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Friday, November 21, 2014

OFSAA Update

"A" OFSAA
CWOSSA representative Kincardine DSS (#10 seed) was edged in their opener, 33-30, by the #4 seed, Villanova College.

Bethany Wilkin had 12 points for the Knights, while Jorie Elliott, Marley Martyn and Nicole McLeod each had 5.

KDSS will play the #7 seed, Rideau DHS today, who defeated #13 St. Paul SS (45-31) in their opener.

"AA" OFSAA
#7 Bishop Mac defeated the #13 seed, St. Michael (Stratford) 53-36.  Tiana Sullivan led the way for the Celtics with a 14-point effort.

The Celtics will play the #9 seed, Carleton Place SS, in their second round game today at noon.

"AAA" OFSAA
Down in Windsor, #2 seeded Brantford St. John's received a challenge from #12 Newmarket, but held them off in a 58-49 final.

Kelly Van Leeuwen led the way for the Green Eagles with 16 points.

At 10:30am, the Green Eagles will play #15 Thomas A. Stewart (Peterborough) in their second round game.

"AAAA" OFSAA
Second-round action is complete at the AAAA event in Guelph.

Grand River went 2-0 on the first day of the event, winning the first games in their school's OFSAA history.  The #7 Rens topped #13 Earl Haig (North York) 38-23 in their opener before dispatching #10 Father Goetz 56-40.

In the game against Earl Haig, Nyamuoch Teny had 18 while Nancy Michael added 8.  Against the Gators, Maya Day put home 20 points while Teny added 16.

Grand River will play #2 St. John Paul II (Toronto) today at 1pm in the quarterfinals.

The WCI Vikings, who were the #9 seed, lost both their games to better seeded opponents.

They dropped their opener, 64-32, to #3 Campion from Brampton.  Kaylee Anagnostopoulos (17) and Danielle Sauve (5) were the top Viking scorers in that one.

In their second-round game, the Vikes lost a tight one to #8 Toronto Northern, 44-36.  Anagnostopoulos (20) and Sauve (8) again were the high scorers.

WCI will play games in the consolation bracket today.

The Record: Renegades Off To Strong Start At OFSAA

Article By:  Mark Bryson

GUELPH — The Grand River Renegades have already made history. 

They're now hoping to add to it. 

The Waterloo County champions have advanced to the quarter-final round at the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations quad-A senior girls basketball championship after scoring a 56-40 victory over the Father Michael Goetz Gators of Mississauga on Thursday night. 

In winning both of their games on the opening day of the 16-team tournament, they became the first basketball team from Grand River — boys or girls — to win at OFSAA. 

Maya Day paced the attack with 20 points and Nyamuoch Teny added 16 as the seventh-ranked Renegades earned a Friday afternoon date with second-ranked John Paul II of Toronto. 

"Getting the first OFSAA win for Grand River, we made a big impact for our school this year," said Day.

"I think if we go into the next game with confidence and without being nervous ... I think we'll have a good game." 

The young Renegades arrived at OFSAA with a roster that includes five Grade 11 starters in Teny, Nyasha Mombeshora, Tara DeBoer, Day and Nancy Michael. 

Grand River also called up five junior-aged players for tournament. 

A.B. Lucas of London and Innisdale of Barrie are the only other teams that came to OFSAA without a fourth- or fifth-year player on their rosters. 

"We've had our moments but as the year has gone on, we've become more disciplined and we work extremely well as a team," said Day. "We are a young team but we don't play like a young team." 

The Waterloo Vikings are headed to the consolation side of the tournament after falling 44-36 to Sarnia Northern on Thursday night. 

The Vikings fell 64-32 to St. Edmund Campion of Brampton in their opener as Kaylee Anagnostopoulos led WCI scorers with 17. 

The Renegades opened the tournament with a 38-23 win over Earl Haig of North York. 

Teny led Grand River with 18 points, while Michael had eight and Day had six. 

Thursday, November 20, 2014

Senior Girls: OFSAA Tips Off Today

Girls OFSAA gets underway across the province today, so good luck to our five CWOSSA representatives:

"A" - Kincardine (#10 seed)
"AA" - Bishop Mac (#7 seed)
"AAA" - St. John's (#2 seed)
"AAAA" - Grand River (#7 seed) & WCI (#9 seed)

I'll go out on a limb and say that CWOSSA will get two medals from those 5 teams this year, with either Grand River or Bishop Mac needing an upset to get through to the semifinals.

Stay tuned to the blog, as we'll try to update you on these games:

11:30am - #9 WCI vs. #3 Campion (AAAA)
1pm - #7 Grand River vs. #13 Earl Haig (AAAA)
1pm - #2 St. John's vs. #12 Newmarket (AAA)
1pm - #10 Kincardine vs. #4 Villanova College (A)
2:20pm - #7 Bishop Mac vs. #13 St. Michael Stratford (AA)

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

#NUWBBStrandedOnBus - Van Leeuwen, Purple Eagles Stuck For Almost 30 Hours in Snow

Former Brantford St. John's standout Kelly Van Leeuwen and her Niagara University women's basketball teammates got more than they bargained for coming back from a game at the University of Pittsburgh on Monday evening.

Niagara lost 70-54, with Van Leeuwen starting and scoring 6 points and adding 3 assists - but that was really inconsequential in the grand scheme of things considering what came next.

The Purple Eagles departed Pittsburgh around 10pm on Monday evening, beginning the 3hr45 minute trip back to Niagara Falls, NY.  However, three hours into that journey, the team bus hit the massive winter storm in the Buffalo suburbs on the I-90 and got stuck near Blasdell, NY (a couple of miles from the Buffalo Bills' Ralph Wilson Stadium, to give a point of reference):


After getting stuck around 2am, the Purple Eagles waited.....and waited.  Eventually, #NUWBBStrandedOnBus started trending on Twitter:

However, the hours kept passing with no sign of an imminent rescue:

Thankfully, early this morning (going on 30ish hours), there was a happy ending to the ordeal, with the team being rescued and safe:

Monday, November 17, 2014

CWOSSA Alums: OCAA

A quick gander of the rosters reveals the following CWOSSA Alums in the OCAA (Men for now, Women to follow).  Players are listed with the college they attend, former CWOSSA school in brackets, and college year:

*Please feel free to let me know of any errors or omissions.

Men
Shawn Hill, Lambton (St. John's) 3rd
Dakotta Robinson, Canadore (Pauline Johnson) 1st
Deysean Thompson-Evans, Canadore (Orangeville) 1st

Women
Rachel Adkins, Fanshawe (Brantford CI) 1st
Braedyn Ferguson, Fanshawe (Orangeville) 2nd
Brittany Gazzola, Mohawk (St. James) 1st
Jessica Grant, Mohawk (North Park) 2nd
Blythe Gutelius, St. Lawrence Kingston (Galt) 3rd
Courtney Harley, Durham (Southwood) 2nd 
Stacey Harper, Sheridan (Wellington Heights) 2nd
Abby Heron, St. Lawrence Kingston (Assumption) 2nd
Keshia Jacques, Georgian (Owen Sound) 3rd
Sara MacNeil, Loyalist (St. John's) 1st
Mackenzie Merkley, Georgian (JF Ross) 4th
Hannah Pearsall, Georgian (Lourdes) 1st
Simone Roesink, Fleming (St. James) 3rd
Alexandra Van Dyk, George Brown (Assumption) 2nd
Allison VanSlightenhorst, Redeemer (St. Mary's OS) 1st
Nikea Worrell, Seneca (Preston) 4th

Senior Boys: Pinky Lewis Results

Shifting gears a bit, here were the results for the three CWOSSA teams involved at the Pinky Lewis Tournament in Hamilton this weeekend.  All picked up at least one win, while SBCSS (eliminated at QF stage) and Cameron Heights (eliminated at SF stage) advanced past pool play:

Galt (1-2 Pool Play)
Hamilton Sherwood 55, Galt 53
GCI:  TJ Lall 33

St. Francis (St. Cath.) 62, Galt 36
GCI:  TJ Lall 14

Galt 56, Sarnia Northern 54
GCI:  TJ Lall 31

St. Benedict (2-1 Pool Play)
St. Benedict 55, Georgetown 33
SBCSS:  Zubair Seyed 27

St. Benedict 74, Hamilton SJAM 44
SBCSS:  Justin Malnerich 12

St. Francis Xavier (Mississauga) 60, St. Benedict 50
SBCSS:  Zubair Seyed 12

Cameron Heights (3-0 Pool Play)
Cameron Heights 70, JC Richardson (Ajax) 59
CHCI:  Sasha Simic 25

Cameron Heights 70, Timmins 38
CHCI:  Chris Phomsouvanh 27

Cameron Heights 76, Assumption (Burlington) 61
CHCI:  Sasha Simic 22

Quarterfinals - CHCI (Pool Winner) and SBCSS (Wildcard #2) Advanced
Pine Ridge (Pickering) 62, St. Benedict 48
SBCSS:  Zubair Seyed 21

Cameron Heights 55, Orchard Park (Stoney Creek) 41
CHCI:  Sasha Simic 34 + 1 Broken Rim on a Dunk

Semifinals
St. Francis (St. Cath.) 57, Cameron Heights 48
CHCI:  Nikola Farkic & Sasha Simic 15

AAAA: Tournament All-Star Teams

Unofficial, of course, but just based upon my observations from the weekend, I've come up with 5-player all-star teams from the event:

AAAA Junior All-Stars
MVP:  Jama Bin-Edward, Resurrection

Krissia Vasquez, Resurrection
Meghan Sharp, Resurrection
Kate Moran, SJAM
Joanna Bamberger, SJAM

AAAA Senior All-Stars
MVP:  Maya Day, Grand River

Nancy Michael, Grand River
Kaylee Anagnostopoulos, WCI
Danielle Sauve, WCI
Carter Godman, Centennial

AAAA Junior: Phoenix Cap Perfect CWOSSA Season

Despite the fact that the Resurrection Phoenix and the SJAM Highlanders have been my top two ranked CWOSSA Junior Girls' teams all season, there were still a lot of firsts over the weekend at WCI.

In fact, both of the schools in Saturday's final had never won a CWOSSA Junior Girls' championship.  SJAM, meanwhile, had never even advanced to a CWOSSA final.

The clubs had met on Friday morning to tip-off the CWOSSA championship, and the teams gave fans a taste of what to expect during the rematch in a game that ended 38-36 for Resurrection.

In Saturday afternoon's final, the Phoenix got off to a hot start, perhaps taking advantage of some early SJAM nerves (Resurrection had played in the CWOSSA final a season ago).  Rez's Jama Bin-Edward put home 4 early points and was dominant on the boards, with 8 first quarter rebounds, as the Phoenix took an 11-4 lead after one.

However, fouls were quickly accumulating for Rez as Jama Bin-Edward picked up two in the first quarter and fellow starter Maddy Antwi also grabbed a couple of early fouls.

With both girls having to sit on the bench for the majority of the second quarter, the Highlanders found their footing, going on a 10-5 second quarter run to cut the lead down to 2 (16-14).

SJAM got within a point before Meghan Sharp hit a mid-range jumper (two of her 8 1st half points) just before the first-half expired to give Rez a three-point lead (21-18) at halftime.

Joanna Bamberger, who had some nice drives inside (8 points) and solid shooting from Emily Domerchie (7 points) keyed the Highlander first-half attack.

It was a back-and-forth affair in the third quarter.  Rez held a (very slim) lead for the majority of the frame, but with Jama Bin-Edward picking up her 4th foul, the 'Landers took full advantage of one of Rez's inside presences being out of the game and took their first lead of the game at 26-24.

After three, the 'Landers were still up, 27-26.

With one of their top scorers on the bench, Resurrection was going to need contributions to come from other sources --- and they did.

Sixth woman, Grade 9 forward Delina Romano (in the game for Bin-Edward) had a huge fourth quarter for the Phoenix, who perfectly executed a high-low game to get Romano inside for a couple of layups over the quarters' opening minutes and restore a Rez lead at 30-27.

She wasn't just doing it on the offensive end, as she forced a couple turnovers and had a steal on the defensive side, before getting herself free inside for another bucket as Rez took a 33-28 lead midway through the final frame.

Bin-Edward came back in with about 3:30 left to go, but Rez coach Chad Tyszka elected to keep his hot hand off the bench in the game.

That decision would pay dividends shortly thereafter when Bin-Edward was blocked by SJAM's Kate Moran, but Romano was able to force a jump ball, giving possession back to the Phoenix.

Bin-Edward would drive inside for two on the ensuing possession, bumping the Resurrection lead to 36-28 and 2:30 left.

SJAM wouldn't quit, however, and actually scored the next four points (36-32, 0:58 left) to put the pressure back on Resurrection. 

Krissia Vasquez made 1-of-2 FTs on the ensuing possession, where Resurrection was able to get the offensive rebound and get fouled again, resulting in another two points from the line, this time from Jama Bin-Edward.

Bin-Edward then blocked Emily Domerchie's three-point attempt on the other end to essentially seal the game; the Phoenix added a couple additional free throws for the final margin.

As mentioned, it would be Resurrection's first-ever Junior Girls' CWOSSA championship (they did have a senior title back in the mid-90s).  

For Rez, Krissia Vasquez led the way with 12 points and 4 rebounds, while Jama Bin-Edward notched a double-double consisting of 11 points and 13 rebounds.  Meghan Sharp (8 points + 7 rebounds), Delina Romano (6 points + 2 rebounds), Buse Bin-Edward (3 points, alongside 10 rebounds and an impressive 8 assists) and Maddy Antwi (3 points + 3 rebounds) rounded out the RCSS scoring.

SJAM received 10 points and 5 rebounds from their leading scorer, Joanna Bamberger.  Emily Domerchie had 8 points and 7 rebounds, while Kate Moran posted 6 points and 10 rebounds.  Griffin Lack-Shane had a nice stat line, with 7 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists.

The Phoenix finished the year undefeated against CWOSSA opposition, and 27-1 overall, including three tournament championships.  Their only loss came against traditional girls' powerhouse, and probably the #1 Junior Team in the province, undefeated Sarnia Northern by single digits in tournament play. 

It's safe to say that if there were a provincial "top ten" ranking of junior teams, it's quite likely that both Resurrection and SJAM would be there.

OFSAA Seeding Announced

Will have more to come shortly....

A:  Kincardine DSS (Seeding TBA)

AA:  Bishop Macdonell (Seeding TBA)

AAA:  St. John's is seeded #2

AAAA:  Grand River is seeded #7; WCI seeded #9.

AAAA Senior: Renegades Capture School's First-Ever Crown

The Grand River Renegades took home the school's first-ever Senior CWOSSA title (Girls or Boys') over the weekend, besting the WCI Vikings 49-35 in the "AAAA" CWOSSA Senior Girls' Final.

The Rens were clearly the class of the four-team field, winning all three of their games by double-digits at an average margin of nearly 20 points per contest.

In their opener, Grand River defeated the D8 champ, St. Benedict, 54-36.  Maya Day knocked home 19 points with Nymuoch Teny adding 11.  Kayla Leusink (14) and Afifa Salaad (9) were the top scorers for the Saints.

This moved the Rens through to the semifinals, where they took on Guelph Centennial.  The Rens used their athletic advantage to jump out to a lead early, and didn't look back in a 55-32 win.  

Day led the way again for the Rens, pouring in 25 points but also adding 9 rebounds and 2 assists.  Nancy Michael chipped in 12 points and 9 rebounds, while Teny had 8 points and Tara DeBoer 7.

For Centennial, Emma Cain had 7 points and 4 rebounds while Megan Paddock had 6; Hannah Newman and Carter Godman both had 5 each.

The Spartans had clipped WCI, 44-42, in the other Senior first-round game, with Godman scoring 14 and Cain adding 11 to overcome a 24-point outbust from WCI's Kaylee Anagnostopoulos.

WCI would eliminate St. Benedict in a 47-39 battle on Friday evening, with Anagnostopoulos scoring 18 and Danielle Sauve adding 17.  Kayla Leusink (12) and Afifa Salaad (8) were again the Saints' leaders.

In Saturday morning's semifinal, the Vikes got revenge on Guelph Centennial, winning 63-45 and securing yet another OFSAA "AAAA" appearance.  Sauve and Anagnostopoulos both had 18 points in the win, while Godman (14) and Newman (9) led Centennial.

The CWOSSA "AAAA" final saw Grand River open up a 27-16 halftime lead with the Vikes in some serious foul-trouble, including star Kaylee Anagnostopoulos, who had 4.

It was a double-digit lead they wouldn't relinquish, as they basically maintained that margin throughout the second-half en route to the victory.

Three Rens --- Maya Day (16), Tara DeBoer (10) and Nancy Michael (10) --- hit double-figures for Grand River, while Anagnostopoulos led WCI with 19.


At AAAA OFSAA, which takes place in Guelph this week, Grand River will enter as the #7 seed, and WCI will be seeded #9 in the 16-team field.

Brantford Expositor: Senior Eagles "Play Hard" For Each Other

Article By:  Vincent Ball

St. John's College senior girls basketball team has terrific players but it was a balanced scoring attack and team game that helped the Green Eagles win the CWOSSA AAA championship Saturday.

The Green Eagles got points from several players to beat Waterloo's Bluevale Collegiate, 67-20.

"That's the way it is with these girls," coach Matt Lynch, who is helped on the bench by Steve Van Leeuwen, said following the game at St. John's.

"They play and they play hard for each other. They want to win for each other. It's never about the individual - it's always about the team."

To get to the Central Western Ontario Secondary Schools Association championship game, the Eagles used spectacular outside shooting to build early leads on their way to victories. But, against Bluevale, SJC used its inside game and lots of hustle to take a 20-7 lead in the first quarter.

The Eagles were led by Maddi Cohoon, who hit for 14 points in the first half and 20 points overall.
"That's something different for me," Cohoon said following the game. "I'm more of a defensive player but it was nice to be able to get some points."

In the second quarter, with starters Kendra Van Leeuwen, Alaina McMillan and Megan Thompson on the bench with foul trouble, other players, including Leah Coon, Jen Garner and Alex Girardi, stepped up to give the Green Eagles a 33-10 lead at the half.

In the second half, Van Leeuwen, McMillan and Thompson returned to the floor. The Eagles hustled after the ball and played aggressive defence, including a full court press, that frustrated the Bluevale players.
The Green Eagles forced numerous turnovers and converted them into layups or foul shots to expand their lead.

Jen Garner sank some nice three-pointers.

The Green Eagles will spend a couple of days getting ready for the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations championships, which will be played in Windsor starting Thursday.

SJC earned its way into Saturday's championship game with a 73-31 win in the semifinal over Jacob Hespeler Secondary School of Cambridge. Van Leeuwen scored 27 points for the Green Eagles, Thompson scored 17 and Girardi and Cohoon each scored seven.

Other members of the team not mentioned are: Erin Dubois, Lauren DeMontmorency, Sam Dupont and Ashley Derks.

Retrieved From:  http://www.brantfordexpositor.ca/2014/11/15/great-night-for-st-johns-basketball

Brantford Expositor: Junior Eagles "Worked Really, Really Hard"

Article By:  Vincent Ball

The St. John's College Green Eagles used intense defence to force turnovers that they converted into points to capture the CWOSSA AAA junior girls basketball championship.

The Eagles beat Waterloo-Oxford District Secondary School 61-35 in Saturday's Central Western Ontario Secondary Schools Association's title game at SJC.

"We worked really, really hard," said Emily Dignan of the Green Eagles. "At halftime it was close and in the change room, we just really got each other motivated.

"We just said this is CWOSSA and we have to push through it."

Dignan wanted to make her last game as a junior her best.

"I'm really happy to have won my second CWOSSA at St. John's," she said.

In the first quarter, Waterloo -Oxford, a well-coached and disciplined team, showed a lot of patience on offence, waiting for the open shot, while SJC, playing with its usual intensity, had a hard time getting shots to fall. The quarter ended tied at 8-8.

The second quarter saw a couple of momentum shifts with SJC getting hot and taking a five-point lead only to see it evaporate as Waterloo - Oxford made a couple of shots to even the score at the midway point.

But at halftime, the Green Eagles, thanks to Kaitlyn Overeem, led 27-19. Overeem had a couple of steals on the defensive end, which she took coast-to-coast to convert for easy layups.

The Green Eagles also got some timely scoring from Dignan, who hit a jumper, and Sadie Lemmon, who hit a nice three-pointer.

Waterloo-Oxford showed some spark in the third quarter but the Green Eagles continued to take the ball to the hoop and draw fouls. It was 39-31 for the Green Eagles after three quarters.

In the final quarter, it was the Green Eagles' intensity and defensive pressure all over the floor and the leadership of Dignan that allowed them to pull away for the win.

"The girls really came together at the right time," said coach Alexa Santilli, who is helped on the bench by Brittany Forrest.

"I told them to ... be patient on offence and to play the game they're capable of playing. I knew defence would win the game for us and the girls proved me right."

The Green Eagles were led in scoring by Overeem with 19, Dignan with 18, Sadie Lemmon with nine and Scarlett O'Grady with six.

In the junior semifinal, the Green Eagles defeated Galt 55-22 with Dignan leading the way with 18 points, followed by Overeem with 13 and Mikayla Castagna and Lemmon with eight points each.

Members of the CWOSSA AAA championship not already mentioned are: Kennedy Biro, Jen Wator, Nadia Coleman, Taylor Cross and Sophie Lawson.

Retrieved From:  http://www.brantfordexpositor.ca/2014/11/15/cwossa-champs

Friday, November 14, 2014

AAA & AAAA: Saturday

AAAA - Waterloo

Junior Semifinal (10am):  SJAM 43, Centennial 22

Junior Final (2:30pm):  Resurrection 42, SJAM 32

Senior Semifinal (11:30am):  WCI 63, Centennial 45

Senior Final (4:00pm):  Grand River 49, WCI 35

AAA - Brantford (All @ SJC)

Junior Semi #1:  WODSS 55, Jacob Hespeler 34

Junior Semi #2:  St. John's 55, Galt 22

Senior Semi #1:  Bluevale 43, St. David 35

Senior Semi #2:  St. John's 73, Jacob Hespeler 31

Junior Final:  St. John's 61, WODSS 35

Senior Final:  St. John's 67, Bluevale 20

"AAAA" CWOSSA: Friday Results

Junior
Resurrection 38, SJAM 36 (Final)
Centennial 45, Huron Hts. 31 (Final)

3:00pm:  SJAM def. Huron Heights

(Huron Heights eliminated; SJAM advances to semifinal tomorrow).

4:30pm:  Resurrection 44, Centennial 20 (Semifinal)

10am Tomorrow:  SJAM vs. Centennial (Semifinal)

2:30pm Tomorrow:  Resurrection vs. SJAM/CCVI (Final)

Senior
Noon:  Grand River 53, St. Benedict 36 (Final)
1:30pm:  Centennial 44, WCI 42 (Final)

6pm:  WCI 47, St. Benedict 39 (Final)

7:30pm:  Grand River 55, Centennial 32 (Semifinal / OFSAA Qualifier)

11:30am Tomorrow:  WCI vs. Centennial (Semifinal / OFSAA Qualifier)

4:30pm Tomorrow:  Grand River vs. WCI/CCVI

"AAA" CWOSSA: Friday Results

"AAA" CWOSSA is underway in Brantford, hosted by St. John's College with games today also at Assumption.

Here's today's results, which will be filled in throughout the day:

Junior AAA - Pool A
WODSS (2-0)
Galt (1-1)
Guelph CVI (0-2)

10am:  WODSS 43, Guelph CVI 34
2pm:  Galt 39, Guelph CVI 18
6pm:  WODSS 50, Galt 30

Junior AAA - Pool B
St. John's (2-0)
Jacob Hespeler (1-1)
St. David (0-2)

10am:  St. John's 53, Jacob Hespeler 21
2pm:  Jacob Hespeler 54, St. David 23
6pm:  St. John's 55, St. David 24


Senior AAA - Pool A
Bluevale (2-0)
Jacob Hespeler (1-1)
Guelph CVI (0-2)

11:30am:  Jacob Hespeler 50, Guelph CVI 45
3:30pm:  Bluevale 68, Guelph CVI 53
7:30pm:  Bluevale 50, Jacob Hespeler 44

Senior AAA - Pool B
St. John's (2-0)
St. David (1-1)
KCI (0-2)

11:30am:  St. John's 77, KCI 37
3:30pm:  St. David 33, KCI 27
7:30pm:  St. John's 86, St. David 21