WCSSAA: Tuesday Picks

YTD:  25-5 (.833)

On a nice run as far as the picks are concerned, so let's see if I can keep it going with today's action, all slated for 5pm starts:

Southwood (1-4) at Jacob Hespeler (0-4)
My Pick:  JHSS by 15
The JHSS Hawks have played a competitive schedule to open their season, but they should be able to get their first win of the year here at home.

Forest Heights (1-4) at Cameron Hts. (5-0)
My Pick:  CHCI by 36
Unless they're already mentally on Christmas holidays, the Gaels will maintain their perfect league mark into the midway point of the season.

Glenview Park (4-1) at Preston (1-4)
My Pick:  GPSS by 12
The Panthers might be the surprise team of the year to this point, at least as far as the standings are concerned.  I'll take them to grab another win in this one.

Galt (3-2) at KCI (4-1)
My Pick:  KCI by 3
Big game for both teams here, who should be in the hunt for "AAA" CWOSSA spots at year's end.  I'll roll with the homecourt Raiders in what should be a great game. 

WCI (3-2) at SJAM (4-1)
My Pick:  SJAM by 13
Big rivalry game here, so certainly not a "gimme" by any means, but I do like the SJAM Highlanders in the friendly confines of their home gym.

Eastwood (4-1) at Huron Hts. (3-2)
My Pick:  ECI by 5
An interesting one here, as Huron Heights played very well over the weekend at the WCI/BCI tournament, capturing the consolation title.  I'll go with the Rebels, though, in one that could go either way.

Grand River (3-1) at Bluevale (2-3)
My Pick:  GRCI by 21
The Rens are currently in 6th place in the WCSSAA standings, though they do have a game in hand on the teams in front of them.  Not sure if they'll be able to bypass any today (as I've picked them all to win again), but look for GRCI to hold up their end of the bargain and win here.

D8 Monday: Mustangs Roll Past Celtics

The eyes of the Monsignor Doyle Mustangs must light up like a Christmas tree when they see me picking them to win a "close game".

For the second such time this season, I had the 'Stangs by single-digits on the road (this time at St. David), only to see them pull out a "comfortable" win -- 63-39 over the St. David Celtics.

Ryan Stafford had 14 for the winners, while Jamal Bell and Uzair Khan added 13 each.  Resurrection transfer Mack Smith netted 6 points to lead St. David.

In other action:

Resurrection 75, Woodland 24
My Pick:  RCSS by 38
No trouble for the Phoenix at home on Monday, with Jacob Gilbert (14) and Nick Snider (10) pacing the scoring for Rez.  Trent Fisher scored 11 for WCHS.

St. Benedict 58, Rockway 39
My Pick:  SBCSS by 21
The Saints picked up an important win, their second of the season, with Omar Comanto (11) and Khiem Tran (8) leading the way.  Connor Huxman had 7 points for the Flames.

D8 Senior Standings
T1.  St. Mary's 5-0
T1.  Resurrection 5-0
3.  Mons. Doyle 4-2
T4.  St. David 2-3
T4.  St. Benedict 2-3
T6.  Woodland 0-5
T6.  Rockway 0-5

Junior

St. David 56, Mons. Doyle 41
John McElroy pumped home 20 points as the Celtics solidified their grasp on the 4th (and final) playoff berth through nearly the mid-point of the season.  Jordan Deveney-Reid had 17 points for the 'Stangs.

Resurrection 61, Woodland 17
A balanced Rez attack on Monday was paced by Alexis Garcia (8), Shaquille Amos (7), and Graham Swarbrick (6).  Teddy Neuman had 5 for the Cavs.

St. Benedict 64, Rockway 13
Solid defensive effort for the Saints on Monday, while offensive contributions were received by Nick Phung (13) and Alex Douglas (12).  Matthew Kipper and Jesse Reusser each had 3 for the Flames.

D8 Junior Standings
T1.  St. Mary's 5-0
T1.  Resurrection 5-0
T3.  St. Benedict 3-2
T3.  St. David 3-2
5.  Rockway 1-4
6.  Mons. Doyle 1-5
7.  Woodland 0-5

Sr. Boys Christmas Tournament @ Walkerton DCS - One Team Needed

Senior Boys Christmas Tournament @ Walkerton District
Saturday January 4th, 2014

4 Teams - 3 games each (Round Robin Format)

Cost:  $185

If interested or if any further questions, please contact tournament convenor Dave West by e-mail at:

david_west (at) bwdsb.on.ca

Senior: Ross Royals Take Barrie Central Hoopfest Title

The JF Ross Royals took home the Barrie Central Hoopfest title for the third time in the tournament's history over the weekend, getting a three-pointer in the dying seconds to take out LaSalle SS (Sudbury) 56-55 in the championship game.

Earlier in the tournament, the Royals defeated Timmins CVI 73-49, and Barrie Eastview (in blowout fashion by about 50).

The Royals are currently ranked #3 in the latest CWOSSA rankings and are the lone undefeated team (6-0) in the D10 senior circuit.

D8: Monday Picks

YTD Record:  15-0 (1.000)

A big game today in D8, with Monsignor Doyle (3-2) travelling to play St. David (2-2).  Both are currently in playoff position, but there are bigger goals on the horizon as the two "AAA" schools will be fighting it out for the league's CWOSSA berth.

Should be a close one in Waterloo; I'll take MDCSS by 4.

The other games:

Rockway (0-4) at St. Benedict (1-3)
My Pick:  SBCSS by 21
The Saints should gain a game on the current teams in playoff position with a victory today at home against Rockway.

Woodland (0-4) at Resurrection (4-0)
My Pick:  RCSS by 38 
The Phoenix will move to 5-0 in advance of Wednesday's big showdown with fellow undefeated D8 team, St. Mary's.

Junior: SBCSS Saints Impress With Win Over GTA #5 Jean Vanier

The St. Benedict Saints were victorious over HoopTownGTA.com's #5-ranked junior boys' team, Jean Vanier (Richmond Hill) as they bested them in a low-scoring affair (35-28) at the Welland Notre Dame Invitational this past weekend.

Zubair Seyed (12), Alex Douglas (10) and Justin Malernich (10) accounted for virtually all of the Saint points in that contest.

The win advanced SBCSS to the tournament's semfinals, where they were slated to play powerhouse Campion (Brampton).  However, with the winter weather, Campion did not make the return trip to Welland.

On the other side of the bracket, D'Youville (Brampton) and MacNab (Hamilton) were also unable to make it down for Saturday's semifinals.

It's certainly unfortunate that the weather played havoc on this one, as it would have been neat to see how one of CWOSSA's top junior teams stacked up against talented opposition from other areas.

All was not lost for SBCSS, though.  The Saints played host Welland Notre Dame in the "finals" where they handled the hosts by about 20 points.

Junior: Resurrection Tops WCI to Take ECI Tournament Title

A competitive championship final between two of the top 5 CWOSSA junior teams ended with the Resurrection Phoenix taking a 67-62 victory over the WCI Vikings on Saturday evening at Eastwood Collegiate in Kitchener.

The Phoenix led by double-digits several times, including by 11 early in the fourth quarter, but the Vikes showed tremendous poise, cutting the lead down to a single-possession game (3 points) with under a minute to go before Resurrection free-throws closed this one out.
Tournament MVP Muyang Iluya led Resurrection with 23 points and 10 rebounds, while Ali Rashid added 19 points and 9 assists.

For WCI, Aaron Grubb led the scoring with 19 points, while Adam Piazza had 15 points and a game-high 16 rebounds.



MVP Muyang Iluya

Iluya also scored 25 points in the semifinal game for Rez, a 70-53 win over Guelph Bishop Macdonell.  Greg McEachern had 15 points for the Celtics in that one.

WCI won an "all-WCSSAA" semifinal over Grand River by a 60-50 score.

The "3rd place game" went to Bishop Mac, who defeated the Rens in a 56-48 final.  The host Eastwood Rebels took the consolation side of the bracket in default fashion, as Dundas Highland elected to head home after their morning game due to deteriorating road conditions.

Senior: Rens Fall In Knights-Vikes Shootout Championship

It was a tale of two halves for the Grand River Renegades on Saturday evening at the Knights-Vikes Senior Boys' Basketball championship.

The Rens took a 42-28 lead into intermission against Notre Dame (Welland), only to be outscored 42-16 in the second half during a 70-58 defeat.

Chuder Teny led the way for Grand River (19 points) with Miro Iliev adding 13.

Earlier in the day, the Rens got some revenge against Waterloo SJAM for their league loss earlier in the week by taking out the Highlanders 63-48.  Teny (20) and Iliev (18) again paced GRCI, while Brett Parrott had 14 and Nedim Hodzic 12 for the 'Landers.

Guelph St. James fell to Notre Dame 47-39 in the other semifinal.  Mitch Marquis had 7 points to pace a balanced Lion attack.

On the consolation side of the bracket, the Huron Heights Huskies took out a couple of CWOSSA teams before besting Stratford Central in the final, 71-56.

In the consolation quarterfinals, Huron Heights received 21 points from Darcy Jacobs and 9 from Bojan Oroz in a 67-60 win over KCI.  Stefan Simic had a 20-point effort for KCI.

The Huskies topped Waterloo St. David 61-55 in the consolation semifinal, with Arshid Babury scoring 26 points.  Cole Brenner had 12 to lead the Celtics.

In the aforementioned consolation final, Darcy Jacobs had 26 points and Nathaniel Ernst-Finnie 22 to lead the way for Huron.

20+ (CWOSSA) efforts:  WCI-BCI Tournament
30 - Savo Krajisnik, Bluevale vs. Bolton St. Michael
26 - Darcy Jacobs, HHHS vs. Stratford Central
24 - Chuder Teny, GRCI vs. Welland Centennial
23 - Nedim Hodzic, SJAM vs. Stratford Central
22 - Nathaniel Ernst-Finnie, HHHS vs. Stratford Central
22 - Adam Schneider, Resurrection vs. KCI
22 - Garrett Large, Bluevale vs. Grand River
21 - Darcy Jacobs, HHHS vs. St. David
21 - Miro Iliev, Grand River vs. Bluevale
20 - Brett Parrott, SJAM vs. Eastwood
20 - Chuder Teny, Grand River vs. SJAM
20 - Stefan Simic, KCI vs. Forest Heights
20 - Stefan Simic, KCI vs. Huron Heights

BCSSAA Scores & Standings: Thursday

Senior

North Park 61, Paris DHS 15
St. John's 63, Brantford CI 33
Assumption 72, Pauline Johnson 29

Senior Standings
1.  North Park 4-0
T2.  St. John's 3-1
T2.  Assumption 3-1
4.  Brantford CI 2-2
T5.  Paris DHS 0-4
T5.  Pauline Johnson 0-4

Junior

North Park 54, Paris DHS 20
St. John's 38, Brantford CI 33
Assumption 67, Pauline Johnson 29

Junior Standings
T1.  North Park 4-0
T1.  St. John's 4-0
T3.  Brantford CI 2-2
T3.  Assumption 2-2
T5.  Pauline Johnson 0-4
T5.  Paris DHS 0-4

CWOSSA Tournament Action: This Weekend

WCI/BCI "16 Team" Senior Tournament
Top 10 CWOSSA Teams Participating:  Grand River, SJAM, Resurrection, Guelph St. James.

Today's 1st Round - At Bluevale
12:30pm:  Bluevale vs. St. Michael (Bolton)
2:00pm:  Grand River vs. Centennial (Welland)
3:30pm:  SJAM vs. Stratford Central
5:00pm:  Eastwood vs. St. Benedict

Today's 1st Round - At WCI
Final:  WCI 58, St. David 50
2:00pm:  Welland Notre Dame vs. Forest Heights
3:30pm:  KCI vs. Resurrection
5:00pm:  Huron Heights vs. St. James

Eastwood Junior Tournament
Top 10 CWOSSA Teams Participating:  Resurrection, WCI, Grand River

1st Round Games Today
2:30pm:  Eastwood vs. Bishop Macdonell
4:00pm:  Resurrection vs. Waterloo-Oxford
5:30pm:  Grand River vs. Highland (Dundas)
7:00pm:  WCI vs. Ancaster

Southwood Junior Tournament

Pool A: Southwood, Galt, KCI

Pool B:  Forest Heights, St. David, Preston

Championship Final (1st "A" vs. 1st "B") - Saturday @ 3:30pm

CWOSSA Weekly Top Ten (Junior): Eagles Wild Ride Keeps Them In First

Well, that was interesting.

"That" referring to the week for the St. Mary's Eagles Junior Boys' Basketball Team.

After losing in the SJAM Hoopla tournament final last Saturday to D8 rival St. Benedict, the Eagles rebounded just four days later at home in a 57-40 league victory --- enough to re-establish themselves as my #1 team in the CWOSSA weekly ranking.

Last week's ranking is in brackets:

1.  St. Mary's HS / Kitchener (1)

2.  Resurrection CSS / Kitchener (3)

3.  St. Benedict CSS / Cambridge (4)

4.  Sir John A. MacDonald HS / Waterloo (2)

5.  Waterloo CI / Waterloo (5)

6.  Cameron Heights / Kitchener (8)

7.  St. James CHS / Guelph (10)

8.  Grand River CI / Kitchener (9)

9.  North Park CVI / Brantford (7)

10.  Bluevale CI / Waterloo (NR)

CWOSSA Weekly Top Ten (Senior): Week 2 - Eagles, Gaels Continue to Pace Rankings

It's safe to say that the St. Mary's Eagles and the Cameron Heights Gaels have established themselves as the two CWOSSA "AAAA" favourites at this (early) juncture of the season.

For the second consecutive week, those two clubs are "one-two" in the weekly CWOSSA Power Ranking.

After that, however, it gets a bit interesting.

This past week saw many ranked teams win (and lose) against other ranked teams.  It certainly makes my job a bit more difficult when that happens, but here's how I have the teams ranked at this juncture (with last week's ranking in brackets):

1.  St. Mary's HS / Kitchener (1)

2.  Cameron Heights CI / Kitchener (2)

3.  John F. Ross CVI / Guelph (4)

4.  Grand River CI / Kitchener (3)

5.  Our Lady of Lourdes HS / Guelph (T10)

6.  Resurrection CSS / Kitchener (5)

T7.  Bishop Macdonell HS / Guelph (6)

T7.  St. John's College / Brantford (7)

T7.  Sir John A. Macdonald SS / Waterloo (9)

T10.  St. James CHS / Guelph (NR)

T10.  North Park CVS / Brantford (8)

D10: Thursday Results & Standings

Here's the action from yesterday in the D10 league:

Senior

JF Ross 67, Centennial 45
My Pick:  JFR by 14
The Royals win the rivalry game thanks to a big effort from Kristian Vande Kemp (26 points).  Harnoor Samra (13) and Chris Jin (11) were the top Centennial scorers.

Orangeville 54, Guelph CVI 36
My Pick:  ODSS by 3
The Bears pick up their first win of the year on the road, with Deysean Thompson and Cody Edmunds netting 13 each.  Tyler Beaton had 10 for the Gaels.

St. James 58, CWDHS 33
My Pick:  STJ by 11
No trouble at home for the Lions who received 13 from Joey Hasson in a big win over CWDHS.  James Scott paced the Falcons with 11.

D10 Senior Standings
1.  JF Ross 6-0
T2.  Lourdes 5-1
T2.  Bishop Mac 5-1
T4.  St. James 3-3
T4.  Centennial 3-3
T6.  CWDHS 1-5
T6.  Orangeville 1-5
8.  Guelph CVI 0-6

Junior

Orangeville 73, Guelph CVI 71
Eric Kornack poured in 26 points as the Bears continued their strong early-season start with a win at GCVI.  Mano Mathivanan had 23 for the Gaels in the high-scoring affair.

JF Ross 62, Centennial 47
Adam Dingwall and Mengis Hiyabu had 14 points each, pacing four Royals in double-figures, in their win over CWDHS.  Harman Goyal had a game-high 18 for the Spartans.

St. James 65, CWDHS 55
Alex Durigon poured in 25 and Keegan Feeney added 16 more as the Lions picked up another D10 win.  Charlie Alexander (16) and Nathan Scott (11) led the way for St. James.

D10 Junior Standings
T1.  St. James 5-1
T1.  Centennial 5-1
3.  JF Ross 4-2
T4.  Orangeville 3-3
T4.  Bishop Mac 3-3
6.  Lourdes 2-4
T7.  CWDHS 1-5
T17.  GCVI 1-5

WCSSAA Junior: Thursday Results & Standings

In the game of the day in WCSSAA junior on Thursday, the WCI Vikings continued their strong early season play by posting an impressive 51-36 victory over Cameron Heights.

Aaron Grubb (21) led three Vikes in double-figures; the others being Griffin Floto (11) and Adam Piazza (10).  Jake Dekker was the high-scorer for CHCI with a 12-point effort.

In other games on Thursday:

Southwood 41, Preston 39
Cody Hall scored 16 points as the Sabres picked up a tight win in this all-Cambridge affair.  Caleb Main (12) and Aaron King (10) led the Panthers.

Bluevale 38, Eastwood 32
A low-scoring affair goes the way of Bluevale, with grade nine G/F Will Scheffler leading the Knights (and all scorers) with 13.  Matt Drannen had 8 more for BCI, while Keyeli Wonsch-Castiglione had 8 to lead ECI.

Grand River 61, Huron Hts. 49
Aleks Cvrkalj poured in 23 points, while Jake Zuzan (15) and Zarko Ubiparip (14) also had solid outings in Grand River's win over Huron.  Ben Jenkins (16) and Kuel Thomas (14) topped the Huron scoresheet.

SJAM 55, Forest Hts. 30
The 'Landers are now 5-0 after handling FHCI on Thursday.  Nik Milosevic had 10 to lead SJAM, while Riley Anderson had a game-high 15 points for the Trojans.

Jacob Hespeler 51, Glenview Park 44
Eric Purdy had 13 points as the Hawks evened up their record at 2-2 on the campaign.  Huzaifa Hassan continued his hot start for Glenview with a game-high 16.

KCI 48, Elmira 36
The Raiders move to 4-1 by handling EDSS on the road.  David O'Kt led KCI with 12, while Justin Lebold had 10 to top Elmira's scoring.

Galt 54, WODSS 32
Galt takes the battle of the winless teams thanks to 10 from Sohail Motala and 9 more by Hayden Merkir.  Jason Holmes (10) and Zac Witt (9) led the Crusader scoring.

WCSSAA Junior Standings
T1.  SJAM 5-0
T1.  WCI 5-0
T3.  Bluevale 4-1
T3.  KCI 4-1
5.  Grand River 3-1
6.  Cameron Hts. 3-2
7.  Jacob Hespeler 2-2
T8.  Preston 2-3
T8.  Eastwood 2-3
T8.  Glenview Park 2-3
T8.  Huron Heights 2-3
T8.  Southwood 2-3
T13.  Forest Heights 1-4
T13.  Elmira 1-4
T13.  Galt 1-4
16.  WODSS 0-5

WCSSAA Senior: Thursday Results & Standings

Some of the games may have been a little closer than expected (or vice versa), but there were no surprises on Thursday afternoon in the WCSSAA Senior Boys' basketball league as all "favourites" pulled out victories.

Cameron Heights 61, WCI 31
My Pick:  CHCI by 16
After surviving Eastwood on Tuesday, the Cameron Heights' Gaels won convincingly over WCI to remain as WCSSAA's lone unbeaten team.  Four Gaels hit double-figures --- Nikola Farkic (12), Sasha Simic (12), Ivan Cucak (11) and Jason Thompson (11).  Nick Johnny and Bojan Vincic had 8 each for the Vikes.

Eastwood 59, Bluevale 53
My Pick:  ECI by 14
The Rebels are now 4-1 after a home win over Bluevale.  Sydney Stewart (16) and Ousmane Kromah (13) led the way for the Rebs on Thursday, while Garrett Large (13) and Cody Hamley (10) topped the Bluevale scoring.

Grand River 88, Huron Hts. 58
My Pick:  GRCI by 32
Chuder Teny pumped home another 30+ effort with 31 in this game as the Rens put up 88+ points for the second time in league play.  Miro Iliev added 16 for Grand River, while Nathaniel Ernst-Finnie had 13 for the Huskies.

Preston 50, Southwood 26
My Pick:  PHS by 13
No trouble for the Panthers in winning this all-Cambridge affair.  Antoine Phillip (15) paced the way for Preston, with Andrew Kamenz and Issiah Rerrie adding 12 each in the win. 

Glenview Park 41, Jacob Hespeler 32
My Pick:  GPSS by 19
It's a 4-1 start for the Panthers after their latest win, this one coming over JHSS.  Sean Davidson (18) and Ryan Threndyle (10) led the way for the Panthers, while Shawn Thompson had 10 for the Hawks.

SJAM 49, Forest Heights 37
My Pick:  SJAM by 29
The 'Landers get the win although probably a bit of a let-down game for them after a big win on Tuesday.  Nedim Hodzic (13) and Simon Petrov (11) were the top SJAM scorers; Tim Gajdos had 7 for Forest Heights.

WCSSAA Senior Standings
1.  Cameron Heights 5-0
T2.  Eastwood 4-1
T2.  SJAM 4-1
T2.  KCI 4-1
T2.  Glenview Park 4-1
6.  Grand River 3-1
T7.  WCI 3-2
T7.  Huron Heights 3-2
T7.  Galt 3-2
10.  Bluevale 2-3
T11.  Forest Heights 1-4
T11.  Southwood 1-4
T11.  Preston 1-4
14.  Jacob Hespeler 0-4