Guelph Mercury: Bishop Mac Celtics Bounce Back From First League Setback

Article By:  Rob Massey

GUELPH — The Bishop Macdonell Celtics shook off the after-effects of their first loss of the District 10 high school senior boys' basketball league. 

Despite a slow start, the Celtics got back on the winning path Tuesday with a 50-35 victory over the Ross Royals as the league reached the halfway point of its regular season. 

"We sat back and had a look at how big they were, tried to figure it out and worked from there," Bishop Mac coach Trevor Smith said of the slow start. "They're an intimidating team, seeing their size and what not." 

"Both teams weren't hitting their shots, but both teams were playing good defence and rebounding hard," Bishop Mac guard Jake Chaput said. "It was just two teams playing good defence on each other and not playing good offence." 

The teams were tied 4-4 midway through the first quarter and the Celtics were up 10-7 at the end of the first quarter. They stretched their lead to 28-18 at halftime and kept it at 10 points (41-31) at the end of the third quarter. 

Last week the Celtics were defeated by the St. James Lions in a battle for first place that involved two teams that entered the game with unbeaten records. 

"We lost a tough one against St. James," Smith said. "We knew they were good, but we were really happy with the way we played. Our biggest concern after every single game this year is to do a body check and make sure everybody's healthy. If everybody's healthy, there's no concerns." 

The Celtics are a young team that continues to learn on the court. They are an experienced senior team, though, as three of their players played senior last season although they were still eligible for junior. 

"Everything we do, win or lose, is learning," Smith said. "I think they learned a ton from a talented St. James team and we'll move on and try to get better." 

"We normally bounce back pretty well from losses," Chaput said. "We lost to (Centre Wellington) in a tournament and then we came back and beat Centennial in a tough game." 

Chaput was one of the players who played senior last season when he was in Grade 10. 

"Last year was pretty hard," he said. "This year it's a bit easier, but it's still hard so I keep working. It is a bit easier this year because I'm a bit bigger and stronger." 

Chris Poloniato and Lucas Wood connected for 11 points apiece for Bishop Mac while Evan Hosker and Greg MacEachern had eight each and Jake Chaput had seven. 

Tommy Yanchus had a game-high 21 points for Ross while Andrew Folkerson added four. 

Tuesday's game marked the midway point of the season for both the Celtics and Royals. The intensity level will likely increase as teams play opponents for the second time this season. 

"It gets tougher," Smith said. "Obviously the element of surprise is out. All the teams have seen us and they know what we do and we know what they do. It's a lot harder. There are probably five or six teams in this league that have a legitimate shot at making it to the final. Every team can put together a game plan now because they know what every other team does. It makes it that much more difficult." 

"It'll get tougher because everyone will have played more as a team and they'll know their stuff and know their plays," Chaput said. "And full-court presses – last year in the second half, every single game was a grind and I expect the same again this year." 

St. James 69 Lourdes 43

Joey Hasson struck for 19 points for St. James while Mitch Marquis had eight. Craig Valeriote hit for 18 for Lourdes while David Khayapangi had 16. 

Centennial 66 Guelph CVI 39

Jasmer Brar connected for 24 points for Centennial while David Sydor had 14 for GCVI. 

Centre Wellington 58 Lourdes 40

Josh McEachern's 28 points led Centre Wellington while Ty Uhrig had nine. David Khayipangi led Lourdes with 14 while Craig Valeriote had 13. 

D10 Jr. Boys Basketball

St. James 64 Orangeville 60

Jeff Morales connected for 24 points for St. James while Mike Piovesan added 11. Nigel Carey Kochan had a game-high 27 for Orangeville while Graydon Lindsay netted 15. 

Centre Wellington 77 Lourdes 45

Cole Newton led Centre Wellington with 15 points while David Casupanan had 18 for Lourdes. 

St. James 59 Bishop Macdonell 34

Mike Piovesan collected 22 points for St. James while Jeff Morales gathered 12 and Matt Zen added nine. Melvin Servida had eight for Bishop Mac while Matteo Stradiotto followed with seven. 

Centennial 53 Guelph CVI 49

Tommy Neild netted 15 points to lead Centennial while Cole Godman had 11. Lincoln Rosebush hit for 27 for GCVI while Rip Singh followed with eight. 

Retrieved From:  http://www.guelphmercury.com/sports-story/5209650-bishop-mac-celtics-bounce-back-from-first-league-setback/

D10: Tuesday Picks

YTD:  13-1 (.929)

St. James (7-0) at Orangeville (1-4)
My Pick:  STJ by 24
The St. James Lions, who swept the D10 circuit during the first portion of round-robin play, should be able to make it 8 straight league wins at the expense of the ODSS Bears.

JF Ross (5-1) at Bishop Mac (5-1)
My Pick:  BMAC by 4
Battle for 2nd place in the standings here tonight; I'll go with the homecourt Celtics in what should be a good game.

Lourdes (2-5) at CWDHS (2-3)
My Pick:  CWDHS by 9
Important game for both these teams here; CW has been the better team of late so I'll take them to win what should be a high scoring affair.

Centennial (2-4) at Guelph CVI (0-6)
My Pick:  CCVI by 24
The Spartans should pick up a much-needed win here today on the road.

WCSSAA Tuesday: Rens, Highlanders Highlight Today's Schedule

YTD:  22-4 (.846)

The last two remaining teams in WCSSAA Senior Boys' play, the SJAM Highlanders and the Grand River Renegades (both 4-0), will do battle today in Kitchener at GRCI (4:45pm).

For SJAM, they haven't had normal starter Brett Parrot around for the last couple of games (vacation); however, they haven't missed a beat, capturing the Knights-Vikings Shootout this past weekend.  Nedim Hodzic and Simon Petrov took a bit more on their plate, while strong contributions from the bench were also noted.

Grand River does one thing very, very well --- score the basketball.  In fact, they've gone 80+ in three of their four league games, scoring 69 in the other.  This hasn't been against just the lower-level teams either, as two of their tilts were against ranked CWOSSA opponents.

It could be interesting, and there's a couple variables to consider for this one, but given that SJAM has kept up their winning ways even without Parrot, I'll stick with them here on the road.  SJAM by 7.

In other action today:

Southwood (0-3) at Jacob Hespeler (1-3)
My Pick:  JHSS by 12
The Hawks will be looking to make it two straight in league play today as they host Southwood.  I'll go with them to get the job done at home.

Huron Hts. (2-1) at Forest Hts. (3-1)
My Pick:  FHCI by 9
Both these teams posted big wins last week, with Huron Heights defeating KCI and the Trojans knocking off WCI.  I'll go with Forest Heights to continue their strong start here.

Elmira (0-3) at Galt (1-3)
My Pick:  GCI by 37
The Ghosts should be able to get back on track (and in the win column) today against Elmira.

Eastwood (3-1) at Cameron Hts. (3-1)
My Pick:  CHCI by 12
It's usually interesting when these rivals get together, but the Gaels have certainly been the better team as of late, so I'll go with them here.

KCI (2-2) at Bluevale (1-3)
My Pick:  KCI by 28
These teams met over the weekend (albeit without Savo Krajisnik for BCI playing), but I anticipate a similar result here, at least in terms of who wins.

 

D8 Monday: 'Stangs Top Celtics, Eagles Get Pushed From Saints

In Senior D8 action, the St. Mary's Eagles survived a bit of a scare on Monday against the St. Benedict Saints, trailing in the 2nd quarter but holding on in the second-half for a 63-55 final score.

Believe it or not, it was St. Mary's first regular season win by less than 10 points since the 2011-12 season, a streak of 25 consecutive wins by double digits (you may recall that they had some trouble putting away Resurrection in the 2013 D8 final, winning 57-50).

Jermaine Lyle had 18 and Tesloth Simon 16 for the Eagles, while Zubair Seyed poured in 27 points and Devante Douse added 14 (against his former school) for the Saints.

Seyed bumped his league-leading scoring average above the 20 PPG mark (20.8), and is averaging 24.0 PPG against the 3 D8 teams that were ranked in the previous CWOSSA ranking.

Seyed, a grade eleven guard, is not having much difficulty adjusting to the senior game, given that he's currently accounting for nearly 40% of St. Benedict's offensive point production.

Meanwhile, St. David was knocked off by visiting Monsignor Doyle, 41-29.  Ryan Stafford had 14 and Jason Saris 11 for the 'Stangs, while John McElroy had 14 for St. David.

That win likely means that Monsignor Doyle (vs. SBCSS, @ WCHS), Resurrection (vs. RMC) and St. David (@ WCHS, @ SMHS) will all likely be tied at the end of the first "cycle" of games -- i.e., before the league splits into "A" and "B" divisions.

Based upon D8 tiebreaking procedures, Resurrection would have the edge for the 3rd spot at this point, with a +28 point differential during games between the teams.

Speaking of the Phoenix, they raced out to a 29-3 lead after one quarter en route to a 73-20 win over Woodland.  Muyang Iluya (14) and Michael Perak (11) led Rez, while Tristan Vanderhoef had 7 for the Cavs.

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

Junior
PRDG picked up their 3rd straight win in D8 junior play, again thanks to the efforts of scoring sensation Pat Martini.

Down 47-44, Martini drained the tying three-pointer with 1.7 seconds left in regulation, then added a couple of key buckets in overtime (part of his 38 points in total) during PRDG's 54-49 OT win over Rockway.  Matt Kipfer had 29 points for the Flames.

Martini is now averaging 26.1 PPG for the season, including a whopping 33.6 over his last three games.  I'll go out on a limb and bank that two recent performances, 36 and 38 points, are the two best back-to-back scoring performances in D8's history.  

As far as ranked CWOSSA teams were concerned, the biggest game on Monday was between #6 St. Mary's and #9 St. Benedict, where the Eagles prevailed by a 58-56 final score.  Jason Jaros had 14 to pace St. Mary's, while Daniel Douse notched 18 for the Saints.

In other action, Resurrection topped Woodland, 50-23, with Wani Zuber (15) and Jamu Iluya (14) leading the way for RCSS.  Garett Hendriks had 6 for the Cavs.

St. David kept their perfect record intact, with a 45-25 win over Monsignor Doyle.  Brent Lasovich had 20 for the Celts, while Caleb Figuirio did most of Doyle's scoring, with 16.

D8 Junior Standings
1.  St. Mary's 6-0
2.  St. David 5-0
3.  St. Benedict 3-2
4.  PRDG 3-3
T5.  Resurrection 2-3
T5.  Rockway 2-3
T7.  Woodland 0-5
T7.  Mons. Doyle 0-5

Orangeville Prep To Visit Kitchener St. Mary's This Thursday

Photo via @NorthPoleHoops

The vaunted Orangeville Prep basketball squad, featuring two of the top NCAA recruits in North America (Thon Maker & Jamal Murray) will be paying a visit to Kitchener this coming week.

Murray, a former Grand River Renegade, will be making his homecoming as O-Prep is set to take on Kitchener St. Mary's, at 7pm on Thursday evening at the Kitchener high school.

For those looking to try to get a ticket, though, you're too late.  

Tickets were made available first and foremost to the St. Mary's community, and they were quickly snapped up.

"The game is already sold out, 400 tickets, and there will be none available at the door," said St. Mary's Teacher-Coach Jeff Roth.

"Tickets sold in less than 36 hours with no advertising.  Last week, I turned down over a hundred ticket offers already (from outside the St. Mary's HS community) when the game had been official for less than 24 hours," he added.

D8: Monday Picks

YTD:  7-1 (.875)

Mons. Doyle (1-2) at St. David (2-1)
My Pick:  SDCSS by 13
D8's two "AAA" teams will battle today, with St. David playing some solid team basketball as of late.  For that reason, I'll go with the Celts here, although the 'Stangs do have some offensive talent to make this one interesting.

St. Mary's (4-0) at St. Benedict (3-0)
My Pick:  SMHS by 24
Yes, this is a first-place vs. second-place matchup in the D8 senior circuit, and, yes, that's my pick.  The overall depth and athleticism of the Eagles will get it done here on the road.

Resurrection (1-3) at Woodland (1-2)
My Pick:  RCSS by 41
The Phoenix can't afford another loss, otherwise they'd end up in the "B" division.  Thankfully for them, their remaining games are winnable ones (WCHS/RMC) but they can't take things lightly regardless and I don't expect them to.

 

Senior Boys: Highlanders Dominant at Knights-Vikings Shootout

Even with key contributor Brett Parrot away on vacation, the SJAM Highlanders had limited difficulty coming away with the tournament crown this past weekend at the Knights-Vikings Shootout, co-hosted by Waterloo schools Bluevale & WCI.

The 'Landers handled rival WCI in the championship game, 65-44, backed by 26 points from Nedim Hodzic and 16 more by Simon Petrov.

The duo averaged 18.3 PPG (Hodzic) and 17.3 PPG (Petrov) during SJAM's four games in the tournament, all of which they won by double figures.

Here are the results from the two days of competition.  The winner of each of the four pools advanced to semifinal action, while all remaining teams played one additional game against the same placed finisher in another pool:

Friday - Pool Play
SJAM 49, St. David 35
SJAM:  Nedim Hodzic 15, Simon Petrov 14
SDCSS:  Austin Berry 7, Mason Cummings 5

Forest Hts. 70, St. David 53
FHCI:  Edwin Antwi 23, Manraj Jugpal 14
SDCSS:  Mason Cummings 17, Mitchell Lavigne 14

SJAM 63, Forest Hts. 52
SJAM:  Simon Petrov 23, Nedim Hodzic 16
FHCI:  Rakesh Arjun 13, Mustafa Said Ahmed 11

Resurrection 80, Bluevale 61
RCSS:  Korbil Gany 20, Joe Hunter 15
BCI:  Ray Lin 14, Dylan Arndt 12

KCI 78, Resurrection 72 (OT)
KCI:  Marko Milanovic 21, Stefan Simic 19
RCSS:  Korbil Gany 35, Muyang Iluya 19

KCI 60, Bluevale 27
KCI:  Stefan Simic 19, David Ben-Lemotey 9
BCI:  Ray Lin 13, Griffin Large 5

WCI 40, Stratford Central 32
WCI:  Etai Mizrahi 14, Nick Johnny 9

Stratford Central 46, Welland Centennial 38

WCI def. Welland Centennial
WCI:  Sam Sutherland 13, Nick Johnny 13

St. James 69, Grand River 58
STJ:  Keegan Feeney 25, Mitch Marquis 16
GRCI:  David Bajic 19, Miro Iliev 19

St. James 64, Huron Hts. 42
STJ:  Mitch Marquis 16, Keegan Feeney 14
HHSS:  Ahmed Radi 13, Arshid Babury 10

Grand River 88, Huron Hts. 44
GRCI:  Che Edwards 23, Boumkous Pal 16
HHSS:  Bibal Ahmed 13, Arshid Babury 11

Saturday Games - Third Games For Teams
Bluevale 56, St. David 51
BCI:  Savo Krajisnik 20, Griffin Large 15
SDCSS:  John McElroy 15, Mitchell Lavigne 8

Resurrection 66, Forest Hts. 48
RCSS:  Muyang Iluya 15, Joe Hunter 12
FHCI:  Edwin Antwi 11, Ryan Hagey 11

Welland Centennial 59, Huron Hts. 43
HHSS:  Arshid Babury 18, Bilal Ahmed 10

Stratford Central 53, Grand River 48
GRCI:  Aleks Cvrkalj 20, David Bajic 11 

Semifinals
SJAM 64, KCI 50
SJAM:  Simon Petrov 16, Nedim Hodzic 16
KCI:  Connie Morgan 10, Adan Seif 9

WCI 49, St. James 43
WCI:  Sam Sutherland 19, Nick Johnny 12
STJ:  Mitch Marquis 15, Quinn Feeney 7

Bronze Game
St. James 67, KCI 42
STJ:  Erwin Tapnio 19, Jack Tersigni 11
KCI:  Marko Milanovic 8, Stefan Simic 7

Championship Final
SJAM 65, WCI 44
SJAM:  Nedim Hodzic 26, Simon Petrov 16
WCI:  Sam Sutherland 12

CWOSSA Senior "Top 20" Rankings: Week 3

Not much change -- at least at the top (1 through 5 remain the same) -- of the weekly CWOSSA Senior Boys' power rankings.

By the same token, those teams in the "double digit" spots certainly seem capable of defeating each other on any given night, as we saw during this past week of league play.  As such, there's been a bit of a shift in those rankings, but nothing major.

Someone joked with me that I could randomly pick "schools out of a hat" for the teams #10-#20 and it would probably still make sense.  I can see where they're coming from!

Biggest jump of the week goes to Centre Wellington, winners of the Resurrection tournament, who move up five spots to #12 after taking a tourney that featured several other CWOSSA-ranked teams (beating Bishop Mac in the final).

Huron Heights (win over KCI) and St. David (win over Resurrection) are new entrants to this week's rankings.

Meanwhile, today's Bluevale-WCI Senior Boys' shootout should provide some great feedback for next week's rankings.  Of the 12 teams participating, 10 are CWOSSA teams and 9 (yes, 9!) of them are ranked in this week's ranking.  Should be a great weekend of basketball at those two schools (check my previous post for the draw).

The 12-team (pool play) tournament features several pool games between ranked teams --- most notably #4 Grand River vs. #5 St. James, today at WCI (2pm).  

Anyways, on to this week's ranking:

1.  St. Mary's / Kitchener (1)

2.  SJAM / Waterloo (2)

3.  Cameron Heights / Kitchener (3)

4.  Grand River / Kitchener (4)

5.  St. James / Guelph (5)

6.  Assumption / Brantford (7)

7.  North Park / Brantford (9)

8.  Eastwood / Kitchener (6)

9.  St. Benedict / Cambridge (8)

10.  Bishop Macdonell / Guelph (11)

11.  JF Ross / Guelph (10)

12.  Centre Wellington / Fergus (17)

13.  KCI / Kitchener (14)

14.  Resurrection / Kitchener (12)

15.  Forest Heights / Kitchener (16)

16.  WCI / Waterloo (13)

17.  Centennial / Guelph (18)

18.  Galt / Cambridge (15)

19.  Huron Heights / Kitchener (NR)

20.  St. David / Waterloo (NR)

CWOSSA Junior "Top 20" Rankings: Week 3

The shake-ups continue in the CWOSSA Junior Boys' basketball rankings, although things are generally starting to settle.

The four semifinalists from the SJAM CWOSSA Hoopla tournament, who are all at or near the top of their league standings, pace the way this week.

The SJAM Highlanders, winners of that tournament, are the current undisputed #1 team in CWOSSA.  They continued their winning ways this past week, most notably with a win over Cameron Heights in league play.

Brantford St. John's, semifinalists at the Hoopla tourney, took out North Park in league play this week to sit atop the D5 standings, and are currently my #2 CWOSSA team.

St. David, the #3 this week, had a very nice week overall, besting two "top 12" teams during league action --- St. Benedict and Resurrection.

Biggest jump of the week goes to the Eastwood Rebels, who are up 4 spots this week to #11 from #15.  The Rebs nipped (now #7) Grand River by 1 last night, after defeating (now #14) Glenview Park earlier during the week.

Here's this week's ranking, with last week's in brackets:

1.  SJAM / Waterloo (1)

2.  St. John's / Brantford (6)

3.  St. David / Waterloo (5)

4.  Bluevale / Waterloo (7)

5.  Guelph CVI / Guelph (3)

6.  St. Mary's / Kitchener (2)

7.  Grand River / Kitchener (4)

8.  North Park / Brantford (8)

9.  St. Benedict / Cambridge (9)

10.  Cameron Heights / Kitchener (10)

11.  Eastwood / Kitchener (15)

12.  Resurrection / Kitchener (12)

13.  Huron Heights / Kitchener (14)

14.  Glenview Park / Cambridge (13)

15.  Forest Heights / Kitchener (11)

16.  St. James / Guelph (16)

17.  Centennial / Guelph (NR)

18.  Waterloo CI / Waterloo (20)

19.  Centre Wellington / Fergus (18)

20.  Brantford CI / Brantford (19)

Top 5 - AAAA
1.  SJAM
6.  St. Mary's
7.  Grand River
9.  St. Benedict
10.  Cameron Hts. 

Top 5 - AAA
2.  St. John's
3.  St. David
4.  Bluevale
5.  Guelph CVI
8.  North Park

WCSSAA Senior: Thursday Results

With four games on the schedule between ranked teams yesterday, there was no shortage of quality basketball on the hardcourts of Waterloo Region last night.

Of course, the marquee matchup was between SJAM (CWOSSA #2) and Cameron Heights (CWOSSA #3).  Although both teams were down one starter (Brett Parrot, SJAM - Vacation & Ivan Cucak, Cameron - Ankle), there was still plenty of talent to go around.

A big second-half by Nedim Hodzic helped the Landers extend to a double-digit lead before eventually winning by 6, 61-55.  Hodzic finished with 28 points, while Nik Farkic led the way for the Gaels with a 20 point effort.

CWOSSA #4 Grand River had no trouble dispatching the #6 Eastwood Rebels, who appear to be a different team with Izzy Nemeth not on the roster.  Grand River raced to a 47-15 halftime lead, and cruised home from there with the game well in hand (69-39 final).

Pretty impressive week for the Rens, who defeated two ranked teams -- Galt (by 40) and Eastwood (by 30).

Miro Iliev had 17 to pace the Rens, while Ousmane Kromah led the way for Eastwood with 13.

At WCI, the Forest Heights Trojans were another team down one starter (Rakesh Arjun) but it didn't matter in a 61-56 win over the WCI Vikings.  Manraj Jugpal had 19 and Jalen Nong 15 for the Trojans, while Nick Johnny netted a game-high 25 for WCI, with Etai Mizrahi adding 12.

It was a free-wheeling, high scoring affair at KCI between the Raiders and Galt Ghosts that ended in a 78-61 KCI victory.  Seif Adan had 17 to pace the Raiders, while TJ Lall had a game-high 33 points for the Ghosts.

Jacob Hespeler picked up their first win by sneaking past Preston, 50-49, behind an 18-point effort from Chad Dempster.  Brandon Roth added 14 for JHSS, while Jonny Ashworth led the Panthers with 13.

The other game Thursday saw Bluevale cruise to their first win of the year, 70-26 over Elmira.  Jamal John (16) and Cody Hamley (14) paced the Knights, while Dan Howell had 10 for the Lancers.

WCSSAA Senior Standings
T1.  SJAM 4-0
T1.  Grand River 4-0
T3.  Cameron Hts. 3-1
T3.  Forest Hts. 3-1
T3.  WCI 3-1
T6.  Eastwood 2-1
T6.  Huron Hts. 2-1
8.  KCI 2-2
T9.  Galt 1-3
T9.  Jacob Hespeler 1-3
T9.  Bluevale 1-3
T12.  Southwood 0-3
T12.  Elmira 0-3
14.  Preston 0-4

WCSSAA Junior: Thursday Results

We'll start by recapping a couple of the bigger games that were on Thursday's WCSSAA Junior schedule:

Eastwood 61, Grand River 60
The Rebels picked up a big home win over the visiting Rens, with Prabhjit Sangha (13) and Greg Huras (11) pacing a balanced Eastwood attack.  Zarko Ubiparip had 17 to lead all scorers for Grand River.

SJAM 65, Cameron Hts. 52
Top-10 battle here saw the 'Landers stay unbeaten, with Nino Spasik chipping in 19 points for SJAM, and Brian Zapp adding 16.  Steven Sanders had a game-high 20 for Cameron, with Lala Sheli and Martin Gjorgiev notching 10 each.

WCI 51, Forest Hts. 45
The Vikings continue to move in the right direction, and are now 3-1 after defeating previously unbeaten Forest Heights.  Bryce Scarrow had 13 to lead the Vikings, while Filip Cabrilo had a game-high 17 for Forest.

KCI 45, Galt 33
The Raiders took this important game between "AAA" schools at home, with Elijah Hesse scoring 10 and Andrew Edgar adding 8.  Muhammad Irsalan and Abbas Khan had 7 each for the Ghosts.

Preston 44, Jacob Hespeler 30
The Panthers picked up their first win, while the Hawks are still searching for theirs.  Navdeep Brar and Isaac Mapp had 10 each for PHS; Sam Sharma and Muhammad Ali did likewise (10 each) for Hespeler.

Glenview Park 52, Southwood 26
The Panthers doubled up their South Cambridge rivals on Thursday; Rebien Rashid and Huzaifa Hassan netted 9 each for GPSS.  Noah Robinson had 6 to pace the Sabres.

Bluevale 65, Elmira 17
No trouble for the Knights, who got 12 from Will Scheffler and 11 by Liam McCullouch in the win.  Isaac Neumann led Elmira with 6.

WCSSAA Junior Standings
T1.  Eastwood 4-0
T1.  Huron Hts. 4-0
T1.  SJAM 4-0
T4.  Bluevale 3-1
T4.  Forest Hts. 3-1
T4.  WCI 3-1
T4.  Grand River 3-1
T8.  Glenview Park 2-2
T8.  KCI 2-2
T8.  Cameron Hts. 2-2
T11.  Preston 1-3
T11.  WODSS 1-3
T12.  Southwood 0-4
T12.  Elmira 0-4
T12.  Galt 0-4
T12.  Jacob Hespeler 0-4

D10 Thursday: Royals Edge Falcons; Lions Win Battle of Unbeatens

There were only three games on the D10 Senior Boys' schedule yesterday, but that didn't mean there weren't a couple of high-profile contests on the calendar.

In fact, two of the three games were played between ranked CWOSSA teams.

The biggest of those, naturally, was between undefeated league rivals St. James and Bishop Macdonell.  The Lions (CWOSSA #5) topped the Celtics (CWOSSA #11) bv a 59-52 final score, after trailing by 3 points (29-26) at halftime.  Joey Hasson had 19 and Mitch Marquis 17 for the Lions, while Lukas Wood notched 21 and Chris Poloniato 14 for the Celts.

JF Ross, meanwhile, held off the Centre Wellington 65-63 in the other game between ranked squads.  Josh McEachern (21) and Ty Uhrig (12) led the way for the Falcons, while Andrew Folkerson had 15 and Harris Cornett 10 for Ross.

Also on Thursday, Lourdes won their second consecutive game, 61-43 over Guelph CVI.  Craig Valeriote had a game-high 26 points for Lourdes in that one.

D10 Senior Standings
1.  St. James 6-0
T2.  Bishop Mac 5-1
T2.  JF Ross 5-1
4.  CWDHS 2-3
T5.  Lourdes 2-4
T5.  Centennial 2-4
7.  Orangeville 1-4
8.  Guelph CVI 0-6

D10 Junior
Two games have been reported thus far from last night's schedule, with CWDHS nipping JF Ross 42-39 and GCVI remaining perfect in league play with a 65-52 win over Lourdes.

Lincoln Rosebush poured in 24 points for the undefeated Gaels in their victory, while Geeth Kenneth had 17 for the 'Saders.

Cole Newton did most of Centre Wellington's damage, with a 19 point effort, while Vishal Pandya was the top JF Ross scorer with 12.

D10 Junior Standings
1.  Guelph CVI 6-0
2.  Centennial 5-1
3.  St. James 4-1
4.  Orangeville 3-2
5.  CWDHS 2-3
6.  Bishop Mac 1-4
7.  JF Ross 1-5
8.  Lourdes 0-6

LehighSports.com: Cvrkalj's Journey To Lehigh

Written by Justin Lafleur, of Lehigh's Sports Media Relations team, here's a nice article on Bluevale ('11) graduate Stefan Cvrkalj, currently in his senior season at NCAA Division I Lehigh University:

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Lehigh men's basketball is a very diverse team. The 16 players on the roster represent 11 different states and four different countries. Student-athletes come to the program from around the world with all different backgrounds.

Senior Stefan Cvrkalj is one of those student-athletes. His story is a compelling one that includes multiple countries and his parents' vision for a better life. Fast forward about 20 years and Cvrkalj is excelling at Lehigh, on and off the court, and has a bright future after graduation.

Without the decision from his parents in the early 1990s, he may not be in the position he is today…

Born in Novi Sad, Serbia, Cvrkalj's parents decided to move to Canada when Stefan was eleven months old.

"The only members of our family to come to Canada before us were my dad's uncle (he came here in 1973) and his brother (my uncle), who moved three years before we did," said Stefan. "We had someone who could sponsor us to come to Canada and help us get our Visas."

The conditions in Serbia were worsening, which ended up being the motivator behind the move.

"I had an idea to move to Canada when I was just about Stefan's age now, as a university student, in the early 80s," said Stefan's father Djuro Cvrkalj, which is translated to George in English. "It went kind of hot and cold in the next ten years, but the situation in early 90s changed when Yugoslavia split and the war escalated, so it was much easier to make the decision."

The Cvrkaljs moved to Kitchener, Ontario, which is located west of Toronto. Hockey is a popular sport in Canada, but Stefan never became interested in the sport. Instead, he played sports like tennis and soccer, eventually playing basketball around the fourth grade.

"Basketball picked up from there," said Stefan. "I stopped playing other sports at that time and played basketball from that point on."

"I was extremely happy about Stefan's decision," said Djuro. "Basketball became very popular through the 1960s, especially the 70s and 80s, in the part of the world where we were from. There was no need for any adjustment. Our national teams played one of the major roles in FIBA basketball over the last 40 years."

Cvrkalj enjoyed success and developed into one of the top prospects in all of Canada. He tried out and made the last cut of the country's Under 18 Junior National Team. It was clear that Stefan could play at a high level, but he needed to decide whether to continue playing in Canada or play Division I basketball in the United States.

"It took me a while to feel confident leaving home and playing in the U.S. because it was better competition," said Cvrkalj. "There's a risk of not playing much, or not feeling comfortable at that level of basketball. Ultimately, I wanted the challenge and I felt like I had worked so many years and worked so hard to achieve that goal. I had the opportunity, so I went for it."

Coupled with his success in the classroom, Cvrkalj received interest from multiple Patriot League schools. Ironically, the decision came down to arch rivals Lehigh or Lafayette. With comparable opportunities, Stefan decided on Lehigh because of its strong business school.

"Not only did Lehigh have a good business school, but their accounting department was also one of the strongest programs in the country," said Cvrkalj.

Stefan used his father's advice when making the final decision.

"Basketball wise, Lehigh and Lafayette are both very good schools, and it's always hard to tell which team is going to be better in the coming years," said Stefan. "Academics were something I could rely on regardless of what happened in basketball. My dad had warned me that you never know what can happen with sports; academics are the constant."

On the floor, Cvrkalj's specialty is sharp-shooting. He can knock down three-pointers with the best of them. At the time, the Mountain Hawks were looking for the skills Stefan brought to the table.

"We saw a player who had good size, a very good shooting touch, was a good passer from the standstill position and complemented some of the current pieces that we had on our team," said Lehigh head coach Brett Reed.

Cvrkalj's freshman season ended in the NCAA Tournament, just one win from the Sweet 16. He played in 30 games during that historic 2011-12 campaign which featured a Patriot League Championship and win over Duke. Cvrkalj averaged 2.3 points per game, including one game when he scored 19 points.

"We almost beat St. John's in the first game and held strong against Michigan State," he said. "Just seeing how we were consistent in practice, consistent in games and everyone wanted to win, I learned a lot from that season."

Even though he saw limited minutes, that year will stick with Stefan forever. It was a veteran, selfless group which was focused on one goal – winning.

"Some people start all four years, but they don't ever win a championship," said Cvrkalj. "I'll always have that ring in my bedroom. Even though I was a freshman and I received spot minutes for most of the season, I still got to be a part of that. I still got to feel the excitement of winning and going to the NCAA Tournament."

Cvrkalj suffered an injury as a sophomore, which ended up lingering through his junior season. From adjusting to the American game as a freshman to dealing with injuries his next two seasons, Stefan has been forced to overcome obstacles.

"Stefan fought through those injuries," said Reed. "He didn't take days off, he continued to work hard and prepare himself and the team as best he could. Unfortunately, when he was ready to take the next step in his junior year, he had an injury which sidelined him for a long period of time."

Although he tried to play early in the season, Stefan was unable to compete at a high level.

"We allowed him to rest and recover completely then he made a pretty significant impact in the second half of the year," said Reed.

Cvrkalj responded with 14 second-half points in key Patriot League victories against both Navy and Bucknell. This season, he's beginning to get hot from behind the three-point arc, knocking down five treys over his last three games… all victories.

Reed has seen tremendous growth in Stefan, especially on the defensive end of the floor.

"It took Stefan a while to learn our concepts and his ability to guard the basketball was at a pretty low level," said Reed. "But through hard work and diligence, he's improved in that area. Even last year, he took on some pretty meaningful defensive assignments and the coaching staff felt very comfortable that he could fulfill certain assignments because of his size and determination."

When Stefan is on the floor, he is a dangerous player, but his contributions to the program have gone far beyond any statistic.

"Stefan's influence and attention in the classroom has set a positive model for his teammates," said Reed. "I believe that his care and concern about building the right type of culture within our program has really laid a solid foundation for us moving forward. He's taken personal accountability to help enhance the future of our program by laying out the proper standards, adhering to those standards and promoting the type of basketball culture that a coach would be proud of."

In the classroom, Cvrkalj sports an impressive 3.81 cumulative GPA as an accounting major. Stefan has developed into a hot commodity in the job market and was recruited by PriceWaterhouseCoopers in New York, but he's looking to work back in Canada. The hope and plan is to work with the company where he's interned. The company doesn't hire as far in advance as most companies.

"This company looks more for immediate employment," said Sefan. "It's more about finding an open position and applying for it when I can actually start working. I have to be patient and see what's open. The good news is that I've made close contact with a lot of people at that company and there are people trying to help me out because they want me at the company once I'm done school. I've worked there for two years, two summers, and they're looking just as actively as I am to try and find me a position once I graduate."

If Stefan's family didn't leave Serbia back in the early 1990s, Stefan likely would have never ended up at Lehigh and would not be in the strong position he is today.

"My mom and dad were both able to find jobs and I was able to go to school in a country where there's more financial security," said Stefan. "My older sister Kristina finished her PhD in my hometown, one of the best science universities in North America."

"I think Stefan and Kristina have gained a unique view to the world, living and growing in Canada, and spending pretty much every summer in Serbia," said Djuro, who still has relatives in Serbia, as does his wife Bojana. "There are similarities, but there are a lot of differences between these two countries. Having that kind of opportunity helps you in communication, it helps you to understand and respect people better and it makes you a better person.

"Bojana and I are very fortunate that we were able to support Stefan and Kristina to travel and establish those connections with relatives and friends," Djuro continued. "We are very proud of them."

Stefan's life has been influenced by two major decisions, his parents' decision to uproot a family and his decision to play college basketball in the United States. Both decisions proved difficult, but led to extremely positive end results.

"I am amazed how focused and positive Stefan stayed, and how much effort he was able to put in to get back and play again after injuries," said Djuro. "There is a saying in Serbian 'U svakom losem ima nesto dobro - In every bad one, there is something good too,' which I kept repeating to him through those though times. I think it's very true, and he did become much stronger and tougher and ready for the challenges in days to come."

"I think ultimately, my parents made the tough decision and the right one for both my sister and I," said Cvrkalj. "I am very grateful."

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