustard had a game-high 10 for RMC.

Rez was a 41-23 winner over Woodland Christian, thanks to 19 from Sarah Schulz and 17 from Celia McGlynn.  Rachel Gueter had 10 for the Cavs.

D8 Senior Standings
T1.  St. Mary's 3-0
T1.  Resurrection 3-0
T1.  St. David 3-0
T4.  St. Benedict 0-3
T4.  Rockway 0-3
T4.  Woodland 0-3

D8: Monday Picks

YTD:  6-0 (1.000)

Woodland (0-2) at Resurrection (2-0)
My Pick:  RCSS by 37
The Phoenix should extend their record to 3-0 today at the expense of the Woodland Cavaliers.

St. Benedict (0-2) at St. David (2-0)
My Pick:  SBCSS by 3
Records can be deceiving, as the Saints have lost to the league's top two teams (RCSS & SMHS), while the Celtics have defeated the bottom two teams (WCHS & RMC).  I'll take a chance on the Saints in this one.

St. Mary's (2-0) at Rockway (0-2)
My Pick:  SMHS by 40
The Eagles won't have any problem with the Flames in this one.

Senior: Green Eagles Live Up to #1 Ranking At Home Tournament

Despite a competitive field assembled at the Brantford Tip-Off, the senior Brantford St. John's Green Eagles had no issues marching to the tournament title on Saturday afternoon in Brantford.

The Green Eagles, my current #1 ranked team in CWOSSA, crushed Hamilton Brebeuf in the championship final by a 67-28 margin, with Megan Thompson (20), Kendra Van Leeuwen (18) and Monica Polgar (8) leading the way.

In one semifinal, the Eagles doubled-up Waterloo Collegiate 52-26 (Van Leeuwen 15, Brianna Bavota 9, Thompson 7).  Their first-round saw them take out Hamilton Cathedral 65-44, with three St. John's players in double-figures (Van Leeuwen 16, Thompson 13, Polgar 12).

WCI defeated Wallaceburg 53-34 in their opening game.  Scores from the bottom half of the bracket played at Brantford Collegiate (which co-hosted) were not immediately available.

Junior: Green Eagles Win ECI Tournament; Again Appear Poised for CWOSSA Run

Another season, another year where the Brantford St. John's Green Eagles appear to be one of the favourites for the CWOSSA crown (this time in AAA).

The Eagles rolled over London St. Thomas Aquinas 51-26 in the championship final of the Kitchener Eastwood Tournament this past weekend, thanks in part to a dozen points each from Emily Dignan and Lauren Demont.

In fact, that score was the closest anyone came to St. John's on the weekend as they won their three games by an average margin of 38 points per contest.

St. John's demolished Kitchener St. Mary's by a 55-10 count in one semifinal, with Dignan and Kayla Gaucher providing the 12-point efforts each in that one.  STA knocked off Bishop Macdonell 42-29, with Dieanne Priamo leading the Celtics with 5.

The Celtics dumped St. Mary's by a 60-22 count in the third place game.

In the first-round, scores were: 

St. John's 62, Waterloo SJAM 31
SJC:  Lauren Demont 13
SJAM:  J. Bamberger 14

Bishop Macdonell 35, Waterloo-Oxford 4
BMAC:  Leah Parasatto 10

St. Thomas Aquinas 42, Preston 12

St. Mary's 34, Eastwood 16

Over on the consolation side, SJAM knocked off Preston by a 42-29 count in the final, with Milica Koprivica and Deri Curtin knocking home 11 each.  Claire Gagne had a game-high 16 for the Panthers.

Preston rocked Waterloo-Oxford 38-3 in one consolation semifinal, with Kyra Drane notching 8 points.  SJAM dumped Eastwood 46-16 in the other.

The Rebels would pick up a win in their home tourney, 24-19 over Waterloo-Oxford in the 7th place game.  Emma Miller had 10 to pace WODSS, while Kayte Van Kalsbeek had 9 for the Crusaders.

Junior: Phoenix Upend Rens In Hespeler Final

The youthful Kitchener Resurrection Phoenix played well beyond their years over the weekend in Cambridge.

The Phoenix --- whose offense came mostly from their grade 9 players --- defeated the Grand River Renegades 52-49 in a thrilling championship final on Saturday afternoon at Jacob Hespeler.

Jama Bin-Edward, Krissia Vasquez, Meghan Sharpie and Maddy Antwi, all in grade 9, paced Resurrection throughout the tournament.

Unfortunately for Grand River, they may have lost more than just the championship as one of their key players, Nyasha Mombeshora, went down with what looked like a very serious knee injury.

Resurrection defeated Our Lady of Lourdes (Guelph) 38-26 in one semifinal, while the Rens bested Cambridge Galt CI by a 52-30 count.

Galt knocked off Lourdes, 47-44, in the third place game.

First-round scores were:  Lourdes 40, Jacob Hespeler 38 (in OT); Resurrection 58, Southwood 20; Galt 31, JF Ross 29; and Grand River 51, St. Benedict 28.

On the consolation side, Jacob Hespeler took the crown by defeating JF Ross 35-26 in the final.  The Hawks took out Cambridge rivals Southwood (43-25) while JF Ross bested St. Benedict (57-43) in the semifinals.

Southwood won the 7th place game, 27-25 over St. Benedict.

Senior: Hawks Soar At Home Tournament

After a disappointing league loss on Thursday afternoon to the Cameron Heights Golden Gaels, the Jacob Hespeler Hawks promptly put that in the rearview mirror by going 3-0 and capturing the championship at their home tournament this past weekend.

The Hawks defeated Kitchener Grand River 46-31 in the championship final, with Jasmine Ramcharan pouring in 29 points for the victors.  Caroline Lorkovic netted 10 for GRCI, with Nyamuoch Teny adding 8.

"She (Ramcharan) was the difference," said Grand River head coach Scott Reynolds, whose squad did a decent job of mitigating the damage caused by JHSS forwards Candice and Courtney Wright.

The Hawks defeated JF Ross (37-28) in one semifinal, while the Renegades came back from a halftime deficit and took out the KCI Raiders 34-26.

In the first round, scores were Jacob Hespeler 46, Forest Heights 13; JF Ross 56, Galt CI 14; Grand River 48, Kincardine 24; and KCI 32, Southwood 16.

Over on the other side of the bracket, Forest Heights took the consolation title with a 37-32 win over Cambridge Southwood.  The Trojans demolished Galt (41-11) in one semifinal while Southwood got past Kincardine (43-29) in the other.

The Ghosts nipped Kincardine 25-22 in the 7th place game.

CWOSSA Weekly Top Ten: SENIOR

Well, it was certainly an interesting first week of league play around the various CWOSSA leagues.  As anticipated, "parity" seems to be the name of the game and I'm not sure if we've seen more competitive league games and tournaments in recent memory.

The big jump of the week goes to the St. James Lions, who have earned themselves a top-4 ranking thanks to taking home the title at the JF Ross Senior Tournament, as well as a 2-0 start in league play with a Thursday afternoon win over a solid Our Lady of Lourdes team.

Here's this week's ranking:

1.  St. John's College (Brantford) - AAA
Last Week:  #1
The Green Eagles went 2-1 at the prestigious Purple & White in London last weekend; this coming weekend, they're  hosting a tournament featuring several ranked CWOSSA clubs, so keep an eye on that.

2.  Bluevale Collegiate (Waterloo) - AAAA
Last Week:  #2
The Knights are "2-0" in league play, although they only played one offiical game, a 48-24 win over Elmira (they also had a "bye win" over GPSS, who do not have a team this year).

3.  Waterloo-Oxford (Baden) - AAA
Last Week:  #3
The Crusaders are off to a nice start, winning their home tournament as expected and picking up 2 convincing league wins.

4.  St. James (Guelph) - AAA
Last Week:  #10 (tie)
The Lions defeated Bishop Reding (Milton) & Cardinal Newman (Stoney Creek) en route to the JF Ross tourney title; they then posted wins over GCVI & Lourdes in league play.

5.  Bishop Macdonell (Guelph) - AA
Last Week:  #10 (tie)
The Celtics were expected to be down a bit after key losses from a season ago, but they opened their season with two double-digit victories over Centennial & JF Ross.

6.  Waterloo Collegiate - AAAA
Last Week:  #4
The first "true test" for the Vikes in league play will come next week against Jacob Hespeler.  They're among the ranked teams in Brantford this weekend at the SJC tournament.

7.  Kitchener Collegiate - AAA
Last Week:  Not Ranked
The Raiders picked up an opening day win over Cameron Heights (made that much more impressive by CHCI's win over JHSS on Thursday).  KCI's returnees and talent moved up from the WCSSAA junior champs have meshed well early in the season.

8.  Lourdes - AA
Last Week:  #5
The Crusaders will be in a battle --- as usual --- with Bishop Macdonell for D10's "AA" CWOSSA berth. 

9.  Cameron Heights - AAAA
Last Week:  Not Ranked
Evening their record at 1-1 was huge as the Gaels should be able to win their next three league games, before a huge tilt with WCI on October 8th.

10 (tie).  Resurrection - AAAA
Last Week:  #7
The Phoenix didn't do anything wrong this week, but their calibre of wins (league wins over SBCSS & RMC) allowed a couple teams to vault over them in the rankings.  Still a team that deserves to be ranked at this point.

10 (tie).  Jacob Hespeler - AAA
Last Week:  #6
A disappointing loss to Cameron Heights, but the Hawks will have opportunity for redemption this weekend at their home tournament.

Honourable Mention / On The Radar:  St. Mary's (Kitchener), North Park (Brantford), Assumption (Brantford).

Junior: ECI Tournament This Coming Weekend

The Eastwood Rebels have arranged an 8-team field for a home tournament this coming weekend; several top-10 CWOSSA teams will be participating.

Here's a look at the opening round draw, which starts today:

2:30pm - Eastwood vs. St. Mary's (Kitchener)

4:00pm - St. John's (Brantford) vs. SJAM (Waterloo)

5:30pm - Bishop Mac (Guelph) vs. Waterloo-Oxford

7:00pm - STA (London) vs. Preston (Cambridge)

Semifinals go at 11:30am and 1:00pm tomorrow, with the championship final at 7:00pm.

WCSSAA Senior: Cameron Heights Shocks JHSS; Lancers Roll Past Huron Heights

As Yogi Berra said, it's déjà-vu all over again.

Just like a season ago, and under similar circumstances, the Cameron Heights Golden Gaels picked up an early-season upset road win over the Jacob Hespeler Hawks on Thursday afternoon in Cambridge.

It also wasn't too different a scoreline, 37-31 compared to the 41-37 final from a season ago.

Tonisha Lewis (15) and Nina Farkic (10) led the way for Cameron Heights with double-digits performances, while Candice Wright (18) and Courtney Wright (9) provided almost all of the Jacob Hespeler offense.

Both those teams are now 1-1 on the season.

Meanwhile, after patting myself on the back for a perfect 7-0 start, I also saw the Elmira Lancers destroy the Huron Heights Huskies after picking Huron by single digits, so congrats to Elmira there.

In the 53-31 final, Kelsie Freeman (18), Nicole Cressman (15) and Carly Sider (10) were all in double-figures for EDSS, while Katrina Kostecki (10) and Jenna Gangl (9) paced Huron.

Here's a look at the other results from Thursday:

WODSS 44, Grand River 22
My Pick:  WODSS by 12
The Rens certainly had their offensive struggles on Thursday, as they couldn't get untracked against the veteran Crusaders.  Maddy Horst poured in 29 for WO in the win, while Tess Pettigrew added 8.  Tara DeBoer and Caroline Lorkovic netted 6 each for the Rens.

WCI 35, Preston 14
My Pick:  WCI by 37
Some of the Vikes' youth got some solid minutes in this one, as they were led by Kaitlyn Bentz (13), Olivia Bender (6) and Hayley Birss (6).  Allison Cranwill had 4 for the Panthers.

Southwood 36, Eastwood 22
My Pick:  SSS by 27
The Sabres evened up their record, with a 10-point contribution from Megan Cole and 9 from Brianne Jewell.  Kayla Shantz had a game-high 12 for ECI, while Mel Samuel added 7.

Forest Hts. 33, SJAM 29
My Pick:  FHCI by 5
Both teams' usual high scorers were tops again on this day, as Linna Liou (FHCI) had 8 and Taylor Trush (SJAM) a game-high 13 for their respective clubs.

KCI 51, Galt 19
My Pick:  KCI by 22
The Raiders moved to 2-0 at the expense of the 0-2 Galt Ghosts.  Christiana Koebel (13) and Frances Campbell (12) led the way for KCI; Cassy Ramlal (9) and Bethany Greathead (5) were the top Galt performers.

WCSSAA Junior: Familiar Faces Appear Poised For Title Shot

The two teams that met in last year's WCSSAA junior championship game again appear poised to make another run to a possible title.

The KCI Raiders (2-0) posted their second straight impressive win, this time a 41-24 decision over the Galt Ghosts (1-1).  The Ghosts had defeated WCI, 43-26, in their opener.

Thea Taylor poured in 19 points for the Raiders in that one, with Olivia Mickie adding 9.  Emma Buck (15) and Beth Fleming (4) paced the Ghosts.

Grand River, meanwhile, got off to a strong offensive start with a 56-31 demolition of Waterloo-Oxford.  Looks like the Rens will be just fine even without their top two junior-aged players (Tara DeBoer & Nyamuoch Teny) who are both playing senior.

Maya Day pumped home 24 points for the Rens, a WCSSAA individual high point total on the afternoon.  Nancy Michael chipped in with 8 more for Grand River, while Emily Glendinning had 18 points for the Crusaders.

Here's the rest of Thursday's action:

Preston 39, WCI 19
It's certainly going to be a different season for both these clubs compared to last; WCI's 2nd loss is more than they had all of last year in WCSSAA (1).  Preston's 2nd win, meanwhile, equals their win total from 2012.  Claire Gagne (10) and Brooke Davidson (8) were the top Preston scorers, while Victoria Giguere again led WCI (7) while teammate Katie Kroeze netted 4.

Huron Heights 23, Elmira 20
The Huskies evened their record by nipping the Lancers on the road --- and in dramatic fashion.  Sarah Bidinosti had 13 to lead the way for Huron, which included a buzzer-beating three-pointer from well beyond the three-point arc.  Only seconds earlier, Elmira missed the front-end of a 1-and-1 with :05 on the clock.  Jamila Beckford added 4 for HHSS.  Jenna McGregor was tops for Elmira, with 6.

SJAM 39, Forest Hts. 25
Milica Koprivica had a game-high 12 points for the 'Landers, who evened up their record at 1-1.  Sona Khalifeh had 11 for the Trojans.

Jacob Hespeler 31, Cameron Heights 13
The Hawks are doing it with defense, having only given up 19.0 PPG through their first two league contests.  Maggie Peterson (13), Taylor Finamore (4) and Shianne Riggan (4) were tops on the Hespeler scoresheet, while Katrina Stickel had 6 for Cameron.

Bluevale 53, Glenview Park 10
The Knights are quietly looking like a team that could make some noise this year.  On Thursday, Megan Reid (14) and Zoey Scanling (13) led the way for them; Claire Rabara (7) and Chuchu Oyual (4) led Glenview Park.

D10: Thursday Results

So much for "rebuilding".

Defending D10 senior champion Bishop Macdonell has bolted out of the starting gate, picking up two wins on opening week over "AAAA" Guelph schools.

The latter came on Thursday afternoon on the road at JF Ross, where the Celtics defeated the Royals by a 40-28 final.

Rebecca Morris (12) and Jess Morris (8) led the way for Bishop Mac, while Maddy Darling had a game-high 14 for the Royals.

(For the record, I had picked Bishop Mac by 13 in that one --- a little more help next time, please!).

Here's the rest of Thursday's D10 action:

St. James 46, Lourdes 31
My Pick:  STJ by 5
In a battle between two top-ten CWOSSA teams, the Lions pick up an important win.  Nastassja Herriot (19) and Chelsey Gazzola (8) led St. James, while Charlotte Case had 10 and Monica Trimble 6 for the Crusaders.

Guelph CVI 45, CWDHS 35
My Pick:  GCVI by 18
Scoring details were unavailable for this battle of teams that dropped their openers; the Gaels evened up their record at 1-1.

Centennial 29, Orangeville 10
My Pick:  CCVI by 24
Arugably one of the lowest-scoring (combined) senior games in recent memory, with 39 total points.  As you might expect, there were no double-digit individual scoring performances in this one --- Elizabeth Newman and Halle Milne had 9 each for the Spartans, while Sam French tallied 4 for the Bears.

D10 Junior

Lourdes 53, St. James 20
OLOL:  Rainey Psenicka 12, M. McIntosh/N. Martinez 10
STJ:  Melyssa Aramini 5

Centennial 41, Orangeville 14
CCVI:  Carter Godman 11

Guelph CVI 25, CWDHS 16
GCVI:  Abbey MacIntyre 10

Bishop Mac 49, JF Ross 44
(Top Scorers Unavailable)

Senior: St. John's Hosting High Calibre Field This Weekend

Mark this one on your calendars.

The St. John's College Green Eagles have put together an impressive field for their annual home tournament (co-hosted with Brantford CI) this coming weekend.

Among the invitees are several highly-regarded CWOSSA teams (WCI, Bishop Macdonell, Assumption, Brantford CI, St. John's) and out-of-town representation from Hamilton schools Cathedral & Brebeuf, as well as Wallaceburg DHS.

The first round is split between St. John's and Brantford CI:

First Round @ SJC
2:00pm:  St. John's vs. Cathedral
3:30pm:  WCI vs. Wallaceburg

First Round @ BCI
2:00pm:  Brantford CI vs. Brebeuf
3:30pm:  Assumption vs. Bishop Macdonell

Championship semifinals go at 8:30pm on Friday, with the championship final on Saturday (1:30pm) at St. John's.