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Junior: Luke Santi Memorial - All-Star Selections

2012-02-13T11:11:00.001-05:00

The all-stars for the Luke Santi Memorial Tournament were announced as follows. Minimum one selection per team:

MVP

Kimbal Mackenzie, 5'10" PG/Grade 10 (HT) 17.8 PPG

All-Star Selections

Brandon Cyrus, 6'2" SF/Grade 9 (HT) - 12.8 PPG

Lucas Orlita, 6'2" SG/Grade 10 (HT) - 15.3 PPG

Jaaden Lewis, 6'1" SF/Grade 9 (JV) - 16.3 PPG

JJ Silva, 5'8" PG/Grade 10 (JV) - 6.5 PPG

Michael Ganson, 5'10" G/Grade 10 (BMAC) - 21.3 PPG

Mack Smith, 6'2" F/Grade 9 (RCSS) - 15.0 PPG

David Khayipangi, 6'0" F/Grade 9 (OLOL) - 15.3 PPG

Brian Kim, 6'0" SF/Grade 10 (DM) - 10.0 PPG

Mitch Humby, 6'0" SF/Grade 10 (St. Chris) - 5.8 PPG

Min Kang, 5'9" SG/Grade 10 (St. Pat's) - 6.3 PPG

HT - Holy Trinity
JV - Jean Vanier
DM - Denis Morris

D8: Playoff Scenario / Tiebreak Information

2012-02-13T10:22:00.001-05:00

From a D8 press release:

KITCHENER, Ont. (February 10, 2012) - District 8 Athletic Association has released its playoff scenarios for Boy’s Basketball. The regular season in Boy's Basketball is set to wind down on Monday, February 13.

Tuesday (Feb. 14) is a potentially big day for Senior Boys Basketball with the potential of a three team sudden-death playoff. For this to happen, Rockway MC needs to defeat St. David CSS while Monsignor Doyle CSS needs to lose against St. Mary’s HS in Monday’s final regular season game.

The University of Waterloo will host the District 8 Boys Basketball Championship on Friday, February 17 with the junior game kicking off at 6pm and the senior’s set for 8pm. Tickets for the event are $5.00 for an adult and $3 for a student.

Tiebreak Facts - Senior Boys Basketball

Facts
• St. Mary’s has clinched No. 1 seed (via points)
• Resurrection has clinched No. 2 seed over St. Benedict based on +/- against higher opponent
• Monsignor Doyle, Rockway and St. David can still place in fourth place

Tiebreak RCSS/SBCSS
• Season series currently 1-0 in favour of RCSS (Dec. 19 – Rez won 56-38 (+18 +/-)
• However – SBCSS +/- is -28 against SMH whereas RCSS +/- is -9 against SMH (Rule 5.3.3)

Scenario 1: (SDCSS wins, MDCSS loses, RMC loses)
• St. David earns 4th seed via points
• Monsignor Doyle and Rockway are eliminated

Scenario 2a: (SDCSS loses, MDCSS loses, RMC wins)
• Doubleheader Tiebreak on Feb 14
• Game A: RMC vs. SDCSS @ Monsignor Doyle (3:00pm)
• Game B: Winner of A vs. MDCSS @ Monsignor Doyle (5:00pm)
NOTE: In this scenario MDCSS earns right to host game if they lose vs. SMH by less than 57 points (RULE 5.3.3)

Scenario 2b: (SDCSS loses, MDCSS loses, RMC wins)
• Doubleheader Tiebreak on Feb14
• Game A: RMC vs. MDCSS @ St. David (3:00pm)
• Game B: Winner of A vs. SDCSS @ St. David (5:00pm)
NOTE: In this scenario SDCSS earns right to host game if MDCSS lose to SMH by 57 or more points (RULE 5.3.3)

Scenario 3: (SDCSS wins, MDCSS wins, RMC loses)
• Tie break game between SDCSS and MDCSS
February 14 (tiebreak)
• SDCSS @ MDCSS (3:30pm)

Scenario 4: (SDCSS loses, MDCSS wins, RMC wins)
• Monsignor Doyle earns 4th seed via points
• St. David and Rockway are eliminated

Semifinals (February 15)
• No. 4 TBA @ No. 1 St. Mary’s HS (3:30pm)
• No. 3 St. Benedict CSS @ No. 2 St. Resurrection CSS (3:30pm)

D8 Monday: Final Regular Season Dates to Determine Playoff Spots

2012-02-13T10:19:00.000-05:00

The final day of the D8 regular season is today, and several parts of the playoff picture are yet to be finalized.

What we do know is this --- on the senior side, St. Mary's will finish 1st, Resurrection 2nd and St. Benedict 3rd. As such, today's Resurrection vs. St. Benedict game means very little (especially with the same two teams meeting in the semifinals on Wednesday).

The most crucial game to the senior schedule will be St. David hosting Rockway. A St. David win advances them through to the playoffs (and through to CWOSSA, as well). A Rockway win, however, would set up a very interesting tiebreak scenario, which we'll get to in a separate post.

Over on the junior side, everything is set with the exception of the third and final playoff position. The winner of the Resurrection/St. Benedict game will finish 3rd, with the loser finishing in 4th position.

Collingwood Senior Tournament: Falcons Take Consolation Title

2012-02-13T10:12:00.000-05:00

The OSCVI Falcons captured the consolation championship at this weekend's Senior Boys Invitational hosted by Collingwood CVI.

The Falcons started out by losing to the eventual tournament champions, Twin Lakes (Orillia) 81-55 (OSCVI: Jason McMullen 22, Kevin Bunn 18), but rebounded in their next outing to take out Kitchener Eastwood 54-40 (Bunn, 12).

In the consolation semifinal, OSCVI drilled St. Joan of Arc (Barrie) 54-33 (Zac Kemp, 18) and then went on to take the consolation title over Bracebridge 57-38 (Bunn, 25).

Several other CWOSSA teams also participated. The aforementioned Eastwood Rebels dropped their first game to St. Theresa (Midland) before losing their second to OSCVI. They picked up a win in their third game against Midland SS.

Centre Dufferin defeated Sarnia St. Clair in the first round, before dropping their second game to Barrie St. Joseph's (tournament finalists). They would win their third and final outing against Midland St. Theresa.

Lastly, Walkerton's Sacred Heart dropped their opener to Collingwood before falling by 1 point to St. Joan of Arc (Barrie) in their second outing. They would pick up a win, however, against Sarnia St. Clair in their third game of the tournament.

Senior: Ross Royals Take Out LOSSA-Leading Pine Ridge

2012-02-13T09:51:00.001-05:00

In a playoff tune-up on Friday evening in Pickering, the JF Ross Royals took out the top team in LOSSA, the Pine Ridge Pumas, by an 88-80 final in an exciting overtime game.

Mike Friesen had 29, Wil de Groot 17 and Shamlo Saeed finished with 15 for Ross. Pine Ridge's top player, Jamal Reynolds, finished with a game-high 36 points.

Pine Ridge is currently at 8-2 in LOSSA play, tied with Pickering (8-2) and ahead of JC Richardson (7-3).

JF Ross is back in action tomorrow afternoon for a home D10 quarterfinal matchup with Guelph CVI.

Junior: Holy Trinity (Oakville) Take Luke Santi Memorial Title

2012-02-13T09:26:00.001-05:00

On Saturday evening in Kitchener, two top-ranked GTA schools --- Holy Trinity (Oakville) and Jean Vanier (Richmond Hill) --- played a terrific championship final at the Resurrection Phoenix/Luke Santi Memorial Junior Boys Invitational Tournament hosted by Resurrection CSS.

As noted in my previous postings, the tournament is named for Luke Santi, a former Resurrection student and junior basketball player (D8 all-star in '07) who passed away in his grade 11 year after a battle with cancer.

Jean Vanier led most of the way, although by slim margins. They held a 26-22 lead at half, and led by one after three. After trailing by as many as 5 in the final quarter, Holy Trinity was able to get some great execution down the stretch and had things tied at 48-48 with under 1:00 to play.

After Jean Vanier did not score on their possession, the Titans got the ball to Lucas Orlita who was fouled on a jumper with :05 left --- he converted one of two free throws for the final margin (49-48).

For Holy Trinity, Kimbal Mackenzie (Tournament MVP) led the way with 24 points, Orlita had 12 and Brandon Cyrus 10.

Jaaden Lewis netted 13 for Jean Vanier, Nick McKee had 11 (all in the first half) and JJ Silva finished with 10.

Trinity advanced to the finals by beating Bishop Mac (Guelph) 61-45. The Titans trailed 45-44 with 6:30 left but closed the game on a 17-0 run that was started on a dunk by grade 9 G/F Brandon Cyrus. The athletic Cyrus had three dunks in the tournament and even registered a goaltending call in the final!

Jean Vanier defeated Our Lady of Lourdes (Guelph), 67-45 in the other semifinal.

First Round
Jean Vanier (RH) 43, Resurrection (Kitchener) 32
Bishop Mac (Guelph) 83, St. Patrick (Sarnia) 49
St. Christopher (Sarnia) 66, Denis Morris (St. Cath) 52
Holy Trinity (Oak) 64, Lourdes (Guelph) 27

Second Round - Winners vs. Losers
Bishop Mac 68, Resurrection 56
Jean Vanier 70, St. Patrick 43
Lourdes 67, St. Christopher 66
Holy Trinity 61, Denis Morris 29

Consolation Semifinals
St. Christopher 50, St. Patrick 27
Resurrection 60, Denis Morris 50

Championship Semifinals
Jean Vanier 67, Lourdes 45
Holy Trinity 61, Bishop Mac 45

Consolation Final
St. Christopher 61, Resurrection 51

Championship Final
Holy Trinity 49, Jean Vanier 48

Tournament Leading Scorers

1. Michael Ganson, Bishop Mac - 21.3 PPG

2. Josh Elsley, St. Christopher - 19.8 PPG

3. Adam MacEachern, Bishop Mac - 18.0 PPG

4. Kimbal Mackenzie, Holy Trinity - 17.8 PPG

5. Jaaden Lewis, Jean Vanier - 16.3 PPG

T6. Lucas Orlita, Holy Trinity - 15.3 PPG

T6. David Khayipangi, Lourdes - 15.3 PPG

8. Mack Smith, Resurrection - 15.0 PPG

9. Sam Ellenor, St. Christopher - 14.8 PPG

T10. Raymond Yeung, Jean Vanier - 12.8 PPG

T10. Brandon Cyrus, Holy Trinity - 12.8 PPG

Senior: Phoenix in Consolation Finals at All-Catholic

2012-02-11T16:22:00.000-05:00

The Resurrection Phoenix have advanced to the consolation final (6:30pm tonight) at the Ontario All-Catholic tournament in St. Catharines.

Rez lost to D'Youville (Brampton) 57-37 in their first game, but have since rebounded to reel off consecutive wins against Welland Notre Dame (65-27) and St. Francis (St. Catharines) 59-42.

The Phoenix will be facing Ottawa St. Patrick's in the consolation final.

The other CWOSSA entry, Brantford St. John's, dropped both of their games, losing to Oakville Holy Trinity 70-46 and St. Francis (St. Catharines) 76-60.

Junior: Luke Santi Memorial Tournament Updates

2012-02-10T11:09:00.053-05:00

First Round

Jean Vanier (Richmond Hill) 43, Resurrection 32

The Phoenix put a scare into one of the top teams in the GTA, as they had this one tied at 14-14 in the second quarter before the Jaguars closed out the half on a 6-0 run. The Phoenix maintained contact throughout the second half, but they did tire to a degree thanks in part to JV's harassing pressure defense.

Still, a solid effort against a team that is currently tied with Pickering and ranked ahead of JC Richardson (among others) in the latest GTA Rankings.

Jaaden Lewis led all scorers with a 14 point effort for Jean Vanier, while Nick McKee and JJ Silva scored 7 each. For Rez, Thomas Hunter netted 10, and Kirlos Milio and Mark Wylie had 7 each.

RCSS 06-08-10-08 = 24
JVCSS 10-10-10-13 = 43

RCSS
T. Hunter 4 0-0 10, J. Quirke 0 0-2 0, M. Wylie 2 2-3 7, R. Vyrostko 2 0-0 4, K. Milio 3 2-3 8, M. Smith 0 2-4, A. Pickett 1 0-0 2.
Free-Throws: 6-12, .500. Three-Point Goals: T. Hunter 2, M. Wylie 1.

Jean Vanier
J. Ng 0 2-8 2, JJ Silva 3 1-5 7, R. Yeung 3 1-2 7, J. Lewis 4 5-6 14, D. Miller 1 1-2 3, N. McKee 3 1-5 7.
Free-Throws: 11-28, .392. Three-Point Goals: J. Lewis 1.

Bishop Mac 83, St. Patrick's (Sarnia) 49

Michael Ganson scored 16 first half points as the Celtics exploded for 48 first-half points, and cruised to an 83-49 win. Ganson finished with 26, while Adam MacEachern added 20. Paul Whitson had 12 and Jay McAuley 9 for St. Pat's.

BMAC 27-21-18-17 = 83
St. Pat's 13-10-18-08 = 49

St. Patrick's
T. Johnson-Barnes 1 0-0 2, J. McAuley 2 2-2 7, P. Whitson 4 2-2 12, S. Petrocco 2 0-0 4, J. Pavey 2 0-0 4, M. Kang 2 0-0 4, T. Judson 1 0-2 2, T. Garrity 2 2-5 6, G. Oreskovich 2 0-0 4, T. Savage 0 0-2 0, D. Pintus 0 0-2 0.
Free-Throws: 6-15, .400. Three-Point Goals: P. Whitson 2, J. McAuley 1.

Bishop Mac
A. MacEachern 8 2-5 20, A. Morris 2 0-0 4, M. Ganson 11 3-4 26, T. Chapman 1 0-0 2, A. Fraser 2 2-2 6, N. Szendry 2 0-0 4, A. Derwianko 0 1-2 1, B. Visentin 2 0-1 4, M. Butts 5 1-2 11, S. Dilello 1 0-0 2.
Free-Throws: 9-16, .563. Three-Point Goals: M. Ganson 2, A. MacEachern 1.

St. Christopher 66, Denis Morris 52

SC 17-17-21-11 = 66
DM 10-16-10-16 = 52

St. Christopher's
T. McEwan 0 1-2 1, J. Elsley 7 9-13 25, N. Paquette 1 0-0 2, E. Steeves 2 1-2 7, C. Mauti 1 0-0 2, E. Ellwood 0 2-2 2, C. Drellick 1 0-0 3, K. Derech 3 0-0 6, M. Humby 2 1-3 5, S. Ellenor 3 6-9 13.
Free-Throws: 20-31 (.645). Three-Point Goals: J. Elsley 2, E. Steeves 2, C. Drellick 1, S. Ellenor 1.

Denis Morris
N. Warden 0 0-3 0, J. Chambers 4 1-3 10, M. Bufalino 2 2-4 6, B. Kim 5 2-2 16, O. Lamb 0 1-2 1, J. Abando 3 0-0 6, S. Warner 0 1-2 1, J. Selman 3 0-0 6, N. Nardengeli 2 2-4 6.
Free-Throws: 9-20, .450. Three-Point Goals: B. Kim 4, J. Chambers 1.

Holy Trinity 64, Lourdes (Guelph) 27

HT 15-10-19-20 = 64
OLOL 06-10-06-05 = 27

Holy Trinity
K. MacKenzie 4 5-6 13, N. Goodridge 2 0-0 4, B. Cyrus 6 1-8 13, L. Orita 6 1-1 14, E. O'Dell 3 1-4 7, S. Cece 1 0-0 2, D. Rudman 3 0-0 9.
Free-Throws: 8-19, .421. Three-Point Goals: D. Rudman 3, K. MacKenzie 2, L. Orlita 1.

Lourdes
A. Hudecki 1 0-0 3, J. Kusinski 3 2-2 8, E. Zimochod 1 0-0 2, H. Nichol 2 0-0 4, D. Khayipangi 2 0-1 5, N. Amaya 0 0-2 0, C. Valeriote 1 0-0 3, X. Guaca 1 0-0 2.
Free-Throws: 2-5, .400. Three-Point Goals: A. Hudecki 1, D. Khayipangi 1, C. Valeriote 1.

Second Round

Bishop Mac 68, Resurrection 56

The Celtics trailed 19-2 after one quarter (and four three-pointers from Rez's Mark Wylie) but rallied with a second-half explosion to win going away.

BMAC 02-18-26-22 = 68

RCSS 19-14-11-12 = 56

Bishop Mac

A. MacEachern 6 4-8 16, A. Morris 0 2-2 2, L. Wood 2 0-0 6, M. Ganson 6 8-10 22, A. Fraser 1 0-0 2, B. Visentin 2 3-5 8, M. Butts 4 2-4 11.

Free-Throws: 19-30, .633. Three-Point Goals: M. ganson 2, L. Wood 2, B. Visentin 1, M. Butts 1.

Resurrection

T. Hunter 0 2-2 2, J. Quirke 1 0-0 2, M. Wylie 6 2-3 18, R. Vyrostko 1 2-4 4, K. Milio 4 2-3 10, M. Smith 7 4-7 18, A. Pickett 1 0-1 2.

Free-Throws: 12-20, .600. Three-Point Goals: M. Wylie 4.

Jean Vanier 70, St. Patrick's 43

JV 19-23-14-14 = 70
SP 07-12-08-16 = 43

Jean Vanier
J. Ng 2 1-1 5, G. Enriquez 2 0-0 4, JJ Silva 2 0-0 4, J. Abreu 1 0-0 2, R. Yeung 4 1-2 9, J. Lewis 7 4-4 18, R. Tayal 1 0-0 2, D. Miller 1 0-0 2, W. El-Salibi 3 0-3 6, N. McKee 6 0-0 13, P. Cruz 2 1-2 4.
Free-Throws: 7-12, .583. Three-Point Goals: N. McKee 1.

St. Patrick's
J. Bento 0 2-2 2, J. McAuley 1 0-0 3, P. Whitson 2 0-0 6, J. Pavey 1 0-2 2, M. Kang 4 4-5 12, T. Judson 1 1-2 3, T. Garrity 1 3-4 5, G. Oreskovich 1 0-0 2, D. Pintus 0 1-2 1, D. Thompson 3 0-0 6.
Free-Throws: 11-17, .647. Three-Point Goals: P. Whitson 2, J. McAuley 1.

Lourdes 67, St. Christopher 66

OLOL 18-13-12-19 = 67
ST. C    12-18-13-23 = 66

Lourdes
A. Hudecki 2 0-0 5, A. Arboleda 1 0-0 2, J. Kusinski 5 2-2 12, H. Nichol 2 0-0 4, D. Khayipangi 7 2-4 17, N. Amaya 0 2-2 2, C. Valeriote 5 1-1 13, X. Guaca 2 2-3 6.
Free-Throws: 9-12, .750. Three-Point Goals: C. Valeriote 2, D. Khayipangi 1, A. Hudecki 1.

St. Christopher's
J. Elsley 5 9-10 20, N. Paquette 2 0-0 4, E. Steeves 2 0-0 4, C. Drellick 1 0-0 2, K. Derech 3 1-2 7, M. Humby 2 0-0 4, S. Ellenor 8 6-8 22.

Free-Throws: 16-20, .800. Three-Point Goals: J. Elsley 1.

Holy Trinity 61, Denis Morris 29

Consolation Semifinals

St. Christopher 50, St. Patrick's 27

SC   14-12-15-09 = 50
SP    04-11-03-09 = 27

St. Christopher
J. Elsley 5 3-5 13, T. Eisenbraun 1 0-0 2, N. Paquette 2 0-2 4, E. Steeves 1 2-2 5, C. Molson 1 0-0 2, C. Mauti 0 2-5 2, C. Drellick 1 0-0 2, K. Derech 1 0-0 2, M. Humby 2 4-6 8, S. Ellenor 2 6-13 10.
Free-Throws: 17-33, .515. Three-Point Goals: E. Steeves 1.

St. Patrick's
T. Johnson-Barnes 0 1-2 1, J. Bento 2 1-2 6, J. McAuley 0 1-2 1, S. Petrocco 1 0-0 2, M. Kang 1 1-4 3, T. Judson 1 0-0 2, T. Garrity 3 0-0 6, G. Oreskovich 0 0-2 0, J. Ramos 2 0-2 4, D. Pintus 1 0-0 2.
Free-Throws: 4-14, .285. Three-Point Goals: J. Bento 1.

Resurrection 60, Denis Morris 50

RCSS 06-18-18-18 = 60
DM     14-09-17-10 = 50

Resurrection
T. Hunter 0 1-2 1, M. Wylie 4 1-4 10, R. Vyrostko 1 0-0 2, K. Milio 3 5-10 11, M. Smith 11 4-6 26, A. Pickett 4 2-3 10.
Free-Throws: 13-25, .520. Three-Point Goals: M. Wylie 1.

Denis Morris
J. Chambers 4 1-4 11, M. Bufalino 4 3-4 12, B. Kim 2 0-2 5, O. Lamb 0 1-2 1, J. Abando 3 1-7 7, S. Warner 2 0-0 4, J. Selman 0 0-2 0, N. Nardangeli 2 0-0 4.
Free-Throws: 6-19, .316. Three-Point Goals: M. Bufalino 3, J. Chambers 2.

Championship Semifinals

Jean Vanier 67, Lourdes 45

JV    24-14-06-23 = 67
OL   06-16-12-11 = 45

Jean Vanier
JJ Silva 1 3-4 5, P. Cruz 0 1-2 1, R. Yeung 10 3-3 26, J. Lewis 9 1-2 20, D. Miller 1 0-0 2, N. McKee 5 0-2 13.
Free-Throws: 8-13, .615. Three-Point Goals: R. Yeung 3, N. McKee 3, J. Lewis 1.

Lourdes
A. Hudecki 3 0-0 9, J. Kusinski 1 1-2 3, E. Zimochod 0 0-1 0, H. Nichol 2 0-0 4, D. Khayipangi 12 4-8 28, C. Valeriote 1 0-0 2.
Free-Throws: 5-11, .454. Three-Point Goals: A. Hudecki 3.

Holy Trinity (Oak) 61, Bishop Mac 45

A great game in which the Celtics actually held a 45-44 lead in the fourth quarter! However, a dunk on a fastbreak by HT's Brandon Cyrus started a 17-0 Trinity run to end the game, as Bishop Mac didn't score over the final 6:30 of regulation.

BMAC 14-11-18-02 = 45
HT         19-10-11-19 = 61

Bishop Macdonell
A. MacEachern 6 0-0 16, L. Wood 1 2-2 4, M. Ganson 11 1-1 23, A. Fraser 0 2-2 2, M. Butts 1 0-2 2.
Free-Throws: 5-7, .714. Three-Point Goals: A. MacEachern 4.

Holy Trinity
K. MacKenzie 7 3-5 18, N. Goodridge 0 2-2 2, B. Cyrus 7 0-0 14, L. Orlita 6 0-0 15, E. O'Dell 3 0-0 7, S. Cece 0 0-2 0, D. Rudman 1 0-0 3.
Free-Throws: 5-9, .555. Three-Point Goals: L. Orlita 3, K. MacKenzie 1, E. O'Dell 1, D. Rudman 1.

Consolation Final

St. Christopher (Sarnia) 61, Resurrection 51

The Cyclones captured the consolation title thanks in part to a key 6-0 run to start the 4th quarter that pushed a 43-42 lead to 49-42. Josh Elsley finished with 21 to lead the way for St. Chris.

RCSS    09-16-17-09 = 51
STC      20-08-15-12 = 61

Resurrection
T. Hunter 3 0-0 8, M. Wylie 3 0-0 8, R. Vyrostko 3 2-6 8, S. Begy 1 1-2 3, K. Milio 5 0-2 10, M. Smith 7 0-3 14.
Free Throws: 3-13, .231. Three-Point Goals: T. Hunter 2, M. Wylie 2.

St. Christopher
T. McEwan 1 0-0 2, J. Elsley 6 8-10 21, E. Steeves 4 3-4 15, C. Molson 0 1-3 1, M. Humby 3 0-0 6, S. Ellenor 6 2-9 14
Free-Throws: 14-26, .538. Three-Point Goals: E. Steeves 4, J. Esley 1.

Simcoe Reformer: Titans Down Cross Town Rivals

2012-02-10T10:56:00.000-05:00

Article By: Jacob Robinson

This one had all the markings of a premier regular-season battle, and delivered just that.

The winner of Thursday's meeting between Simcoe Sabres and Holy Trinity Titans senior basketball teams would not only receive bragging rights over their cross-town rival, but move closer to finishing first in the NSSAA regular-season standings.

Early on, it was all Sabres as they jumped out to a 10-0 advantage, but the Titans rode the momentum gained from winning their annual Knights of Norfolk Tournament this past weekend in earning a one-point, 36-35 victory.

The Titans didn't take their first lead in the contest until there was 3:29 to go in the fourth, but managed to hold on for their seventh straight victory, including tournament play.

"I think it's just our team, our chemistry has just gotten a lot better and we just play better all together now and we play smart," said Titan Eric Weber, who scored eight points.

The result would've been altogether different had a couple bounces gone Simcoe's way in the final minute. With his team down three with seconds remaining, Simcoe sharpshooter Tommy Tran -- already with 11 points -- was fouled from beyond the arc, and hit two of his three free-throw attempts. With just three ticks left on the clock, the Sabres forced a steal off the inbound and got the ball to Tran, whose buzzer-beating shot narrowly clanked off the iron and out, resulting in the Sabres second-straight loss.

"I was just thinking to not foul, I felt that would be the worst thing to do," said Weber of the final sequence. "I figured if we just played hard defence, ran our inbounds play ... it was only three seconds so I wasn't really too worried."

Following a 7-0 start, the Sabres recorded a 1-2 record in last weekend's tournament at Holy Trinity and two straight losses this week to Delhi and the Titans. Ahead four at the half and five heading to the final quarter Thursday, Simcoe was unable to hold on, thanks in part to the Titans stingy defence.

"We've just got to be able to handle pressure, work on our press break, get open for passes and keep moving our feet," said Sabre Cody Cunningham.

"We were letting them take easy baskets, our zone is supposed to stop them in the middle, (but) we were letting them get easy layups and (we had some) stupid fouls."

And so playoff positioning will come down to this afternoon. Simcoe still has an outside shot of finishing first by virtue of their tiebreaker over Holy Trinity. The Sabres will need to defeat Waterford today and hope that the Titans can top Delhi. If the Raiders are victorious, they'll take top spot, the Sabres will be second with a win today and Holy Trinity comes in third. The Titans can clinch first with a win, and Simcoe loss. With a win Thursday, Waterford will finish fourth.

No matter where they finish, Simcoe is hoping to buck their current losing trend when the league semi-finals tip off Tuesday.

"We've just got to work on everything," said Cunningham. "Our offence needs a lot of work, our press break -- we've just got to pull out a win."

The Titans are currently riding high, but know there's plenty of work to do when everyone's record goes back to 0-0.

"We've really just got to play smart, that's the best thing we can really do," said Weber.

"We've just got to be smart on offence and defence."

Titans point guard Josh Johnson led all scorers with 19.

In other league action, Waterford beat Valley Heights 42-33 to clinch a playoff position. Greg Vezsenyi paced the Wolves with 13 points, John Wall had 10 for the Bears. Delhi got their seventh win of the season by defeating Port Dover.

Waterford's juniors topped Valley Heights 42-33. Tyler Simon scored 13 points and Corey MacLean had 10 for the Wolves.

Retrieved From: http://www.simcoereformer.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=3467777

BAA: Quarterfinals

2012-02-10T10:53:00.000-05:00

Senior

Owen Sound 49, Grey Highlands 36

OS: Kevin Bunn 18, Jason McMullin 11

GH: Sam Symons 9

West Hill (OS) 53, St. Mary's (OS) 45

WH: Nic Lau 15, Joe Lancaster 12

SM: Nick Murphy 20

Monday - South Quarterfinals: (4) Kincardine at (1) Sacred Heart; (3) John Diefenbaker at (2) Walkerton

Junior

Owen Sound 49, St. Mary's 27

OS: Matt Wardrop 18

SM: Braden Boley 11

Unreported: Georgian Bay @ Grey Highlands

South Quarterfinals: (4) Kincardine at (1) Sacred Heart; (3) John Diefenbaker at (2) Saugeen DSS

Final CWOSSA "Top 10" Power Ranking

2012-02-10T10:43:00.000-05:00

....and here it is below. As this is the final "regular season" power ranking, it's just the top 10 teams and no honourable mentions this time around (just in case you were wondering!).

Good luck to all teams in the playoffs!

Senior CWOSSABasketball.com Power Ranking

1. Forest Heights/Kitchener (1)

2. St. Mary's/Kitchener (2)

3. JF Ross/Guelph (3)

4. Waterloo CI/Waterloo (4)

5. Resurrection/Kitchener (5)

6. Lourdes/Guelph (8) - AA

7. Centennial/Guelph (9)

8. Grand River/Kitchener (7)

9. Cameron Hts/Kitchener (6)

T10. Centre Dufferin/Shelburne (10) - AAA

T10. SJAM/Waterloo (NR)

Junior CWOSSABasketball.com Power Ranking

1. St. Mary's/Kitchener (1)

2. Waterloo CI/Waterloo (4)

3. Grand River/Kitchener (2)

4. Cameron Hts/Kitchener (3)

5. JF Ross/Guelph (5)

6. Centre Wellington/Fergus (6)

7. Eastwood/Kitchener (8)

8. St. David/Waterloo (10) - AAA

9. St. James/Guelph (7) - AAA

10. St. John's/Brantford (9)

D10: Results & Playoff Matchups

2012-02-10T10:28:00.000-05:00

Senior

One slight surprise on Thursday as the Orangeville Bears upset St. James by a 64-59 final. This was a more important game to the Bears who avoid the 8th spot in the standings and move up to 7th overall. St. James was locked into 6th entering the contest.

Justin Levesque had a great outing for ODSS, pouring in 29 points. Kyle Hanes had 17, while STJ received 19 from Nick Pelizzari and 10 from Ron Kinga.

Meanwhile, JF Ross handled Centre Wellington 70-53, with Mike Friesen (18), Evan Karl (12) and Shamlo Saeed (11) pacing the Ross attack. Reid Goindi netted 21 for the Falcons, with Tim Francis adding 11.

That loss, coupled with Centennial's 63-46 win over Bishop Mac, vaults the Spartans into 3rd place in the standings and means CW will finish 4th. In CCVI's game, Aleks Kaludjerovic had 24 and Erik Sterne 22 for the winners, while Bishop Mac was led by Jesse Kendall with 19 and Owen Brombal who had 9.

Your final D10 Standings:

1. JF Ross 13-1

2. Lourdes 11-3

3. Centennial 10-4

4. CWDHS 9-5

5. Bishop Mac 6-8

6. St. James 4-10

7. Orangeville 2-12

8. GCVI 1-13

Tuesday's Quarterfinals:

(8) GCVI at (1) JF Ross

(7) Orangeville at (2) Lourdes

(6) St. James at (3) Centennial
(5) Bishop Mac at (4) CWDHS

Junior

The Centennial Spartans stole the 4th playoff position (and a home playoff game that comes with it) on the final day of the regular season, as they defeated the Bishop Mac Celtics 57-44.

Harnoon Samra poured in a game-high 22 points for CCVI, with Zaigham Ali netting 14. Adam MacEachern had 14 and Michael Ganson was held to 6 for the Celts.

In other action, JF Ross finished undefeated by handling CWDHS 52-35. Four Royals were in double-figures, including: Vlad Vamanu (13), Mo Hussien (10), Andrew Folkerson (10) and Greg Schwann (10). Ashlar Young-Evans had 8 and James Scott 7 for the Falcons.

The last game on Thursday saw St. James cruise past ODSS 65-28, backed by 15 from Jake Hasson and 12 from Ryan Willock. David Bath had a game-high 16 for ODSS while Matt Speer netted 7.

And your final D10 Junior Standings:

1. JF Ross 14-0

2. St. James 10-4

3. CWDHS 10-4

4. Centennial 7-7

5. Lourdes 6-8

6. Bishop Mac 6-8

7. GCVI 3-11

8. Orangeville 0-14

Quarterfinals on Tuesday:

(8) Orangeville at (1) JF Ross
(7) GCVI at (2) St. James

(6) Bishop Mac at (3) CWDHS
(5) Lourdes at (4) Centennial

D5: Trojans, Eagles Advance To Finals, Qualify for CWOSSA

2012-02-10T10:14:00.000-05:00

The junior and senior North Park Trojans (AAA) and St. John's Eagles (AAAA) have advanced through to next week's "best of 3" D5 final series in both the junior and senior leagues.

In the process, all 4 of those teams have qualified for their respective CWOSSA championships as well.

The junior Eagles defeated Assumption in one semifinal, with North Park knocking off Brantford CI in the other.

The script was slightly flipped in senior, with North Park defeating Assumption and St. John's dumping Brantford CI.

We'll have more on this to come.

WCSSAA Junior: Vikes Lock up Top Spot with Win over Rens

2012-02-10T10:10:00.000-05:00

In the key battle for top spot in the WCSSAA standings, the WCI Vikings used their balanced scoring attack to their advantage en route to a 64-56 win over the Grand River Renegades.

The win clinched top spot overall for the Vikes, who received 15 points from Ivan Bilandzic, 13 from Adam Carter and 13 more from Bojan Vincic. Murtada Khamis (16) and David Bajic (12) were the top Renegade performers.

Grand River will be seeded #2 entering the WCSSAA playoffs, and will have a first round bye.

They will be joined on the sidelines for the qualifying round by the #3 Cameron Heights Golden Gaels, who clinched third spot overall with a 69-34 thrashing of Waterloo-Oxford. Sasha Simic (15) and Chris Phomsouvanh (12) topped the Gael scoring, while Paul Schroeder had 14 and Garner Matthews 10 for the Crusaders.

TJ Lall poured in 28 points and Lazar Stevanovic added 15 as the Ghosts also secured (officially) a first-round bye with a 61-31 win over Southwood. Colton Quigley had 8 and Sean Wyse 6 for the Sabres.

And in other games......

Elmira 33, Jacob Hespeler 21

EDSS: Scott Carere 9, Alex Weber 7

JHSS: Brandon Roth 10, Ethan Rudd 5

Eastwood 56, Forest Heights 27

ECI: Ousmane Kromah 17, Izzy Nemeth 15

FHCI: Elijah Callendar 14, Ryan Hagey 9

SJAM 61, Bluevale 42

SJAM: Brett Parrott 22, Nedim Hodzic 16

BCI: Ray Lin 9, DJ McIlwraith 8

Huron Heights 49, Preston 36

HHHS: Ahmed Radi 15, Arshid Babury 13

PHS: Mitul Patel 14, Tyler Gibner 12

KCI 62, Glenview Park 43

KCI: Stefan Simic 25, Marco Milovanovic 10

GPSS: Tyrell Wolf 17, Zak Drider 10

So, here's a look at the final standings:

1. WCI 11-1

2. Grand River 11-1

3. Cameron Hts. 10-2

4. Galt 10-2

---

5. Eastwood 9-3

6. Huron Hts 8-4

7. SJAM 7-5

8. Forest Heights 6-6 (COT: W vs. Huron)

9. Preston 6-6 (H2H over EDSS)

10. Elmira 6-6

11. KCI 4-8

12. Southwood 3-9

----

13. Bluevale 2-10 (H2H over JHSS)

14. Jacob Hespeler 2-10

15. WODSS 1-11

16. Glenview Park 0-12

And your first round playoff matchups (unofficial at this point still):

(12) Southwood at (5) Eastwood

(11) KCI at (6) Huron Heights

(10) Elmira at (7) SJAM

(9) Preston at (8) Forest Heights

WCSSAA Senior: Thursday Results

2012-02-10T09:55:00.001-05:00

Forest Heights 72, Eastwood 53

FHCI: Juwan Miller 25, Javon Masters 23

ECI: Patric Pintea 13, Rik Lam 8

SJAM 46, Bluevale 41

SJAM: Nathaniel Ellis 14, Ben Reyhani 11

BCI: Lukas Seibert 13, Perrin Smith 12

WCI 83, Grand River 54

WCI: Jacob Ranton 37, D. Elgadi/M. Piazza 11

GRCI: Filip Cvrkalj 21, Daniel Harun 14

Preston 71, Huron Heights 69

PHS: Wes Meertens 21, Dan Perreira 12

HHHS: Sean Samuel 29, Darcy Jacobs 16

Glenview Park 50, KCI 42

GPSS: Sean Davidson 16, Erist Wame 12

KCI: Julian Greer 19, Alex Galea 9

Galt 50, Southwood 32

GCI: Gabe Vidal 15, Jack Simmons 12

SSS: Riley Clipper 13, Zack Sauer 9

Jacob Hespeler 53, Elmira 23

JHSS: Jason Quiring 17, Saajan Arora 9

EDSS: Walker Stuart 9, Lucas Nosal 4

WCSSAA: Senior Final Standings & Playoff Matchups

2012-02-09T18:29:00.000-05:00

1. Forest Heights (12-0)

2. WCI (10-2)

3. Grand River (9-3) --- H2H over Galt

4. Galt (9-3)

---------

5. Jacob Hespeler (8-4)

6. SJAM (7-5) -- Comm. Opp Tiebreak (BCI W)

7. Preston (7-5) -- Comm. Opp Tiebreak (BCI L)

8. WODSS (6-6) --- H2H over BCI, CHCI, HHHS

9. Huron Heights (6-6) --- H2H over CHCI

10. Cameron Heights (6-6) --- H2H over BCI

11. Bluevale (6-6)

12. Glenview Park (4-8)

-------

13. KCI (3-9)

14. Eastwood (2-10)

15. Southwood (1-11)

16. Elmira (0-12)

....and there you have it. Looks like SJAM will take 6th over Preston --- the teams didn't play during the regular season, so we utilize the common opponent tiebreak (SJAM defeated Bluevale; Bluevale beat Preston).

The "four way" tie for 8th is fairly easy to sort out, as WODSS defeated all of Huron, Bluevale and Cameron Heights --- so WODSS is 8th.

Huron takes 9th, due to the A-B-C tiebreak (beat CHCI, DNP BCI). Cameron finishes 10th thanks to their win over Bluevale, and Bluevale takes 11th.

This is all unofficial until confirmed by WCSSAA!

Your first round playoff matchups:

Byes: (1) FHCI, (2) WCI, (3) GRCI, (4) GCI

(5) Jacob Hespeler vs. (12) Glenview Park

(6) SJAM vs. (11) Bluevale

(7) Preston vs. (10) Cameron Heights

(8) WODSS vs. (9) Huron Heights

D8 Senior Tiebreak Info: Your Magic Number Is.....

2012-02-09T12:04:00.000-05:00

For starters, if St. David gets past Rockway on Monday, we don't have to worry about any of the below. But just so my readers know, in the event Rockway wins, your magic number is:

57!

Why is this? Well, should RMC beat SDCSS on Monday, then those two teams along with Monsignor Doyle would all tie for 4th with 2-8 records. Even more confusing? There wouldn't be a clear tiebreak winner as all squads would then have beaten one team twice and lost to the other twice (SDCSS - MDCSS; MDCSS - RMC; RMC - SDCSS).

According to D8 rules, it then goes to +/- against higher opponents. Uh-oh.

After all of the math, including many "minus 30" games, it looks as though MDCSS has the inside track for what will be deemed the "4A" spot (when there is a tie for the final playoff spot, there needs to be a play-in game according to D8 legislation).

All they would have to do is lose by 56 points or less to St. Mary's on Monday. A 57-point loss, then there would be a tie for the "4A" spot (let's hope this doesn't happen). A 58-point loss, and St. David would take the "4A" spot.

The above sounds funny, but keep in mind that either St. David or Monsignor Doyle will move on to CWOSSA "AAA" so the positioning is very important to those two teams.

There would then be two "play in games" (again, this all IF Rockway beats St. David):

Team "4B" would play "4C", with the winner of that game playing "4A" for the right to move on to the D8 semifinals with the big prize of.......getting to play the St. Mary's Eagles. Of course, as noted, it would also help to sort out the "AAA" CWOSSA berth --- and I'm sure be a source of pride for the teams involved.

All games would be hosted at the "4A" site on the same night (i.e. the 4B/4C winner would have to play two games that day). This would be done next Tuesday, as the D8 semifinals are Wednesday with the final on Friday --- hence a compacted time frame to work with.

Junior: Luke Santi Memorial Tournament Set for Tomorrow

2012-02-09T11:39:00.006-05:00

The 22nd annual Resurrection Phoenix / Luke Santi Memorial Tournament is set to go for tomorrow at Resurrection CSS in Kitchener.

The tournament is in its 5th year as its current name, which was changed to honour former RCSS student (and junior basketball player) Luke Santi, who passed away in 2007 following a courageous battle with cancer.

Arguably, this is the best field assembled for a junior basketball tournament in the region this year, with several provincially ranked teams.

The tournament favourites are the Holy Trinity (Oakville) Titans, who have been ranked as high as #4 in the Hooptowngta.com rankings. The Titans, led by 5'10" guard Kimbal McKenzie, enter with a record of 38-4, and have a bit of "swag" as well, as evidenced by their team introduction video:

Not to be discounted are the Jean Vanier Jaguars out of Richmond Hill, who have also been ranked in the GTA and provincially this season. The Jaguars are coming off a successful outing at the very competitive Ontario All-Catholic junior tournament, where they took home the consolation title (after beating CWOSSA's Waterloo St. David in the consolation semifinals 56-26).

The Jaguars have lost only one game in YRAA play, to the highly regarded Vaughan Voyageurs (by 5 points). PG JJ Silva, swingman Jaaden Lewis and "point forward" Nick McKee are three players to watch.

Another team that could make some noise are the St. Christopher (Sarnia) Cyclones, who enter the tournament with a spotless 14-0 record in LSSAA play. The Cyclones have two players who did some damage at last year's tournament, as Josh Elsley (14.3 PPG, 4th) and Sam Ellenor (13.3 PPG, T-6th) were among the tournament's scoring leaders.

Another Sarnia representative, St. Patrick's (9-4 LSSAA) feature a potent offense that is ranked 2nd in the LSSAA. Paul Whitson is a player who has been hitting 15-20 points per contest consistently throughout the season.

The final "out of town" team, Denis Morris (St. Catharines), is a school with a strong basketball tradition that is making their 2nd consecutive Santi appearance (specific team information not provided by time of this post).

The 3 CWOSSA reps are the host Phoenix, Lourdes Crusaders and the defending champion Bishop Mac Celtics. The Celtics, led by 5'10" scoring sensation Michael Ganson, have been quietly building some momentum over the last couple of weeks, headlined by back-to-back wins over CWOSSA #6 St. James. I wouldn't be surprised to see them make some noise here at the Santi.

Lourdes is a young bunch with their top 5 scorers all in grade 9. It goes without saying that they should be one of the better programs in CWOSSA next season --- but look for them to potentially build some momentum heading into the D10 playoffs this coming weekend.

Lastly, the Phoenix have been in "rebuild mode" this season but always seem to come up big at this tournament. PG Thomas Hunter and grade nine forward Mack Smith are their top performers, while an interesting side-note is that reserve grade nine forward Sean Begy is actually Luke Santi's cousin --- so you may see some inspired play from him this weekend.

The first-round draw is as follows:

8:30am - Resurrection vs. Jean Vanier

10:00am - Bishop Mac vs. St. Patrick's

11:30am - St. Christopher vs. Denis Morris

1:00pm - Lourdes vs. Holy Trinity

(Note - First Round Winners Play First Round Losers in the Second Round --- i.e. RCSS/JV Winner vs. BMAC/St. Pat's Loser).

Past Champions:

2011: Guelph Bishop Macdonell
2010: Oakville Holy Trinity
2009: Kitchener Resurrection
2008: Kitchener Resurrection
--RCSS Invitational Before 2008--
2007: Sarnia St. Christopher
2006: Guelph Bishop Macdonell
2005: Sarnia St. Patrick
2004: Hamilton St. Thomas More
2003: Brantford Assumption
2002: Ottawa St. Patrick
2001: Guelph St. James
2000: Sarnia St. Christopher
1999: Kitchener Resurrection
1998: Kitchener Resurrection

Past Tournament MVPs
2011: Jesse Kendall, Bishop Mac

2010: Trevon McNeil, Holy Trinity
2009: Tyler Schneider, Resurrection
2008: Derek Reinhart, Resurrection
2007: Matt Cinjau, St. Christopher
2006: Drew Morris, Bishop Macdonell
2005: Ian Wright, Sarnia St. Patrick
2004: Jeremy Settemi, St. Thomas More
2003: Jesse MacDonald, Assumption
2002: Alex Sabino-Ifill, Ottawa St. Patrick
2001: Matthew Bellai, St. James
2000: Jordan George, Sarnia St. Christopher
1999: Adam Falsetto, Resurrection
1998: Luke Kasprzak, Resurrection

All-Time Tournament Leading Scorers (PPG)
1. Mike Rocca, Sarnia St. Christopher (2010) - 31.3
2. Matt Cinjau, Sarnia St. Christopher (2007) - 26.0
3. Joe Rocca, Sarnia St. Christopher (2008) - 24.8
T4. Chris Rocca, Sarnia St. Christopher (2005) - 23.3
T4. Solumun Gabriel, Pope John Paul II (2003) - 23.3
6. Seve Sanfilipo, Pope John Paul II (2004) - 22.8
7. Sharieff Peru, Our Lady of Lourdes (2009) - 22.5
8. Justin Manning, Bishop Reding (2009) - 21.0
9. Eric Varasso, Cardinal Newman (2008) - 20.3
10. Chyro Blackwood, Resurrection (2003) - 20.0

11. Adam Schneider, Resurrection (2011) - 19.9
T12. Mitchell Wood, Bishop Macdonell (2010) - 18.5
T12. Connor Wood, Bishop Macdonell (2009) - 18.5
14. Ornan Crandon, Resurrection (2003) - 18.3
T15. Emmanuel Macuei, John Paul II (2008) - 17.3

T15. Jesse Kendall, Bishop Mac (2011) - 17.3

Bold - CWOSSA Players

D10: Thursday Picks

2012-02-09T10:51:00.001-05:00

YTD: 32-5 (.865)

CWDHS (9-4) at JF Ross (12-1)

My Pick: JFR by 10

This game means a lot more to the Falcons, who want to avoid the #4 seed and playing JF Ross in the semifinals (should they get there). Although the Royals have locked up first place, I think they'll take this opportunity to go into the playoffs on a winning note here.

Bishop Mac (6-7) at Centennial (9-4)

My Pick: CCVI by 8

The Celtics won the first one between these clubs, but the Spartans are looking for a big win to boost them to #3 in the standings, which could be potentially key for CWOSSA qualification purposes. Look for them to win a high-scoring affair here.

Orangeville (1-12) at St. James (4-9)

My Pick: STJ by 17

St. James is locked into the #6 spot, while ODSS will finish 8th unless they can pull the upset here. It might be closer than I think, but look for the Lions to win anyways.

WCSSAA: Thursday Picks

2012-02-09T10:47:00.000-05:00

YTD: 54-16 (.771)

...unfortunately, even a perfect day today can take me only as high as 79.4%. But, we'll see what I can do with an intriguing set of games that includes all 6 teams currently in the "middle jumble" of the standings squaring off.

KCI (3-8) at Glenview Park (3-8)

My Pick: GPSS by 4

Winner gets a playoff berth here, loser is out. Pretty much a toss-up, and I'll give the edge to the homecourt Panthers by single digits.

Grand River (9-2) at WCI (9-2)

My Pick: WCI by 2

Jeez, don't know which way to go with this one. Brodi Verbiski being back is another weapon for the already stacked GRCI backcourt, but the Vikes have the edge in the front court with their "towering trio" (Elgadi, Ranton, Piazza). Aside from personnel strengths, it's also a difference in styles here as WCI prefers a more methodical pace while the Rens love to get out and run. Everything balances out on paper, so with WCI at home I'll take them by 2.

Southwood (1-10) at Galt (8-2)

My Pick: GCI by 29

The Ghosts can lock up a first-round bye with a home win today against Southwood, and I expect them to do just that.

Cameron Heights (6-5) at WODSS (5-6)

My Pick: CHCI by 8

I'll be interested to see how this one plays out. A CHCI win would certainly help narrow things down in the middle of the standings, as the Crusaders would then finish 11th.

Eastwood (2-9) at Forest Heights (11-0)

My Pick: FHCI by 25

Two teams with nothing to play for (standings wise) here --- the Trojans should have the opportunity to get everyone some floor time in their regular season finale.

Jacob Hespeler (7-4) at Elmira (0-11)

My Pick: JHSS by 33

I'd be surprised to see the Hawks fall in this one; a win will officially lock up 5th place in the WCSSAA standings for them.

Preston (6-5) at Huron Heights (6-5)

My Pick: HHHS by 8

Two more teams battling for playoff position. I like the Huskies at home here.

SJAM (6-5) at Bluevale (6-5)

My Pick: SJAM by 4

Oh, you thought we were done with the middle of the pack games? Not so fast - here's one more. Pretty even match-up on paper; I'll go with the 'Landers provided Ben Reyhani is in the lineup.

D4: Playoff Schedule Set For Monday

2012-02-09T10:32:00.002-05:00

Senior

(4) Norwell at (1) Centre Dufferin

(3) Wellington Hts. at (2) Westside SS

Junior

(4) Wellington Hts at (1) Centre Dufferin

(3) Norwell at (2) Westside SS

D8: Wednesday Results

2012-02-09T09:43:00.001-05:00

Senior

The Rockway Flames made things interesting last night against the St. Benedict Saints, giving SBCSS all they could handle before falling by single digits, 47-39.

Kueth Geng poured in 29 points in the win, while Santo Dak added 10. Steve Veltri netted 17 and Alex Sheedy 10 for the Flames.

To nobody's surprise, the other D8 senior game on Wednesday saw Resurrection cruise past Monsignor Doyle 62-23. Cam Gibbs paced Rez with 12, while Jamie Keil added 9. Uzhair Khan and Manny Singh had 9 each for Doyle.

As far as the standings are concerned, St. Mary's has locked up 1st place, while Rez is likely to finish 2nd (unless they lose to SBCSS by 18+ in their finale on Monday). St. Benedict is looking at a 3rd place finish, while we could have an intriguing possibility play out in the race for 4th.

Of those teams, Monsignor Doyle (2-7) has the toughest game against St. Mary's, so barring something incredible, will finish at 2-8.

St. David essentially controls their own destiny at 2-7, with a home game vs. Rockway (1-8). Keep in mind, though, that the Flames did win the first time around. A second RMC win over SDCSS would create the unpleasant scenario of all three teams tied at 2-8......and a doozy of a tiebreaker (all three teams would have won 2-0 against one of the teams, and lost both games against the other)! I wouldn't want to be sorting that one out.

Junior

The three junior contests yesterday were all decided by relatively similar scores, as three of the top four teams in the standings took on teams that have been eliminated from playoff contention.

St. David defeated Woodland 57-22, backed by 11 from Dashaun Lalor and 8 by James McBride. Nathan Timmerman (9) and Shane Clarke (7) topped the WCHS scoring as usual.

St. Benedict earned a 55-26 decision over the Rockway Flames. Alan McIntosh led the way for the Saints with 12, while Simon Pudwell had a game-high 15 points for RMC.

Meanwhile, down in Cambridge, the Resurrection Phoenix overcame a slow start to defeat Monsignor Doyle 55-28. Mark Wylie (12) and Thomas Hunter (11) provided double-digit efforts for Rez, while Jason Saris led the 'Stangs with 8.

In terms of the junior standings and playoff picture, the St. Mary's Eagles (11-0) have clinched 1st, while the St. David Celtics (9-2) will finish in 2nd. Resurrection (7-4) is currently in 3rd, but have a final game against 4th place St. Benedict (6-5). The Saints only lost the first meeting by 7, so a 7+ point win would allow the Saints to leapfrog Rez in the standings for 3rd (and avoid playing the #1 CWOSSA team in the semifinals).

Monsignor Doyle (3-8), Woodland (3-9) and Rockway (0-11) round out the standings and have been eliminated from playoff contention. Woodland, however, will advance to "A" CWOSSA.

Brantford Expositor: "Ugly" Win Propels Lions into Semifinals

2012-02-08T10:30:00.000-05:00

Article By: Darryl G. Smart

Call it a coaching masterpiece, a defensive stalemate - or just plain ugly. However you look at Tuesday night's game, the Assumption College Lions are heading to the BCSSAA senior boys basketball semifinals on Thursday.

Andre Toic was the only player in double digits, as his 14 points led the Lions to a 25-21 win over the Paris Panthers

"It wasn't pretty, that's for sure," Lions head coach Paul Petrella said. "In fact, it was pretty ugly at times."

The quarter-final matchup pitted two teams with identical 3-7 regular season records.

With both teams struggling and at times looking like as if there was a clear lid over both baskets, the Lions jumped to a 4-2 lead they never gave up. After the first quarter they led 6-2 and held on to a 13-6 halftime lead before the Panthers awoke from its slumber to make a game out of it.

After finally getting into double digits with three minutes remaining in the third quarter, the Panthers seemed to grab a bit of the momentum.

With the Panthers slowly trying to chip away and the Lions barely budging, Taylor Shipp hit a three-pointer with 8.5 seconds left to make it a four-point game.

"We gave ourselves a chance to win at the end and that's all you can ask for," Panthers coach Mike Whittchen said. "We knew it would come down to defence because I think coming into the game both teams realized how limited they are when it comes to scoring."

But with no offensive rebounding from any Panthers throughout the game, Toic and the Lions were able to keep the game at their pace.

"Both teams knew what they had to do to win," Petrella said. "Both teams knew defence would win this game and both teams played extremely well on that side of the ball and the score was an indication of that."

Nolan Drong added eight points in the win, while Mike Thomlison and Nathan Robinson had one each.

Shipp led all Panthers scorers with seven points, while Jake Kelley netted six, Parker McIntyre had five and Harji Gill added three.

With the win, the Lions improbable season continues with a semifinal appearance against the top-seeded and undefeated North Park Collegiate Trojans. Unfortunately for the Lions, they'll be more than likely doing it without Toic, who has prior commitments.

"It's been a year of real ups and downs,' Petrella said. "It's nice that we're able to get passed the quarter-final. It's a tribute to the kids that have showed up and worked hard."

In the other quarter-final, the Brantford Collegiate Mustangs punched its ticket for a semifinal date with the St. John's College Green Eagles thanks to a 53-38 win over the Pauline Johnson Collegiate Thunderbirds.

Mackenzie Mark and Ben Candy led the Mustangs with 11 points each, while Chris Gorski added 10.

Tyler Campbell's 17 points led the Thunderbirds, while Dakota Robinson netted six.

JUNIOR - Assumption 89, Paris 42
ACS: Tanner Baldin 19, Brandon Vincent 16, Ron Taylor 16, Mike Heron 10.
Paris: Ryan Campbell 13, Isaac Sollazo 11, Corey Boehmer 8.

JUNIOR - BCI 65, PJC 31
BCI: Tristan Almas 18, Jamaal Jones-Peters 12, Noel Bomberry 9. PJC: Alex Kwan 9, Dakota Johnson 6, Scott Sobczyk 5.

Semifinals JUNIOR BCI vs NPC,, 6:30 p.m. ACS vs SJC, 6:30 p.m.

Senior ACS vs NPC, 8 p.m. BCI vs SJC, 8 p.m.

Retrieved From: http://www.brantfordexpositor.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=3464059

D10 Tuesday: Ross, Lourdes Secure Top Two Senior Spots

2012-02-08T10:25:00.001-05:00

They didn't bother leaving things until the last minute.

The Ross Royals and Lourdes Crusaders officially clinched 1st and 2nd place respectively in the D10 standings on Tuesday night, with the Royals posting a big road win at Orangeville (80-22) and the Crusaders comfortably getting past the CWDHS Falcons (66-51).

The loss was crushing for the Falcons, who now must hope that they can either beat JF Ross on Thursday, or that the Spartans lose to Bishop Mac. Otherwise, they will slip to 4th in the standings with CCVI finishing 3rd --- crucial in terms of the semifinal match-ups and potential CWOSSA "AAAA" qualifying.

Here are the results from Tuesday:

JF Ross 80, Orangeville 22

No scoring details were available, but the Royals cruised as expected here.

Bishop Mac 62, St. James 48

The win locked up 5th place in the standings for the Celts, who got a nice 24-point outing from Jesse Kendall. Sean Young added 13 for BMAC, while Zach McClenaghan (18) and Ron Kinga (12) paced the Lions.

Centennial 57, GCVI 27

The Spartans easily handled the 1-win Gaels on the road on Tuesday, setting up the potential (as mentioned) for them to leapfrog CWDHS in the standings. Aleks Kaludjerovic paced the CCVI attack with 15, while Erik Sterne added 13. Jonah Hopkins led the GCVI scoring with 14.

Lourdes 66, CWDHS 51

Mike Finoro had a game-high 27 points as the Crusaders won comfortably on the road. Sharieff Peru added 13 for OLOL, while Tim Francis (18) and Reid Goindi (12) were the CWDHS high scorers.

D10 Senior Standings

1. JF Ross 12-1

2. Lourdes 11-3

T3. CWDHS 9-4

T3. Centennial 9-4

5. Bishop Mac 6-7

6. St. James 4-9

7. ODSS 1-12

8. GCVI 1-13

Junior

Bishop Mac 59, St. James 54

The Celtics might be peaking at the right time as they got past St. James (after beating them in the STJ tournament final on Saturday) again. Michael Ganson netted 17 and Mathew Butts 15 for the Celts, while Quinn Feeney had a game-high 20 for the Lions and Joey Hasson added 15.

CWDHS 44, Lourdes 30

Speaking of teams playing their best basketball of the season, the CWDHS Falcons took out the Lourdes Crusaders at home, with Josh McEachern (18) and James Scott (14) pacing the way. Craig Valeriote had 13 and David Khayipangi 8 for the Crusaders.

Centennial 48, GCVI 43

An important win for the Spartans, as they stay alive for the race for a home playoff game. Now, the winner of the CCVI-BMAC game on Thursday will take 4th spot. Zaigham Ali had a game-high 20 to lead the way for CCVI, while Ian Suarez (10) and Slobodan Glibo (8) were tops on the GCVI scoresheet.

JF Ross 61, Orangeville 15

Greg Schwann put home 11 points as this one was never in doubt. Unfortunately for the Bears, they'll be seeing the Royals again in the quarterfinals next week.

D10 Junior Standings

1. JF Ross 13-0

2. CWDHS 10-3

3. St. James 9-4

T4. Centennial 6-7

T4. Bishop Mac 6-7

6. Lourdes 6-8

7. GCVI 3-11

8. Orangeville 0-13

WCSSAA Junior: Tuesday Results

2012-02-08T10:06:00.002-05:00

Tuesday's junior action saw many "AAAA" vs. "AAA" match-ups and, unfortunately for fans of close games, there wasn't too much to be excited about.

In fact, of the 6 games in that category (the Galt vs. Bluevale game has not yet been reported - update - I can now confirm GCI won handily), AAAA schools won by an average of about 35 points per contest.

Here's how things shook down:

Cameron Heights 72, Glenview Park 15

Korbil Gany (14), Ben Allen (10) and Romeo Johnson (10) were all in double figures as the Gaels rolled to victory and essentially locked up third place overall (they can officially clinch it with a win over WODSS on Thursday). Josh Sheridan had 5 and Tyler Bell 4 for Glenview.

Eastwood 60, Huron Heights 44

In arguably the best-looking game on paper going into Tuesday, the ECI Rebels had limited trouble dispatching the Huron Heights Huskies at home. Izzy Nemeth poured in 20, while Tre Nicholson added 14 for the Rebs; Arshid Babury topped Huron with 19 and Ahmed Radi added 14.

Forest Heights 49, Preston 26

Jack Taylor netted 17 points as the Trojans moved a step closer to hosting a first-round playoff game. Tanner Derjugin led Preston with 9.

KCI 43, WODSS 34

The Raiders moved into position to seize a playoff berth with a home victory on Tuesday. Stefan Simic had 19 and Ben Lomotey 8 for KCI; Nick Penner paced the Crusaders with a 14-point effort while Kale Bryant added 6.

Grand River 74, Elmira 24

Murtada Khamis put home 13 and David Bajic added 11 as the Rens rolled over EDSS to set up a showdown with WCI for first place on Thursday. Callum Johnson netted 6 for the Lancers.

WCI 57, Jacob Hespeler 27

Speaking of the Vikes, they moved to 10-1 with an easy win over the Hespeler Hawks. Another balanced scoring effort meant Nick Johnny was the lone Vike in double figures with (11), while Ivan Bilandzic added 8. Matt Quiring and Shawn Thompson had 6 each for JHSS.

SJAM 63, Southwood 30

Brett Parrott had a WCSSAA-high 26 points on the day as SJAM took down the Southwood Sabres. Nedim Hodzic added 13 for the 'Landers, while Steve Warner (9) and Tristan Peacock (6) led SSS.

WCSSAA Junior Standings

1. Grand River 11-0

2. WCI 10-1

T3. Cameron Heights 9-2

T3. Galt 9-2

----

5. Eastwood 8-3

6. Huron Hts 7-4

T7. Forest Hts 6-5

T7. SJAM 6-5

T7. Preston 6-5

10. Elmira 5-6

T11. KCI 3-8

T11. Southwood 3-8

13. Bluevale 2-8

14. Jacob Hespeler 2-9

15. WODSS 1-10

16. Glenview Park 0-11

As for Thursday.....

Obviously the "big game" that everyone wants to see features WCI and Grand River. The winner takes first overall, while the loser will finish 2nd.

Cameron Heights should finish 3rd with a win over WODSS (1-10).

Galt (against Southwood) and Eastwood (against Forest Heights) are prohibitive favourites in those games, and I expect those teams to finish 4th and 5th respectively. I'm assuming that Galt defeated Bluevale yesterday, although we'll have to confirm that.

The "most intriguing" race for the middle spots in the standings features a key game on Thursday, with HHHS (7-4) against Preston (6-5). I like the Huskies at home there, and expect them to finish 6th.

Assuming FHCI and Preston lose, and Elmira beats JHSS (2-9), we'd have a three-way tie for 8th. In that instance, Forest Heights would take 8th with the +/- over Preston and Elmira (all three teams are 1-1 against each other). Preston would then take 9th based upon their head-to-head win against Elmira, while the Lancers would be 10th.

Of course, those are some big assumptions there.

KCI looks to finish 11th with a win against winless Glenview, while Southwood is in with a win against Galt OR a Jacob Hespeler loss. JHSS does hold the head-to-head tiebreak on SSS if they can get past Elmira.

WCSSAA Senior: Tuesday Results

2012-02-07T20:02:00.001-05:00

Cameron Heights 68, Glenview Park 58

My Pick: CHCI by 15

The Gaels clinch at least a .500 record by moving to 6-5 with a win at home over GPSS. Nem Simic (19) and Vedran Dmitrovic (17) paced the way, while Erist Wame poured in a game-high 26 points for Glenview. Chris Thompson also added 13 for the Panthers.

Huron Heights 66, Eastwood 59

My Pick: ECI by 3

The Huskies trailed 19-12 after one, but battled back to pick up a big win on the road. Sean Samuel led the scoring with 23, while Alex Deadman (with a serious height advantage over the ECI front line) and Aaron Turpin added 9 each. Patric Pintea (19) and Sayyad Yeganehnia (11) led the way for the Rebels, who are officially eliminated from playoff contention with the loss.

Forest Heights 54, Preston 36

My Pick: FHCI by 18

The Trojans weren't as impressive as usual on the offensive end, but they were solid on the defensive end and moved to 11-0 on the year. Juwan Miller (20) and Javon Masters (16) led the FHCI charge, while Wes Meertens had 18 and Levi Kani 9 for Preston.

WODSS 47, KCI 41

My Pick: WODSS by 11

The Crusaders can finish no lower than 11th following this win at KCI today. Kyle Weber had a game-high 18 and Nick Mehring 8 for the 'Saders, while Julian Greer (10) and Alex Galea (6) led the way for KCI.

Grand River 78, Elmira 27

My Pick: GRCI by 42

Welcome back Brodi Verbiski! After an extended appearance, he made his return to leading the scoring for GRCI on Tuesday with a 15 point effort in this blowout win. Nikola Bovan added 12 for GRCI, while Brian Grunenberg (7) and Luke Yaeyer (6) topped the Lancer list.

SJAM 68, Southwood 31

My Pick: SJAM by 25

Sunny Heer had 14 and Theshawn Barry 12 as the Highlanders ran away from the Southwood Sabres. Zach Sauer netted 12 and Riley Clipper 10 for SSS.

Galt 53, Bluevale 48

My Pick: BCI by 4

Gotta stop picking against Galt (even in close games) as they burn me again here. Owais Khairi was huge for GCI, pouring in 22, while Jack Simmons added 12. Garrett Large (15) and Ian Farquharson (13) led the Knight attack. The win essentially clinches a first-round bye for Galt --- all that stands in the way is Thursday's game against Southwood (1-10).

WCI 75, Jacob Hespeler 42

My Pick: WCI by 9

The supposed "game of the day" was not as the Vikes rolled early and often against the Hespeler Hawks. Jacob Ranton (16), Dani Elgadi (16) and Adam Anagnostopoulos (14) paced the balanced WCI attack, while Jason Quiring (14) and Lucas Marsden (9) paced things for JHSS.

WCSSAA Senior Standings

1. Forest Heights 11-0**

T2. Grand River 9-2**

T2. WCI 9-2**

4. Galt 8-3*

----

5. Jacob Hespeler 7-4*

T6. Huron Heights 6-5*

T6. Cameron Heights 6-5*

T6. SJAM 6-5*

T6. Preston 6-5*

T6. Bluevale 6-5*

11. WODSS 5-6*

T12. Glenview Park 3-8

T12. KCI 3-8

--------

14. Eastwood 2-9

15. Southwood 1-10

16. Elmira 0-11

Now, what does it all mean? Well.....what we do know:

Forest Heights - clinched 1st overall
WCI/Grand River (Thursday) winner takes 2nd, loser finishes 3rd.
Galt (vs. Southwood) and JHSS (vs. Elmira) both should win, meaning Galt will likely finish 4th (first round bye) and JHSS will finish 5th.
The Glenview Park / KCI winner qualifies for the playoffs. Loser is out.

As for the mess in the middle? Interestingly enough, all 6 teams play each other on Thursday, which will help sort things out a bit. Right now, it's hard to speculate.....but here's what Thursday has in store.

Preston vs. Huron Heights

Bluevale vs. SJAM

Cameron Heights vs. WODSS

As for the tiebreaks:

Preston (6-5): WODSS (W), CHCI (W), BCI (L)

SJAM (6-5): CHCI (W), HHHS (W), WODSS (W)

BCI (6-5): PHS (W), WODSS (L), CHCI (L)

CHCI (6-5): BCI (W), PHS (L), SJAM (L)

HHHS (6-5): CHCI (W), SJAM (L), WODSS (L)

WODSS (5-6): BCI (W), HHHS (W), SJAM (L), PHS (L)

.....needless to say, this could shake down a lot of different ways. We'll have more on this to come!

Senior: Forest City Shootout

2012-02-07T16:14:00.000-05:00

Just a quick update on this senior tournament, which was held in London over the weekend.

The Henry Carr Crusaders, the current #2 team in the province, bested another "top 10" team, London's HB Beal, by 12 points in the championship final.

Beal blasted SJAM (Waterloo) in the quarterfinals by a 79-27 final. Ben Reyhani did not play for SJAM, who took out Windsor's Holy Names by 7 with Reyhani in the lineup. The 'Landers had a first round bye after being seeded #6 overall in the 24-team tournament.

Meanwhile, the WCI Vikings went 3-1 overall with their lone loss being in the second round against Henry Carr, 73-50 (Jacob Ranton, 16). The Vikings defeated Chatham Ursuline (65-56, Dani Elgadi - 21 PTS/15 REB); London Oakridge 57-32 (Ranton & Elgadi - 11 each); and London Saunders 52-20 (Ranton - 16 PTS).

WCSSAA & D10 Tuesday: Picks

2012-02-07T15:03:00.000-05:00

.....and we're back.

The WCSSAA schedule resumes on Tuesday with a full slate of games, many of which will have a significant impact on the final regular-season standings.

Let's get right to it with the WCSSAA games:

Elmira (0-10) at Grand River (8-2)

My Pick: GRCI by 42

I don't see any trouble here in this one for the Rens; look for them to head into the matchup with WCI with a 9-2 record.

Huron Heights (5-5) at Eastwood (2-8)

My Pick: ECI by 3 **Upset Special**

Let's face it. The Huskies are the "favourites" here, but the Rebels are desperate --- which is why I'm taking them. They need a win or are essentially eliminated from playoff contention (unless they can upset Forest Heights on Thursday). Factor in that they're at home in the Eastwood shoebox, and I'll pick them by a three-ball.

SJAM (5-5) at Southwood (1-9)

My Pick: SJAM by 25

This would be a good opportunity for the 'Landers to rest their star scorer, Ben Reyhani. Look for a comfortable double-digit win on the road today.

Forest Heights (10-0) at Preston (6-4)

My Pick: FHCI by 18

The Trojans have a very good chance of finishing the regular season undefeated --- and it starts with this one here. Preston needs the "W" more, so may stick around early before FHCI pulls away.

Galt (7-3) at Bluevale (6-4)

My Pick: BCI by 4

I'll go with the homecourt Knights in what amounts to a toss-up game here.

WODSS (4-6) at KCI (3-7)

My Pick: WODSS by 12

Winner will give a big boost to their playoff chances (and/or position). Edge to the Crusaders, who may be a tough out for a first-round opponent.

Glenview Park (3-7) at Cameron Heights (5-5)

My Pick: CHCI by 15

Now, I'm not going to give the CHCI Gaels any ideas here, but you have to think it wouldn't be a bad thing if they dropped one of their remaining two games and finished 10th or 11th (based upon the potential matchups in the playoffs). At any rate, I like them to win this one here provided they don't employ the above strategy today.

Jacob Hespeler (7-3) at WCI (8-2)

My Pick: WCI by 9

In the "game of the day", the winning team here should lock up a first-round bye --- I'll go with the Vikes, who have been playing very well as of late. Obviously it helps that they're at home, as well.

D10

JF Ross (11-1) at Orangeville (1-11)
My Pick: JFR by 45

The Royals will clinch first overall in the D10 standings with a win on the road today at Orangeville. There is a high likelihood of that happening.

St. James (4-8) at Bishop Mac (5-7)

My Pick: BMAC by 6

The Lions took the first meeting; I expect another close game here but for the Celts to possibly flip the script on their home court.

Lourdes (10-3) at CWDHS (9-3)

My Pick: OLOL by 2

A Lourdes win clinches 2nd overall, while a CW win (by 5+) would clinch 2nd place for the Falcons (with a game remaining against JF Ross). Big game for these two teams who will likely meet again in the playoffs.....I'll coin toss it and go with Lourdes.

Centennial (8-4) at GCVI (1-12)

My Pick: CCVI by 22

Look for the Spartans (who have already locked up a home playoff game) to get past GCVI with ease on the road.

Monday D8: Senior Eagles Clinch Top Spot

2012-02-07T14:29:00.000-05:00

The last few times the senior St. Mary's Eagles and Resurrection Phoenix have gotten together, it's usually been a good game.

Monday's contest was no exception.

The Eagles built a large second half lead and survived a furious Rez comeback attempt in the waning minutes of the game to hold on to a 53-47 victory at home in a game that clinched first place overall for St. Mary's.

Things were tight in a low-scoring first half that ended 24-16 for St. Mary's. However, the Eagles promptly reeled off the first 10 points of the 3rd quarter to (seemingly) take control at 34-16. St. Mary's led 45-23 before a Rez bucket cut the lead to 20 entering the fourth. SMHS' Alex Thompson (13 points in the 3rd quarter alone) was huge during that big run.

Despite being down 20 points with 8:00 left, the Phoenix actually were not to be counted out just yet. On the strength of 11 4th quarter points from Mike Pereira and 6 more from Tyler Schneider, the Phoenix went on a 20-6 rally that brought them within 4 (51-47) with 1:13 remaining in the contest.

Pereira then forced a big steal off of an inbounds play with under 1:00 to play. Rez's John Moi had a clean look from distance that just rattled out, and after another miss the Phoenix were forced to foul (with under :30 left). Telloy Simon closed out the contest by converting a field goal off of a sideline inbounds for the 53-47 final.

Thompson finished with 26 points in the win for the Eagles, while Adam Voll followed with 14. Voll was also a huge force on the defensive side of the ball, as he blocked 4 shots and altered several more. He also had 2 goaltending violations, but you have to think the Rez players were thinking of his presence when they went into the lane.

Interestingly enough, the Eagles weren't as balanced on the scoresheet as usual as only two others even hit the scoresheet --- Telloy Simon (10) and Henry Bankazo (3).

For Rez, Pereira led the way with 22 while Tyler Schneider added 8. John Moi (7), Cory Kenning (4), Adam Schneider (2), Cam Gibbs (2) and Tyler Bartley (2) rounded out the Phoenix scoring.

In Monday's other senior tilt, the St. Benedict Saints got 20 points from Kueth Geng as they cruised past Monsignor Doyle 62-17. Tevin Heath added 10 for SBCSS, while Manny Singh had 11 for Doyle.

Junior

It was a tale of two halves in the junior version of the St. Mary's - Resurrection showdown as the heavily favoured Eagles struggled early but found their touch in the second half to close with a 63-38 win over Resurrection. St. Mary's, ranked #1 in CWOSSA, trailed 18-16 in the first quarter and led by only 6 at halftime before pulling away in the final 16:00.

Jermaine Lyle put home 19 points while Mike Blumel added 12 for the Eagles. Mark Wylie and Mack Smith had 9 each for Rez.

Woodland clinched the "A" CWOSSA playoff berth for D8 with a 38-34 win over Rockway. Nathan Timmerman poured in 17 points in the win, while Shane Clarke added 9. Michael Born (14) and Nathan Martin (9) were the top Rockway scorers.

Finally, the St. Benedict Saints kept their hopes for 3rd place overall alive with a 47-25 win over Monsingor Doyle. Spencer Marshall (11) and Alan McIntosh (10) were both in double digits for SBCSS, while Liam Rivard had 10 for Doyle.

Junior: Brantford CI takes Simcoe Championship

2012-02-06T14:53:00.001-05:00

The Brantford Collegiate Colts captured the championship at the first annual Simcoe Composite junior basketball tournament.

The Colts reeled off four consecutive wins to take the title, with the most challenging of those being a 6-point win over Woodstock's Huron Park (10-0 in the TVRAA Southeast Division).

Tristan Almas led the scoring in three of BCI's four wins. The results were as follows:

Brantford 42, Waterford 32

BCI: Tristan Almas 10

Brantford 44, Huron Park 38

BCI: Jamaal Jones-Peters 16

Brantford 47, Delhi 21

BCI: Tristan Almas 18

Brantford 50, Simcoe 26

BCI: Tristan Almas 24

Junior: Eagles, Celtics Results at the Junior Kennedy All-Catholic

2012-02-06T14:46:00.002-05:00

The 35th anniversary edition of the Kennedy Ontario Invitational All-Catholic Junior Boys Basketball tournament took place this past weekend in Hamilton --- a strong field of 16 teams participated including two top-ten teams from the CWOSSA region (St. David/Waterloo and St. John's/Brantford).

The Celtics picked up the lone CWOSSA win on the weekend, going 1-2 overall. They dropped their first round game to Brampton's St. Edmund Campion (51-34) but rebounded against Bishop Reding of Milton to pull out a 43-36 win.

This advanced the Celtics through to a consolation semifinal on Sunday morning against Jean Vanier of Richmond Hill (a top-20 team in the province). Though St. David trailed by 10 entering the fourth, Vanier quickly stretched the lead in the waning minutes as the Celtics went ice-cold (56-26 was the final).

St. John's lost their first round game to D'Youville of Brampton, the eventual tournament champions, 52-28. The Eagles would also drop their second game to Corpus Christi (Burlington) 59-53 (which eliminated them from further participation). Despite the losses, the play of Adrian Mendoza was a bright spot; he averaged 14.0 PPG during those two games which ranked 7th overall among tournament participants.

The tournament actually featured 3 of the top 4 teams in the GTA (D'Youville, Father Goetz and Holy Trinity). Here's a recap of the consolation and championship semifinal and final results:

Consolation Semifinals

Jean Vanier (RH) 56, St. David 26

Cardinal Newman 41, Corpus Christi 33

Consolation Final

Jean Vanier 40, Cardinal Newman 39 (OT)

Championship Semifinals

St. Thomas More 51, Cathedral 43 (OT)

D'Youville 51, Father Goetz 47

Championship Final

D'Youville 58, St. Thomas More 36

D8 Monday (Picks): Eagles, Phoenix Set for Round #2

2012-02-06T11:50:00.000-05:00

The St. Mary's Eagles (8-0) will take on the Resurrection Phoenix (6-1) in the marquee matchup on today's District 8 schedule.

With the Eagles having won by 3 points (51-48) in their first meeting, the Eagles need only a win or a loss by 1 or 2 points to essentially secure first place in the standings ---- barring, of course, a monumental upset at the hands of Monsignor Doyle in their final regular season game.

Again, I'm not sure exactly what the two coaching staffs will elect to show in this game (with a possible meeting in the finals down the road); expect a lot of straight man-to-man defense but that's not to say there won't be some good basketball played.

Of note, Rez will be a little thinner up front as they'll be without the services of 6th man Stephen Cordle in this one.

That said, I don't think it will be of extreme significance as the Eagles are playing very well right now. I'll take St. Mary's by 8 in this one.

The other game today sees Monsignor Doyle (2-5) cross town to battle the St. Benedict Saints (4-3). As much as the 'Stangs need a win to try to lock down a playoff spot and a CWOSSA berth, they don't quite have enough to make it interesting --- I'll roll with the Saints to win by 32.

Senior: Lourdes Goes 2-1 at Small School Showcase

2012-02-06T11:32:00.000-05:00

The Lourdes Crusaders, the #5 seed entering the tournament, went 2-1 over the weekend at the Small School Showcase co-hosted by schools in Burlington and Oakville.

Lourdes defeated Pretty River Academy (Collingwood) 54-42 in the opening round, before being taken out in the quarterfinals by #4 GL Roberts of Oshawa in a 54-52 squeaker.

The Crusaders rebounded to close out their tournament with a 50-40 win over #9 Barrie Central.

Things didn't go so well for the Walkerton Raiders, who were assigned the #8 seed as a late tournament fill-in. The Raiders went 0-3, dropping games to Barrie Central (81-47), Aldershot (57-53) and King's Christian of Oakville (61-43).

More Weekend Tournament Results.....

2012-02-06T11:23:00.001-05:00

Junior BMac Celtics Hold On For Tourney Title

The Bishop Mac Celtics nearly squandered a 56-40 lead with 4:00 to go (!), but scored the important final basket in an upset 58-56 win over the host St. James Lions at the St. James Tournament in Guelph over the weekend.

The other scores from the weekend (that I have), starting with the first round:

Bishop Mac 79, Kingston Frontenac 78 (OT)

Guelph CVI 45, Forest Heights 35

St. James 55, North Park 26

SJAM 61, Centennial 36

And on Saturday:

Bishop Mac 57, SJAM 46 - Semifinal

St. James 46, GCVI 35 - Semifinal

North Park 44, Forest Hts 29 - Cons. Semifinal

Centennial 58, Frontenac 54 - Cons. Semifinal

Senior Ghosts Capture JHSS Tournament

In a battle between two top "AAA" teams in WCSSAA, the Galt Ghosts continued their winning ways, capturing the JHSS tournament final over the host Hawks in the final.

Galt knocked off Centre Wellington in the semifinals, who had defeated another top AAA team (Preston) in the first round of the tournament.

Junior: Vikes Squeak Past Gaels in CHCI Tournament Final

2012-02-06T10:20:00.000-05:00

Ivan Bilandzic hit the go-ahead jumper with 10 seconds remaining in regulation as the WCI Vikings edged the Cameron Heights Golden Gaels 60-58 in the championship final of the CHCI Junior Invitational Tournament on Saturday evening.

The Vikes took a 6 point lead (37-31) with 3:00 left in the third quarter, but an 11-4 run by CHCI allowed them to assume a 1-point lead (42-41) heading into the final frame. The final quarter was close throughout, as evidenced by the final margin.

The consolation final, meanwhile, saw the teams that Cameron and WCI defeated in the first round (St. Benedict and Resurrection) do battle in an all-D8 affair. The Phoenix came out on top in that one, 54-44.

More results and high scorers to come.

Junior: Royals, Renegades Test Their Skills in GTA Tournaments

2012-02-06T09:54:00.001-05:00

Two of my current "top 5" CWOSSA teams, the Grand River Renegades and the JF Ross Royals, travelled to the GTA this past weekend to test themselves against some different competition.

The Royals competed in the Brampton Centennial Winter Classic, and came away with 1 win and 2 losses by four points or less:

JF Ross 76, Brampton Centennial "B" 32

JFR: Mo Hussien 22

QF: Martingrove 56, JF Ross 52

JFR: Vlad Vamanu 15

Friendly: St. Augustine 56, JF Ross 53

JFR: Andrew Folkerson, 15

Meanwhile, the Rens advanced through to the championship semifinals at the annual "Hoopdome" tournament, but fell to a very talented JC Richardson (Ajax) team. Their results went as follows:

Grand River 66, Jean Vanier (Tor.) 45

Weston CI 40, Grand River 34

Grand River 64, David & Mary Thomson 52

Semifinal: JC Richardson 66, Grand River 32

Senior: Holy Trinity (Simcoe) Captures Knights of Norfolk Tournament

2012-02-06T09:46:00.000-05:00

The Holy Trinity (Simcoe) Titans took the championship this weekend at the annual "Knights of Norfolk" tournament, defeating NSSAA rivals Delhi DSS 49-32 in the championship game.

The Raiders could not slow down Trinity's top man, Josh Johnson, who poured home 29 points in the clinching win.

The Titans went 4-0 in the tournament, taking out Simcoe (currently in first place in the NSSAA), Assumption, Ingersoll and then Delhi.

Here is a rundown of the results:

Friday

Delhi 66, Brantford CI 32

DDSS: Justin Lichach 20, Joel Devos 13

BCI: Chris Gorski 8

Holy Trinity 36, Simcoe CS 25

HT: Josh Johnson 23, Justin Hill 11

SCS: Tommy Tran 14

Delhi 46, Ingersoll 32

DDSS: Jacob Leger 14

Holy Trinity 44, Assumption CS 27

HT: Josh Johnson 22

ACS: Andre Toic 13

Saturday

Ingersoll 54, Brantford 51

BCI: Cody Charles 15

Assumption 48, Simcoe 33

ACS: Andre Toic 16

SCS: Tommy Tran 11

Simcoe 46, Brantford 36

SCS: Brandon Reaney 20

BCI: Chris Gorski 17

Semifinals

Holy Trinity 44, Ingersoll 43

HT: Josh Johnson 18, Andrew Mattan 17

Delhi 48, Assumption 27

DDSS: Johann Jenkins 19

ACS: Nolan Dreng 14

Final

Holy Trinity 49, Delhi 32

HT: Josh Johnson 29

Guelph Tribune: Celitcs Cager Turning Heads

2012-02-03T16:52:00.002-05:00

Article/Photo By: Ned Bekavac

Most seven-year-old basketball players are not likely to offer strategic hoops advice to their coaches.

But most basketball players aren’t like Michael Ganson.

“He would go home and think about the games, and what we did and what we could do, and he would create little plays that we could try to execute in games,” says Dan Wood, recalling the days he coached Ganson in Guelph when Ganson was about seven years old.

“We would look at them and go over them. He had them all drawn up – pen and paper.”

Some seven or eight years later, what Ganson is drawing is loads of eyes and attention to the basketball court with his play.

The Grade 10 student is scoring a bucket-load of points for the Bishop Macdonell Celtics in the District 10 junior boys basketball league.

The 5-foot-10ish guard is averaging an almost unheard of 29.5 points a game for the Celtics.

(That’s 29.5 points in 32-minute games – high school tilts are made up of eight-minute quarters.)

Ganson, who plays club ball for the Etobicoke Thunder Elite U16 team, already has some U.S. prep schools looking at him.

He is back in town and playing local high school hoops after spending his Grade 9 school year in Vaughan and playing ball at Vaughan Secondary School.

Growing up, Ganson’s home had a full-sized, 10-foot-high indoor basketball net. Eighteen-foot-high ceilings allowed him to shoot hoops year-round at home.

Eventually, things started to get pretty serious for him.

“I’d just practice every day – put shots up,” says Ganson.

Today, he figures he takes about 500 shots a day. And it never gets boring.

“No, I love playing basketball,” he says.

Ganson wears Michael Jordan’s No. 23 for the Celtics, who are 5-7 on the season. He’s scored 40-plus points three times in his 11 games for Bishop Mac this season.

“He’s aggressive, he gets to the hoop, he follows his shots and is a great rebounder,” says Dennis Morris, Bishop Mac coach. “He’s a good shooter and dribbler. And he wants the ball.”

Asked to describe his game, Ganson says: “I just like to attack the basket, I see an open shot and I take it. I like my mid-range game.”

The Thunder Elite web page says Ganson is “at the top of the heap when discussing the best point guards in the province.”

Because he spent his Grade 9 year at Vaughan, Ganson didn’t necessarily know all of his new Bishop Mac teammates when he returned to town. But he was still a slam dunk when it came time for the team to pick a captain.

“The boys picked the captain. I said, ‘Boys, give me your secret ballot.’ It wasn’t close, they knew,” says Morris, who describes Ganson as a quiet, highly coachable talent who makes great attempts to get everyone involved in the game.

Given his point-scoring prowess, Ganson is jokingly asked if he ever passes the ball.

“Yeah,” he says with a laugh. “I do. My teammates just find me when I’m open, so I just finish it.”

For now, Ganson’s hoops hope is to land with an NCAA team down the road. He admits that being looked at by prep schools is “kind of scary, but I’ve adapted.”

Wood thinks back to those early years, of Ganson being a gaffer and drawing up plays for the coach.

“I loved it,” says Wood, who says playmaking is Ganson’s most natural skill.

“Basketball is obviously a highly skilled game. But when you can add what we call basketball intelligence . . . when you have someone, a kid like Michael, who has a high basketball intelligence and can combine that with a skill set, then you get the best of both worlds.”

Asked what he thinks the future might hold for Ganson, Wood says: “If he continues to grow and to blossom as he has previously, he’ll have all sorts of opportunities.”

Retrieved From: http://www.guelphtribune.ca/sports/celtics-cager-turning-heads-3/

Senior: Lourdes Seeded #5, Walkerton #8 at Small Schools Showcase

2012-02-03T13:25:00.001-05:00

The first "Small Schools Showcase" is taking place this weekend in Burlington & Oakville --- it's a unique concept as they've invited 16 schools in the "A" and "AA" classifications to participate.

CWOSSA schools Lourdes and Walkerton are participating.

The tournament is seeded, with team #1 playing #16, #2 vs. #15, and so on down the line in the first round. Lourdes has been ranked #5 (first round against Pretty River), and Walkerton will start as the #8 seed (first round Barrie Central).

Results are scheduled to be made available on the tournament's blog site.

Teams are as follows:

#1 - St. Basil (SSM)
#2 - ACMT (Hamilton)
#3 - Nicholson (Belleville)
#4 - GL Roberts (Oshawa)
#5 - Lourdes (Guelph)
#6 - Forster (Windsor)
#7 - St. Patrick's (Sarnia)
#8 - Walkerton DSS
#9 - Barrie Central
#10 - Holy Cross (Kingston)
#11 - Lester B. Pearson (Burlington)
#12 - Pretty River Academy
#13 - King's Christian (Oakville)
#14 - Rideau HS (Ottawa)
#15 - Perth DHS
#16 - Aldershot DHS

Senior: 'Landers, Vikes, Spartans Participate in Forest City Shootout

2012-02-03T12:27:00.001-05:00

The SJAM Highlanders, WCI Vikings and the Guelph Centennial Spartans are headed to London today to participate in the annual Forest City Shootout tournament.

The tournament is interesting in that it is a 24-team draw, with the top 8 "seeds" receiving byes to the second round. SJAM, despite a league loss to WCI and a recent tournament loss to Centennial, have been seeded ahead of both of those teams at #6, while WCI and CCVI are unranked. The seeded teams are:

#1 - Henry Carr (Toronto)

#2 - Mother Teresa (Scarborough)

#3 - HB Beal (London)

#4 - Herman (Windsor)

#5 - Sarnia Northern

#6 - SJAM (Waterloo)
#7 - London Banting

#8 - Richview (Toronto)

The Vikes are matched up against Chatham Urusline in their first game (would play #1 Henry Carr with a win), while the Spartans take on London's Pope John Paul II (playing #3 Beal with a win).

SJAM will tip-off this evening against the winner of St. Christopher's (Sarnia) and Clarke Road.

Mark's Mailbox: WCSSAA Junior All-Stars

2012-02-02T09:30:00.000-05:00

Responding to another request here --- here's what I see as a current "first and second team" among WCSSAA junior all-stars (again, this is based upon league play and in no particular order):

First Team

Jamal Murray, Grand River

Murtada Khamis, Grand River

Nick Johnny, WCI

Sasha Simic, Cameron Hts.

Nikola Farkic, Cameron Hts.

Second Team

Izzy Nemeth, Eastwood

Arshid Babury, Huron Hts

TJ Lall, Galt

Ivan Bilandzic, WCI

Stefan Simic, KCI

Of note: Stefan Simic (KCI) leads Galt's TJ Lall 19.3 PPG to 19.2 PPG in the league's scoring race.

Tyrick Thompson Transfers To Kitchener St. Mary's

2012-02-01T13:03:00.002-05:00

There was a time when the St. Mary's Eagles liked to play a "first team to 40 wins" type of game.

Given the athletic talent now at the school, it's getting hard to remember those days.

More athleticism has come their way with the recent announcement that St. Mary's has accepted transfer Tyrick Thompson (Alex's younger brother) who previously played at Hamilton SJAM to the school for second semester. As of posting, no word on his potential basketball eligibility at this point.

Thompson, who is in grade 10, will join his former SJAM teammate, Jermaine Lyle (who transferred prior to this school year), on the SMHS hardwood. Lyle is virtually a lock to make the D8's 1st team all-star list.

With Mike Blumel also in grade 10 and a solid core of grade 11s from last year's D8 champion and CWOSSA silver medalist squad, the future should be bright at SMHS over the next couple of seasons.

Here's a look at both of them in action last year as grade nines at SJAM (Lyle - #23, Thompson - #21):

Alumni: Listing of CWOSSA Alumni Playing Postsecondary Basketball

2012-02-01T12:45:00.010-05:00

Time for my annual "roll call" of CWOSSA alums that are participating in some form of post-secondary basketball (excluding grads currently enrolled in prep schools). Here's a look at what I've been able to track down/come up with to this point.

Any additions, corrections, etc., can be e-mailed through to me (mark @ cwossabasketball.com). I'm sure that I've likely missed someone considering the size of this list. Cheers!

NCAA (D-1)

Stefan Cvrkalj, FR, Lehigh University (Bluevale CI)

Bryson Johnson, JR, Bucknell University (St. David)

NCAA (D-2)
Aleksa Rovic, JR, SW Oklahoma State (Bluevale)

CIS

Cam McIntyre, 5th Yr, Waterloo (KCI)

Srdjan Pejicic, 1st Yr Elig, Waterloo (Bluevale)

Adam Craig, 1st Yr, Waterloo (Orangeville Westside)

Stefan Arezina, 2nd Yr, Laurier (Cameron Hts.)

Phil Blumel, 2nd Yr, Laurier (St. Mary's)

Matt Buckley, 5th Yr, Laurier (WCI)

Ryan Higgins, 1st Yr, Western (St. James)

Gavin Berry, 1st Yr Elig, Ryerson (KCI)

Andrew Mwangi, 1st Yr, Toronto (Resurrection)

Sean Nickel, 5th Yr, Toronto (Cameron Hts)

Mike Helsby, 3rd Yr, Memorial (SJAM)
Rob Dewar, 3rd Yr, Alberta (JF Ross/NEDA)
Danny McCarthy, 4th Yr, Guelph (Centennial)
Andrew Beney, 2nd Yr, Guelph (Bluevale)
Drew Morris, 3rd Yr, Guelph (Bishop Mac)

OCAA

Boyd Vassell, 2nd Yr Elig, Fanshawe (ECI)

Andy Campbell, 4th Yr, Fanshawe (St. David)

Jordan Dixon, 4th Yr, Fanshawe (Resurrection)

Bryan McDonald, 2nd Yr, Fanshawe (Galt)

Troy Barnes, 2nd Yr Elig, Fanshawe (St. Mary's)

Ryan Cook, 2nd Yr, Humber (JF Ross)

Tanner Lane, 3rd Yr, Mohawk (Bishop Mac)

Jake Burleigh, 2nd Yr, Fleming (Paris DHS)

Other

Santo Harun, 2nd Yr Elig, Keyano College (SMHS)

Women

NCAA (D-1)

Kelly Van Leeuwen, FR, Niagara University (St. John's)

Kayla Montgomery, JR, Cleveland State U. (WCI)

Jenn Lennox, SO, Canisius (Forest Heights)

CIS

Erin Robbins, 1st Yr, Waterloo (Cameron Heights)

Mackenzie Lougheed, 2nd Yr, Waterloo (West Hill)

Laura Burnett, 2nd Yr, Waterloo (Rockway)

Sam McIntyre, 2nd Yr, Waterloo (Bluevale)

Bree Chaput, 2nd Yr, Laurier (Bishop Mac)

Laura Doyle, 2nd Yr, Laurier (Bishop Mac)

Shelby Kurt, 1st Yr Elig, Laurier (WCI)

Kathryn Dye, 1st Yr, McMaster (St. David)

Hailey Milligan, 3rd Yr, McMaster (Assumption)

Rebecca Quiring, 2nd Yr, McMaster (JHSS)

Rebecca Moss, 4th Yr, Western (Bluevale)

Siki Jez, 1st Yr, Ryerson (Cameron Hts)

Skye Johns, 1st Yr, Ryerson (KCI)

Alex Tkaczyk, 3rd Yr, Ryerson (St. Mary's)

Alicia Van Kampen, 3rd Yr, Toronto (Westside)

Rachael Urosevic, 2nd Yr, Queen's (KCI)

Lisa Minutillo, 2nd Yr, Queen's (North Park)

Gemma Bullard, 2nd Yr, Queen's (JF Ross)

Liz Phillips, 1st Yr, Queen's (Galt CI)

Brittany Vandyken, 3rd Yr, Brock (JHSS)

Andrea Polischuk, 2nd Yr, Brock (St. John's)

Kayla Santilli, 1st Yr, Brock (St. John's)

Jessica Del Signore, 4th Yr, Brock (St. John's)

Teddi Firmi-Kuehn, 5th Yr, Ottawa (GRCI)

Kim Devison, 4th Yr, Memorial (St. David)

Megan Robinson, 1st Yr, Memorial (Resurrection)

Grace Fishbein, 4th Yr, Memorial (Bluevale)
Rachel Cleary, 1st Yr, New Brunswick (St. John's)
Jasmine Douglas, 4th Yr, Guelph (JF Ross)
Ali Dzikowski, 3rd Yr, Guelph (St. John's)
Camille Gardiner, 1st Yr, Guelph (Cameron Hts)
Kate MacTavish, 1st Yr, Guelph (KCI)
Alison Morris, 1st Yr, Guelph (Bishop Mac)
Alyssa Shortt, 1st Yr, Guelph (WCI)
Justine MacNeil, 3rd Yr, Cape Breton (St. David)

OCAA

Janine DeLeon, 1st Yr, Fanshawe (Bishop Mac)

Tabitha Siegfried, 1st Yr, Lambton (St. David)

Kristin Oliveira, 1st Yr, Niagara (St. Benedict)

Katie Roth, 5th Yr, Redeemer (Preston)

Krista Riimand, 1st Yr, Redeemer (PJCVS)

Mackenzie Merkley, 1st Yr, Georgian (JF Ross)

Junior: Cameron Heights Tournament Field/Draw Announced

2012-01-30T14:36:00.002-05:00

The annual Cameron Heights CI junior invitational is set to go this weekend in Kitchener (February 3rd & 4th) with an 8-team field participating.

The two tournament favourites, the host Gaels and the WCI Vikings, could potentially meet up in a rematch of their classic regular season WCSSAA battle ---- both teams have to win 2 games first, though, as they are on opposite sides of the draw.

Here is your schedule, which tips off at 2pm on Friday:

2:00pm - Resurrection (Kitchener) vs. Waterloo CI
3:30pm - Hillfield-Strathallan (Hamilton) vs. Holy Trinity (Simcoe)

5:00pm - Collingwood CVI vs. Bluevale (Waterloo)

6:30pm - St. Benedict (Cambridge) vs. Cameron Heights

Play then continues all day on Saturday, with the final slated for 7:30pm on Saturday evening.

News: OFSAA Rep Council to Vote on Installation of FIBA Rules

2012-01-30T10:52:00.004-05:00

The rumours have been circling for some time, and now it looks as though a vote date has been scheduled with regards to the possible change for Ontario high schools to adopt FIBA rules.

Needless to say, it's a polarizing issue and I've already heard a few different opinions from area coaches.

Here's a quick glance at a few of the potential rule changes that would come with FIBA, for those of you who may not be familiar:

1. Addition of a shot clock (FIBA rules are 24 seconds, though extended to 30 seconds in most provinces including Quebec)

2. 8 seconds (vs. 10) in the backcourt

3. No "backcourt" during "frontcourt" throw-ins

4. Timeouts - only granted after a field goal against (getting scored upon) or at the next stoppage in play. Requested via the scorer's table.

5. Stoppage of Time - stopped during last 2:00 of 4th quarter after a successful field goal.

At any rate, it appears that in April of this year, OFSAA will be voting on the potential rule change, and we could see one of three options:

A) Rules remain as they are (i.e. FIBA rules not installed)

B) FIBA rules installed with shot-clocks

C) FIBA rules installed without shot-clocks

If FIBA rules are implemented with shot-clocks, the earliest we would see that would be September, 2013 (to allow districts & associations the opportunity to purchase shot-clocks). FIBA rules, if voted in, would still be implemented next season (i.e. starting in September 2012).

My View?

To get my bias out of the way, you're talking to a guy that grew up playing under the current ("federation") high school rules, so I won't sugar-coat that fact.

Personally, I'd probably be in favour of things staying "as they are", but with that being said, I can see the merits of both systems.

Obviously, the benefit of switching to FIBA rules is consistency. Kids would be playing under the same set of rules instead of, say, playing a high school game under one set of rules and then a "club game" under another. Even the referees can sometimes get confused (they're human) --- in one recent game I saw, a ball was thrown into the backcourt on an inbounds play and whistled as a "backcourt violation" before it was overturned.

Meanwhile, CIS (Canadian University) basketball has adopted FIBA rules, so we would be preparing kids for the "next level", per se.

Canada Basketball was a big "driving force" starting a few years back in pushing for this change ---- and it's evident as part of their mission statement ("Leading a unified basketball community...").

Now, the shot clock. Not necessarily a bad thing, but I think 24 seconds is a bit quick for the high school level (especially junior boys). At that age, coaches are still developing/implementing core concepts (not to mention the fact that there are a ton of players who don't play "club" basketball).

Of course, the benefit to a shot clock --- any shot clock --- is that you avoid the potential pitfall of a "20-14" game in a championship final or some other "meaningful" contest. Traditionalists would argue, though, that "it's part of the game", and that shot-clocks automatically provide an advantage to more athletic teams by disallowing such "stall" tactics.

The downside to a shot clock? Nothing against our student volunteers, but I shudder to think about the number of times a shot-clock would be reset due to error during a basketball game (especially upon its first introduction).

Of course, an additional volunteer (student or otherwise) would be required to run the shot clock.

And then there's the cost factor --- these things aren't cheap, with $600ish (for a tabletop model) being discussed as among the "cheapest option" by OFSAA officials. Portable and/or wall-mounted units would go for over $1000.

So, you're talking about $50K plus if each CWOSSA school were to end up purchasing one --- or a potential logistical nightmare if only a few were purchased but had to be "transported" around. In this period of economic uncertainty and reigning in budgets, there are certainly better ways to spend that money for students. On the flip side, it is a "one shot deal" and once you have one, you have it until it needs to be repaired/replaced.

Cost and operation are a big reason as to why only 8 states south of the border (California, Maryland, New York, Massachusetts, North and South Dakota, Washington and Rhode Island) have implemented a shot clock.

Anyways, I could ramble on, but I'll leave it to you to vote in the poll to the right and see which option CWOSSA players, fans and coaches would you be in favour of. To make things more interesting, I'll add in a "couple other options":

A) No Changes (Rules Same As Currently Played)

B) No Changes to Current Rules, but Add 45-second Shot Clock

C) Switch to FIBA Rules; No Shot Clock

D) Switch to FIBA Rules; 24 or 30 second Shot Clock

E) Switch to FIBA Rules; 30 or 35+ second Shot Clock

District 8: League Finals To Be Hosted at University of Waterloo

2012-01-30T09:42:00.000-05:00

A big game deserves a big stage.

With (again) two of the top five teams in CWOSSA, the District 8 league has announced that its league finals will be played at the University of Waterloo on Friday, February 17th. As always, it will be a junior-senior doubleheader (6pm & 8pm are the projected game times).

The St. Mary's Eagles and Resurrection Phoenix are currently on a collision course to meet in the senior final for the third straight season (though we will see what the St. Benedict Saints have to say about it).

Only one D8 school moves on to AAAA CWOSSA. Interestingly enough, last year's Eagles became the first team in CWOSSA history not to advance to OFSAA within 3 years of capturing a junior CWOSSA "AAAA" championship. The Phoenix could fall in the same category this season.

From a historical trend, all CWOSSA "AAAA" junior champions have advanced to OFSAA within 3 years of their junior championship (i.e. when then grade 10s would be 5th year students).

2002 (WCI) --- Qualified in 04/05

2003 (KCI) --- Qualified in 04/05/06

2004 (KCI) --- Qualified in 05/06

2005 (FHCI) --- Qualified in 2008

2006 (CCVI) --- Qualified in 07/08/09

2007 (JFR) --- Qualified in 2010

2008 (SMHS) --- ??

2009 (RCSS) --- ??

Mark's Mailbox: Top Ten "AAA" Teams

2012-01-27T13:01:00.000-05:00

A reader sent me a note through asking me what my thoughts were on an updated version of the "top 10" AAA CWOSSA teams.

Here's a look my current "power ranking", with how things have changed since I last did this in December:

Senior AAA

1. Centre Dufferin (3)

2. North Park (1)

3. Galt (6)

4. Jacob Hespeler (2)

5. Preston (4)

6. WODSS (5)

7. Huron Heights (7)

8. St. James (8)

9. Brantford CI (9)

10. Holy Trinity (10)

.....and yes, I do realize that NPC lost a close one to Galt at the Saints Invitational. This is based upon the "body of work", and NPC still has a few key wins under their belt to warrant a #2 ranking. Centre Dufferin takes top spot with a couple of wins over "upper tier" D10 teams (CWDHS & Lourdes), but I'll be honest in stating that there is no clear favourite at this point of the season to take the AAA title and the OFSAA berth that goes with it! It should be a great CWOSSA tournament in February, and one that I'll definitely be keeping an eye on.

Now, as for junior:

Junior AAA

1. St. James (1)

2. St. David (2)

3. North Park (3)

4. Galt CI (7)

5. Huron Heights (4)

6. Preston (6)

7. Guelph CVI (5)

8. Elmira DSS (NR)
9. Brantford CI (8)

10 (tie). Southwood SS (NR)

10 (tie). West Hill (10)

...a little more clear cut, but still very interesting. St. James won the St. David junior tournament (which had both St. David and Huron Heights participating). Huron Heights has had a solid season, but (some players) shot themselves in the foot a bit by violating team rules and being suspended for a couple games --- one being a blowout loss to AAA rival Galt.

Right now, it looks as though your AAA champion will be from one of the "top 3" teams but both Galt (TJ Lall) and Huron Heights (Arshid Babury) have scorers that could get hot and change the dynamic of the CWOSSA tournament.

Junior: Celtics, Eagles To Carry CWOSSA Banner at Kennedy All-Ontario Catholic

2012-01-27T12:07:00.001-05:00

The St. David Celtics from Waterloo (CWOSSA #10) and the Brantford St. John's Eagles (CWOSSA #9) will be the two squads representing area hoops at this year's Kennedy All-Ontario Catholic Invitational (junior boys) Tournament in Hamilton next week.

This will mark the first time in several years that a couple of traditional entries, the St. Mary's Eagles and Resurrection Phoenix, will not participate. The Eagles had the best local showing in recent memory, making the 2009 final before falling to Brampton D'Youville. Rez lost in the semifinals to D'Youville that same year.

As always, the tournament is stacked with competitive teams from around the province, including D'Youville (Brampton), Father Goetz (Mississauga) and Holy Trinity (Oakville), who are all considered among the "top 5 or 6" junior teams in Ontario.

The Celtics will start their tournament against Brampton's St. Edmund Campion HS, who defeated the WCI Vikings 58-47 a couple of weeks ago on their home floor (in a game that was down to the wire before they pulled away late with free throws). To be fair to Campion, however, they were missing 2 regular starters at that game.

The Green Eagles are in even tougher, with a first-round date against the aforementioned Panthers of D'Youville.

The 16-team tournament is bracketed format, with first round winners advancing and losers heading to the consolation side. Teams play 2 games on Saturday (February 3rd), with consolation and championship semifinals and finals taking place on Sunday (February 4th).

Good Luck on Exams!

2012-01-25T12:32:00.000-05:00

Good luck to all students out there who are writing exams over the upcoming few days! With most leagues on a hiatus for another 10 days or so, we'll still be coming up with a few posts and other interesting tidbits that I've been working on here.

Of note, although league play doesn't really get back underway until the 6th/7th of February in most cases, there are a few tournaments to make note of next weekend. So stay tuned for some previews and updates on those.

As always, any info can be sent through to mark @ cwossabasketball.com. Cheers!

Junior: Phoenix Drop Tournament Title Game to Rams

2012-01-23T09:39:00.001-05:00

The Resurrection Phoenix came up on the short end of a 54-41 decision to the St. Joseph's Rams of St. Thomas in the championship final of the Delhi German Home Classic Basketball Tournament Saturday evening.

The Rams, who are currently undefeated in the TVRAA Southeast Division (8-0) and outscoring their opponents by an average of 25 PPG, got off to a very quick start in this one, thanks to the fine play inside from forward Jake Becker, who pumped home 13 first-quarter points to help the Rams take a 17-10 lead after one.

Rez guard Thomas Hunter had a few nice drives and his aggressive play helped the Phoenix go in to halftime trailing by only five (25-20). However, the Rams would maintain that "5-to-9" point advantage for the entire second half and were up 40-31 with about 3:00 to go when the Phoenix elected to play the "foul game" but could not get any closer than 8 points down the stretch. The Rams, who struggled from the line most of the game (15-for-34 was the final tally) converted when it counted.

The result of the "foul game", though, was that a few players on both sides got to pad their stats as the final 3:00 saw nearly as many points scored (24) as during the first 13:00 of the second half (26).

Becker finished with 21 points (on 9-for-11 shooting from the floor) and 6 rebounds for the Rams, while Jake Kenny (14) and Matt Martyn (11) were also in double figures. St. Joseph's scoring was rounded out by Kyler Fairbanks (6) and Jordan Cernanec (2).

Hunter finished with a team-high 13 points for Rez, while forward Mack Smith netted 10. Other Phoenix players to hit the scoresheet included Mark Wylie (4), Ryan Vyrostko (4), Kirolos Milio (4), Jack Quirke (4) and Andrew Pickett (2).

The Phoenix, however, did pick up one "championship" on the weekend as Rez players Harjot Bains and Mack Smith took the tournament's "shooting competition", besting London Christian in the final.

Boxscore

RCSS 10-10-06-15 = 41

StJoe's 17-08-10-19 = 54

Resurrection

T. Hunter 6-15 FG, 0-0 FT, 2 Reb, 2 Ast - 13 Pts.

M. Wylie 2-11 FG, 0-1 FT, 3 Reb, 0 Ast - 4 Pts.

R. Vyrostko 2-4 FG, 0-0 FT, 0 Reb, 1 Ast - 4 Pts.

M. Smith 4-8 FG, 2-4 FT, 4 Reb, 1 Ast - 10 Pts.

A. Pickett 1-4 FG, 0-0 FT, 4 Reb, 1 Ast - 2 Pts.

-----------

H. Bains 0-0 FG, 0-0 FT, 0 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.

K. Milio 2-5 FG, 0-2 FT, 2 Reb, 1 Ast - 4 Pts.

J. Quirke 1-4 FG, 2-3 FT, 3 Reb, 0 Ast - 4 Pts.

S. Begy 0-1 FG, 0-0 FT, 3 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.

Field Goals: 18-51 (.353). Free-Throws: 4-10 (.400). Three-Point Goals: 1-13, .076 (T. Hunter 1-6, R. Vyrostko 0-1, K. Milio 0-1, J. Quirke 0-1, M. Wylie 0-4).

St. Joseph's

M. Martyn 2-8 FG, 7-12 FT, 5 Reb, 8 Ast - 11 Pts.

J. Kenny 5-10 FG, 4-5 FT, 7 Reb, 0 Ast - 14 Pts.

C. Willman 0-2 FG, 0-4 FT, 7 Reb, 1 Ast - 0 Pts.

K. Fairbanks 2-8 FG, 2-3 FT, 2 Reb, 0 Ast - 6 Pts.

J. Becker 9-11 FG, 2-10 FT, 6 Reb, 0 Ast - 21 Pts.

-----------

J. Cernanec 1-5 FG, 0-0 FT, 5 Reb, 1 Ast - 2 Pts.

M. Goldsmith 0-0 FG, 0-0 FT, 0 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.

B. Sinclair 0-0 FG, 0-0 FT, 1 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.

Field Goals: 19-44 (.432). Free-Throws: 15-34 (.441). Three-Point Goals: 1-8, .125 (J. Becker 1-1, C. Willman 0-1, M. Martyn 0-3, K. Fairbanks 0-3).

Junior: Crusaders Take Delhi Classic Consolation Title

2012-01-23T09:20:00.001-05:00

The WODSS Crusaders took the consolation championship at the Delhi German Home Classic Basketball Tournament this past weekend, knocking off the host Delhi Raiders by a 46-24 final.

The game was close early, with the first quarter finishing in an 8-8 deadlock. However, poor shooting the rest of the way by the Raiders (they finished around 20% for the contest from the floor) and turnovers proved to be their undoing. In addition, WODSS paid special attention defensively (double and even triple teams at times) to the Raiders' big man, Rodney Boodram, and he was unable to get on track offensively until late in this one.

The result? The Crusaders outscored Delhi 15-2 in the second quarter and 17-6 in the third to take command before coasting home to victory in the fourth. The frustrations mounted towards the end for the Raiders, who took a couple of technical fouls late.

Garner Matthews, WODSS' top gun, played virtually the whole game and came away with a 14 point, 15 rebound performance to lead the Crusaders. Teammate Nick Penner started 0-for-8 from the floor, but then hit 5 of his remaining 9 attempts to also finish in double figures with 10. Justin Wagler added 7 more, while Michael Potworka had 6 each. Rounding out the W-O scoring were points from Paul Schroeder (4), Mitch Davidson (2), Isaac Macdonald (2) and Josh McGrath (1).

Boodram finished with 15 points and 9 rebounds for the Raiders, while other Raiders to hit the scoresheet included Braeden Palinko (4), Mark Murray (3), and Brant Paulmert (2).

Despite the loss, there is a bright future ahead at Delhi with 9 of their 13 players only in grade nine this season.

Boxscore

WODSS 08-15-17-06 = 46

Delhi 08-02-06-08 = 24

WODSS

N. Penner 5-16 FG, 0-0 FT, 1 Reb, 1 Ast - 10 Pts.

G. Matthews 6-12 FG, 0-0 FT, 15 Reb, 2 Ast - 14 Pts.

P. Schroeder 1-11 FG, 2-2 FT, 9 Reb, 5 Ast - 4 Pts.

M. Davidson 1-1 FG, 0-0 FT, 4 Reb, 0 Ast - 2 Pts.

J. Wagler 3-4 FG, 1-1 FT, 2 Reb, 1 Ast - 7 Pts.

----------

Schwartz'ber 0-2 FG, 0-0 FT, 5 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.

M. Potworka 3-5 FG, 0-0 FT, 0 Reb, 0 Ast - 6 Pts.

I. Macdonald 1-3 FG, 0-0 FT, 2 Reb, 0 Ast - 2 Pts.

D. Otterbien 0-0 FG, 0-0 FT, 0 Reb, 1 Ast - 0 Pts.

J. McGrath 0-1 FG, 1-2 FT, 1 Reb, 0 Ast - 1 Pt.

J. Brown 0-0 FG, 0-4 FT, 1 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.

Field Goals: 20-55 (.363). Free-Throws: 4-9 (.444). Three-Point Goals: 2-8, .250 (G. Matthews 2-4, N. Penner 0-1, P. Schroeder 0-1, I. Macdonald 0-1, J. McGrath 0-1).

Delhi

B. Paulmert 1-8 FG, 0-0 FT, 3 Reb, 1 Ast - 2 Pts.

N. Ingram 0-13 FG, 0-0 FT, 0 Reb, 1 Ast - 0 Pts.

B. Palinko 2-4 FG, 0-0 FT, 2 Reb, 0 Ast - 4 Pts.

E. Small 0-3 FG, 0-0 FT, 5 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.

R. Boodram 6-13 FG, 3-7 FT, 9 Reb, 0 Ast - 15 Pts.

---------

M. Murray 1-4 FG, 0-0 FT, 2 Reb, 0 Ast - 3 Pts.

A. Daradics 0-2 FG, 0-0 FT, 2 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.

B. VanVliet 0-2 FG, 0-0 FT, 1 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.

Field Goals: 10-49 (.204). Free-Throws: 3-7 (.429). Three-Point Goals: 1-14, .071 (M. Murray 1-3, B. Paulmert 0-1, R. Boodram 0-2, A. Daradics 0-2, N. Ingram 0-6).

D8 Midget Final: St. Benedict 26, Resurrection 19

2012-01-20T12:55:00.002-05:00

Jamal "Cash" Hajo was money at crunch time for the St. Benedict Saints.

Hajo poured in 16 points, and made four free-throws in the final minute as the St. Benedict Saints captured their first D8 Midget Boys title since the league was re-started (back in 2007-08) on Thursday evening with a 26-19 victory over the Resurrection Phoenix.

I'm giving Hajo the nickname "Cash" as he called that out several times while shooting his game-icing free-throws.

The Saints and Phoenix, the top two teams in the midget league who split their season series, started slowly, with Resurrection actually taking a 9-3 lead following some good work inside by Nik Potvin and a three-pointer from David Sigmund.

However, Hajo came back the other way with some big baskets to give the Saints some confidence, and a 13-3 run over the remaining ten minutes of the first half gave SBCSS a 16-12 halftime edge.

Both teams struggled offensively in the second half, with the Saints maintaining their slim lead throughout. The Saints led by 5 (22-17) with about 4:00 to go, and over the course of the next couple of minutes, Rez had numerous cracks from close range that just would not go down.

In fact, a missed Rez lay-up with 1:16 to go (and the score still 22-17) led to a Saint fast-break, where Hajo was fouled (intentionally) and "cashed" both of his free-throw attempts to put SBCSS up 24-17.

However, they weren't out of the woods just then, as Rez stole the inbounds pass and a Tyler Riehl jumper kept Rez alive (24-19). A turnover off of the inbounds gave Rez another crack at it, but they could not convert and Hajo iced the game in the waning seconds from the line for St. Benedict.

Zach Soltis added 4 for St. Benedict, while Rez was led by Nik Potvin (8) and Tyler Riehl's 4.

Sidenote: The midget league is played with two 20:00 "running time" halves, with the final 2:00 of each half as "stop time". I had posted incorrect information yesterday, where I said the halves were 25:00 in length.

RCSS 12-07 = 19

SBCSS 16-10 = 26

RCSS

D. Sigmund 1-3 FG, 0-0 FT, 2 Reb, 0 Ast - 3 Pts.

K. Santolini 1-6 FG, 0-0 FT, 4 Reb, 0 Ast - 2 Pts.

T. Riehl 2-8 FG, 0-0 FT, 4 Reb, 0 Ast - 4 Pts.

N. Potvin 4-9 FG, 0-3 FT, 6 Reb, 1 Ast - 8 Pts.

N. Snider 0-7 FG, 0-0 FT, 7 Reb, 3 Ast - 0 Pts.

----------

P. Beaulieu 0-2 FG, 0-0 FT, 2 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.

L. Gomez 0-3 FG, 1-2 FT, 2 Reb, 0 Ast - 1 Pt.

M. Klapperbn 0-0 FG, 0-0 FT, 2 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.

N. Radic 0-0 FG, 0-0 FT, 0 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.

A. McNeil 0-3 FG, 1-2 FT, 3 Reb, 0 Ast - 1 Pt.

P. McLaughlin 0-0 FG, 0-2 FT, 0 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.

C. Jolkowski 0-0 FG, 0-0 FT, 0 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.

M. Viau 0-0 FG, 0-0 FT, 0 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.

Field Goals: 8-41 (.195). Free-Throws: 2-9 (.222). Three-Point Goals: 1-4, .250: D. Sigmund 1-1, T. Riehl 0-1, P. Beaulieu 0-1, L. Gomez 0-1.

SBCSS

Z. Soltis 2-4 FG, 0-0 FT, 2 Reb, 0 Ast - 4 Pts.

Brandon S. 1-5 FG, 0-0 FT, 5 Reb, 0 Ast - 2 Pts.

J. Hajo 5-11 FG, 6-7 FT, 4 Reb, 0 Ast - 16 Pts.

Evan P. 1-4 FG, 0-5 FT, 2 Reb, 1 Ast - 2 Pts.

E. Dixon 0-1 FG, 0-2 FT, 5 Reb, 1 Ast - 0 Pts.

---------

R. Amade 0-1 FG, 0-0 FT, 0 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.

G. Lachance 0-2 FG, 0-0 FT, 0 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.

Chetan K. 0-2 FG, 0-0 FT, 2 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.

Alex Z. 1-4 FG, 0-0 FT, 0 Reb, 0 Ast - 2 Pts.

Field Goals: 10-34 (.294). Free-Throws: 6-12 (.500). Three-Point Goals: 0-6, .000 (J. Hajo 0-1, E. Dixon 0-1, Chetan K. 0-2, Alex Z. 0-2).

Weekly CWOSSA "Top 10" - January 20th

2012-01-20T11:02:00.000-05:00

Very interesting this week, with a lot of teams beating each other up over the past seven days.

Here's a look at what I see at this particular point in time:

CWOSSABasketball.com Senior Power Ranking

1. Forest Heights - Kitchener (1)

2. St. Mary's - Kitchener (2)
3. JF Ross - Guelph (3)

4. Waterloo CI - Waterloo (6)

5. Resurrection - Kitchener (4)

6. Cameron Heights - Kitchener (NR)

7. Grand River - Kitchener (5)

8. Lourdes - Guelph (T10)

9. Centennial - Guelph (NR)

10. Centre Dufferin - Shelburne (NR)

Honourable Mentions: Jacob Hespeler - Cambridge, North Park - Brantford, Bluevale - Waterloo, St. Benedict - Cambridge, SJAM - Waterloo.

CWOSSABasketball.com Junior Power Ranking

1. St. Mary's - Kitchener (2)

2. Grand River - Kitchener (1)

3. Cameron Heights - Kitchener (3)

4. Waterloo CI - Waterloo (5)

5. JF Ross - Guelph (4)

6. Centre Wellington - Fergus (9)

7. St. James - Guelph (6)

8. Eastwood - Kitchener (7)

9. St. John's - Brantford (8)

10. St. David - Waterloo (NR)

Honourable Mentions: SJAM - Waterloo, North Park - Brantford.

Brantford Expositor: Tough But Satisfying Win for SJC

2012-01-20T10:48:00.000-05:00

Article By: Darryl Smart

It may have been a long week for J.P. Yurcich and the St. John's College Green Eagles but it may have been the perfect way to finish off the senior boys' basketball regular season.

Especially since they'll have more than two weeks off.

Tim Dawson poured in 20 points, while Yurcich added 19, as the Green Eagles (8-2) finished the regular season with a 58-39 win over the Paris Panthers (3-7) Thursday at home.

"It's been a long week for us," Yurcich said. "It's been tough."

He said playing three games to close out the regular season before the exam break was difficult because of the highs and lows that came with each one.

After an emotional loss against the first-place North Park Collegiate Trojans Monday, they defeated the surging Assumption College Lions Tuesday before deposing of the Panthers Thursday.

"Monday's game was so emotional," Yurcich said. "It always is with North Park because it's one versus two. And then we had to get up to play Assumption right after which was tough to do.

And against the Panthers, mental and physical was evident early.

"Our second half was much better tonight," he said. "We've seemed to have a tough time getting started, but when we do, things start to click."

After the Panthers, who were riding a two-game winning streak, jumped out to a quick 7-3 lead, it took the Green Eagles almost six minutes before they finally got back on the scoreboard.

And once they did, there was no looking back.

During the last two minutes of the first quarter, the Green Eagles generated four Panthers' turnovers, resulting in a 11-9 lead after the first quarter.

"Our first half was slow but the guys picked it up," Yurcich said. "It was a good way to end the regular season, with the exception of a couple of guys getting banged up. But we'll have a couple of weeks off to heal and get ready for the playoffs."

With their 8-2 record, the Green Eagles and the Trojans earned a first-round bye, while Brantford Collegiate, Pauline Johnson Collegiate, Assumption and Paris will duke it out in the quarter-finals on Feb. 7.

Yurcich said during the exam break, his team will attempt to get as much court time as possible with shoot arounds.

The same goes for the Panthers, but with a different focus.

"We're going to work on running," Panthers' Taylor Shipp said. "We want to go four quarters, not like tonight.

"We stayed with them for three quarters," he said. "We were playing some of our best basketball of the year."

Shipp again was a presence down low for the Panthers and said the game had the feel of a playoff game. And that was evident by the ice bags on Green Eagles players bench and players getting emotional on the Panthers' bench.

"The first three quarters felt like it," Shipp, who had four points said. "It was a real physical game."

Jake Kelley led the Panthers with nine points, while Parker McIntyre had eight, while Andrew Kearley and Harji Gill added six each.

Thursday's Results

SENIOR

NPC (10-0) 40, ACS (3-7) 33. NPC: Logan Varga 13, Marcus Jones 11, Marcus Hamilton 9. ACS: Stefan Toic 18, Nick Burdett 9, Nolan Drong 5.

BCI (4-6) 44, PJC (2-8) 37 (2OT). BCI: Chris Gorski 15, Kolby Sakuluk 9, Ben Candy 7. PJC: Tyler Campbell 14, Dakotta Robinson 7, Dakota Brush 6.

JUNIOR

SJC (9-1) 70, Paris (0-10) 24. SJC: David Smith 15, Lukas Hager 12, Dylan Ryan 12. Paris: Ryan Campbell 14, Corey Boehmer 9.

NPC (9-1) 56, ACS (6-4) 44. NPC: Andrew Silla 14, Matt Minutillo 11, A.K. Rai 11. ACS: Alvaro Saluta 13, Mike King 8, Austin Tlustos 8.

BCI (4-6) 47, PJC (2-8) 30. BCI: Tristan Almas 17, Noel Bomberry 14, Jamaal Jones-Peters 6. PJC: Swapnil Sharma 9, DJ Johnson 9, Scott Sobczyck 5, Justin Appleby 5.

Retrieved From: http://www.brantfordexpositor.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=3442934

D10: Thursday Results

2012-01-20T10:45:00.000-05:00

Senior

Lourdes 67, Orangeville 49

OLOL: Ben King 16, Max Raab 12

ODSS: Justin Levesque 16

Centennial 60, CWDHS 59

CCVI: Tarang Sharma 35, Erik Sterne 15

CW: Gavin McNamara 14, Reid Goindi 14

JF Ross 82, Bishop Mac 42

JFR: Mike Friesen 14, Shamlo Saeed 12

BMAC: Jesse Kendall 15, Giordan Bennett 9

St. James 44, GCVI 38

STJ: Ryan Morales 11, Nick Pelizzarri 8

GCVI: Andrew Hood 17, Tyler Beaton 8

D10 Senior Standings

1. JF Ross 11-1

2. Lourdes 10-3

3. CWDHS 9-3

4. Centennial 8-4

5. Bishop Mac 5-7

6. St. James 4-8

7. Orangeville 1-11

8. GCVI 1-12

Junior

St. James 44, GCVI 33

STJ: Joey Hasson 14, Quinn Feeney 9

GCVI: Raymond Su 9, Ryles Whitaker 8

CWDHS 55, Centennial 39

CW: Ashlar Young-Evans 9, Josh McEachern 8

CCVI: Anugesh Balasubramaniam 10, Harnoor Samra 8

Lourdes 41, Orangeville 7

OLOL: Craig Valeriote 12, Hayden Nichol 7

ODSS: Davis Neal 3

JF Ross 69, Bishop Mac 53

JFR: Tommy Yanchus 24, Greg Schwann 16

BMAC: Michael Ganson 27, Aiden Fraser 7

D10 Junior Standings

1. JF Ross 12-0

T2. St. James 9-3

T2. CWDHS 9-3

4. Lourdes 6-7

T5. Centennial 5-7

T5. Bishop Mac 5-7

7. GCVI 3-10

8. Orangeville 0-12

WCSSAA Senior: Gaels top Renegades in Rematch

2012-01-20T10:38:00.001-05:00

In a rematch of their classic game at the East Side Mario's tournament from last Friday, the Cameron Heights Golden Gaels again squeaked past the Grand River Renegades by a 64-61 final.

The Rens were actually down by 12 in the second half before a furious comeback attempt fell just short.

Vedran Dmitrovic led the Gaels with 27, while Jason Thompson added 15 including a nice "and-one" dunk off of a feed from Dmitrovic. Filip Cvrkalj and Chuder Teny had 22 each for GRCI.

In other games on Thursday:

Forest Heights 61, Bluevale 34
My Pick: FHCI by 12

No trouble for the Trojans who roll past BCI at home. Javon Masters poured in 28 points, while Juwan Miller added 9 for FHCI. Jeevan Sidhu was the lone Knights in double figures with 10, while Ian Farquaharson had 8 more for Bluevale.

SJAM 39, Eastwood 37

My Pick: SJAM by 9

The 'Landers survived Eastwood (without the services of Ben Reyhani - ankle) on Thursday.......barely. Nathaniel Ellis had 12 and Nebojsa Sarkanovic 10 to lead the way for SJAM, while Patric Pintea netted 12 and Sayyad Yeganehnia 11 for Eastwood.

WCI 69, WODSS 39

My Pick: WCI by 11

Dani Elgadi had another solid effort, pouring in 22 points as the Vikes ran away from the Crusaders in this one. Zach Totzke added 14, while Jesse Dodgson led the Crusaders with 15.

Huron Heights 59, Southwood 25

My Pick: HHHS by 33

Darcy Jacobs had 16 and Nathaniel Ernst-Finnie 12 as Huron Heights grabbed a win to even up their record on the season. Riley Clipper (12) and Zack Sauer (8) led the Sabres.

Jacob Hespeler 59, KCI 38

My Pick: JHSS by 17

The Hawks moved into a tie for fourth place (with Galt - they do hold the head to head tiebreak) with this win on Thursday. Jason Quiring had 18 and Javon Bryce 14 for JHSS; Pat Moses and Rollin Duncan had 7 each for the Raiders.

Galt 53, Preston 49

My Pick: GCI by 12

The Ghosts get the big home win against Preston in what was a battle of 6-3 teams going in. Jack Simmons had another strong effort, pouring in 26 points, while Scott Holton added 11 for GCI. Wes Meertens had 19 and Nathan Walsh 9 for Preston.

Glenview Park 53, Elmira 25

My Pick: GPSS by 29

The Panthers move into a tie with KCI for the final playoff position with this victory; Chris Thompson (16) and Erist Wame (11) paced GPSS on Thursday. Brian Gruneberg and Angus Docherty had 7 each for the Lancers.

WCSSAA Senior Boys Standings

1. Forest Heights 10-0**

T2. Grand River 8-2*

T2. WCI 8-2*

T4. Jacob Hespeler 7-3*

T4. Galt 7-3*

T6. Preston 6-4*

T6. Bluevale 6-4*

T8. Cameron Hts 5-5

T8. SJAM 5-5

T8. Huron Hts 5-5

11. WODSS 4-6

T12. Glenview Park 3-7

T12. KCI 3-7

---------------

14. Eastwood 2-8

15. Southwood 1-9

16. Elmira 0-10

** - clinched first round bye

* - clinched playoff berth

WCSSAA Junior: Murray, Renegades Survive Cameron Comeback Bid

2012-01-20T09:22:00.001-05:00

The Grand River Renegades nearly suffered one of the biggest fourth-quarter collapses in WCSSAA junior basketball history on Thursday afternoon.

The Rens took a 50-34 lead heading to the fourth quarter, but GRCI scored only 3 points during the first 6:15 of the final frame while CHCI put home 15 to cut things all the way down to a 53-49 lead.

A Nikola Farkic three-pointer with about :45 seconds to go, and another CHCI bucket down the stretch actually put the Gaels in front by 1 in the waning seconds.

With time ticking away, the Rens were able to get the ball to their grade 9 sensation, Jamal Murray, who hit a three-pointer as the buzzer sounded to win the game 56-54 (and set off a raucous celebration by the visiting Renegades and their fans).

Murray pumped home a game-high 25 in the win. Sasha Simic had 11 and Farkic 9 for the Gaels.

The win also essentially sets up a showdown for first-place on the final day of the season, provided neither the Renegades (against Elmira) or WCI (against JHSS) slip up in their first game after the exam break.

Here are the rest of the scores from Thursday's action:

Forest Heights 43, Bluevale 36

The Trojans get past the Knights at home for an important victory that brings them back up to the .500 mark. Elijah Callendar had 14 and Tim Gadjos 8 for FHCI; Jamal John netted 11 and Ray Lin 8 for the Knights.

Eastwood 45, SJAM 37

In probably the second most intriguing game on the Thursday schedule, the Rebels picked up a big win on the road at SJAM. Ousmane Kromah poured in 16 and Tre Nicholson had 11 for the Rebs; Brett Parrott scored 13 and Nedim Hodzic had 10 for SJAM.

WCI 71, WODSS 28

No trouble for WCI in this one as they cruised past the Crusaders. Bojan Vincic (12), Abdul Mohammed (10) and Mostafa Fattah (10) were all in double figures for the Vikes, while Garner Matthews had 11 and Nick Penner 8 for W-O.

Huron Heights 36, Southwood 32

Still without Arshid Babury, the Huskies were almost upset at home by Southwood --- but they were able to pull out the win. A loss might have meant that the Huskies wouldn't even host a home playoff game, depending on how things play out the rest of the way.

KCI 52, Jacob Hespeler 37

The Raiders grabbed their 2nd win of the season and made things more interesting in the race for the final playoff positions. Stefan Simic had 23 and Jelani McLean 10 for the Raiders, while Matt Quiring netted 17 and Ethan Rudd added 8 for the Hawks.

Galt 60, Preston 29

This win by Galt means that if they can get past Southwood (3-7) and Bluevale (2-8) in their last two games, they will lock up a first-round bye. TJ Lall poured in 18 and Abraar Unia had 9 in this win; Tanner Derjugin scored 11 while Tyler Gibner added 7 for PHS.

Elmira 37, Glenview Park 27

The Lancers are at .500 after a win at home over the Panthers. Callum Johnson had 10 and Scott Carere 8 in the win; Tyler Bell had a game-high 12 for Glenview with 9 more added by Tyrell Wolf.

WCSSAA Junior Standings

1. Grand River 10-0**

2. WCI 9-1*

T3. Cameron Heights 8-2*

T3. Galt 8-2*

-----

T5. Eastwood 7-3*

T5. Huron Heights 7-3*

7. Preston 6-4*

T8. Elmira 5-5*

T8. Forest Heights 5-5*

T8. SJAM 5-5*

11. Southwood 3-7

T12. Jacob Hespeler 2-8

T12. Bluevale 2-8

T12. KCI 2-8

-----

15. WODSS 1-9

16. Glenview Park 0-10

** - clinched first-round bye

* - clinched playoff berth

Alumni Alert: Johnson Struggles, but Bison Still Victorious Against Lehigh

2012-01-19T13:51:00.000-05:00

Former CWOSSA standout Bryson Johnson, arguably one of the better shooters in college basketball, had a rough go of it in yesterday evening against Lehigh University (and Stefan Cvrkalj) but the Bison were able to still come through with an important 68-61 road win.

The victory keeps Bucknell at the top of the Patriot League (4-0) while Lehigh dropped to 2-2.

Johnson, who played 18 minutes, missed all 8 of his field goal attempts (all three-pointers) but did go 3-for-3 from the stripe to finish with 3 points. He added 2 rebounds and 2 assists as well.

Cvrkalj, who has apperared in 18 of 20 Lehigh games this season as a freshman, did not record a stat in his 4 minutes of court time.

For the year, Johnson (a junior) is averaging 9.6 PPG, 2.8 RPG and 1.2 APG (27.6 minutes per game).

Cvrkalj is averaging 3.1 PPG, 0.6 RPG and 0.1 APG (7.5 minutes per game).

D8 Midget League to Crown Champion Tonight!

2012-01-19T12:06:00.000-05:00

The first league champion will be crowned this evening at St. Mary's high school when the District 8 league hosts the Midget Boys' (grade nines not playing junior) basketball championships.

We're going to be there to cover this, and are looking forward to an interesting evening of basketball ---- the semifinals and finals will both be contested this evening.

This year's D8 league is a four-team affair, with St. Benedict, Resurrection, St. David and St. Mary's. Oddly enough, the standings heading into the playoffs are almost a mirror image of the junior standings (whereas you might expect a strong junior team to mean a strong midget program).

Leading the way are St. Benedict (5-1) and Resurrection (5-1), who split their season series --- St. Benedict took first place on the +/- tiebreaker. St. Mary's took third spot in the standings (2-4), while St. David went 0-6, although a couple of the losses were only by single digits.

History - Past Winners

2010-11 - St. Mary's

2009-10 - Resurrection

2008-09 - Resurrection

2007-08 - Resurrection

Rule Changes/Differences

Teams play two 25-minute "straight time" halves, and must play man-to-man defense (pressing is allowed in the second half). During the game, regular basketball federation rules apply.

The Re-Creation of the D8 Midget League

I spoke with Resurrection junior coach Chris Aldworth, who was a driving force in "resurrecting" (no pun intended...) the D8 midget league prior to the 2007-08 season, and asked him a few questions about a league that most of us aren't overly familiar with.

CWOSSABasketball.com: Chris, what was the driving force behind restoring the D8 midget league?

Chris Aldworth: Every year at Resurrection, over 50 grade 9 and 10 boys try out for the RCSS junior boys' basketball team, as is common at many high schools in the area.

Prior to the 2007-08 season, Resurrection had an influx of many skilled grade 9 players that, based upon our numbers and returning players, would not have made our junior program. D8 had previously run a midget league, and after some phone calls and e-mails between the junior coaches, it was determined that there was interest from other schools (St. Benedict, Monsignor Doyle, St. David at the time) to again form a midget league.

From the onset, it was a very grassroots attempt to bring back grade nine basketball that has proven to be very successful. Roughly 60 to 70 student-athletes now compete in high school basketball each year that would not be doing so otherwise. The league is legitimate with a full schedule and playoffs, and a championship final. Our team at Resurrection has traveled to play midget boys' teams in Sarnia (who also have a full midget league) and they have participated in junior boys' tournaments against "A" and "AA" schools in other areas of the CWOSSA region, such as Walkerton.

(Aldworth also noted that, the same year, the D8 also established a midget girls volleyball league that continues to provide an opportunity for grade 9 girls to participate in that particular sport).

CWOSSABasketball.com: What do you see as the benefits to having a midget program?

Chris Aldworth: The D8 Midget Boys' basketball league is seen as a developmental league for high school basketball players. Emphasis is placed on skill development and the introduction of offensive and defensive concepts. As a result of the league, many players have now had an opportunity to play competitive high school basketball.

It encourages healthy active living and sportsmanship, as well as increasing school spirit and pride in their athletic accomplishments. Many of the teams have seen late developing players, especially post players, eventually contribute at the junior and senior level. For example, the senior boys' team here at Resurrection currently starts two CIS-prospects in Mike Pereira and Cory Kenning who both played on the RCSS midget team in grade nine.

CWOSSABasketball.com: What may lie ahead for the future of midget boys' basketball? Any thoughts on that?

Chris Aldworth: The D8 league has entertained the possibility of adding some of the public high schools into the league, but despite some initial interest from two WCSSAA schools this year, the logistics weren't able to be finalized in time. No "non-D8 school" has yet brought back their midget program, but hopefully we will see that change in the near future for the benefit of area basketball!