58th Standard tournament preview
A familiar and beloved sports event takes centre stage with Monday’s start of The 58th Annual Standard High School Basketball Tournament.
“To me, the Standard tournament is the official kickoff to hoops season,” tourney co-chair John Pilling said. “It’s a truly special time of year that is all about the kids participating.”
The goal of the tournament is to make the players’ experience as full and rewarding as possible.
“For our committee, it takes us back to our own experiences and we do our best to recreate those special memories,” Pilling said.
He feels this year’s event could be more competitive than recent years.
“St. Francis and E.L. Crossley will headline a deep field of teams. We’re so excited to get going.”
Co-chair Randy Conlon can’t wait for the tournament to start.
“We are delighted to welcome the Smithville Christian Storm into the tournament,” he said. “Given its recent win at the OFSAA A volleyball tournament, we expect the Storm to be an athletic handful for their opponents.”
The tournament kicks off Monday with buyout double headers at Eden (1:40 and 3:10 p.m.), Denis Morris (1:15 and 2:45); Sir Winston Churchill (2:05 and 3:30 p.m.) and Thorold (1 and 2:30 p.m.).
On Tuesday, consolation quarter-final games will be played at 6 and 7:30 p.m. at St. Francis, Ridley College, Governor Simcoe and Eden.
Following an off day Wednesday, all the consolation and championship semifinals will be contested at St. Catharines Collegiate with games scheduled for 3, 4:30, 6 and 7:30 p.m.
The consolation final will be played Friday at 5:30 p.m. at Collegiate. Following a junior all-star game at 7 p.m., the championship game will start at 7:45 p.m.
The top five seeds at the tournament are three-time defending champion St. Francis, E.L. Crossley, Governor Simcoe, Eden and Denis Morris.
Admission for all games is $5 for adults and $2 for students. Monies raised go directly back to players in the form of bursaries.
Below are brief profiles of the 16 competing teams:
CENTENNIAL COUGARS
Number of returning players: Five.
Key returning players: Kyle Clarkson; Jack Halladay; Jackson McNeil; Ryan Stark; Nick Yioldassis.
Key newcomers: Jadin Baldwin; Jackson Collin; James Goodfellow; Dalton Slack.
Strengths: Speed; basketball IQ; rebounding.
Weakness: Youth.
DENIS MORRIS REDS
Number of returning players: Seven.
Key returning players: Noah Honsberger, Michael Conlon and Thomas Davidson.
Key newcomers: Anthony Caruso and Dylan Maltby.
Strengths: Three returning starters.
Weaknesses: Depth; size.
EDEN FLYERS
Number of returning players: Six.
Key returning players: Luke Reinaerts; Peter Pilling; Ashton Nieuwets; Winston Doppenberg.
Key newcomers: Trent Thorpe; Kyle Mulder; Dylan Rivett; Wes Hanlin.
Strengths: Size; perimeter shooting; basketball IQ.
Weakness: Lack of time together with many involved in volleyball.
E.L. CROSSLEY CYCLONE
Number of returning players: Five.
Key returning players: Josh Lahn, Aiden Belding and Jason Carter.
Key newcomers: T.J. Hurley, Owen Dobbie, Riley Bleich and Luke Klassen.
Strengths: Speed; shooting; depth.
Weakness: Fairly young team.
GOVERNOR SIMCOE REDCOATS
Number of returning players: Five.
Key returning players: Max Grant, Andrew Scott, Deryck Burke and Mitch McPherson.
Key newcomers: Ethan Thompson, Matteo Martin and Hayden Zeppetella.
Strengths: Size; defence.
Weakness: Big game experience.
GREATER FORT ERIE GRYPHONS
Number of returning players: Six.
Key returning players: Austin Ladoucuer, Zack Tyrell, Avery Steinbach-Parker and Novontay Brown.
Key newcomers: Kyle Barrett and Josh Havill.
Strengths: Depth; speed; shooting.
Weaknesses: Inexperience.
HOLY CROSS RAIDERS
Number of returning players: Four.
Key returning players: Reuben Eshuis, Bruce DeLuca and Sam Trivieri.
Key newcomer: Matthew Ryan.
Strength: Rebounding.
Weaknesses: Communication; transition defence.
LAKESHORE CATHOLIC GATORS
Number of returning players: Five.
Key returning players: Samuel Beifuss; Thomas Cryer; Ben Shoalts.
Key newcomers: Evan Jacob; Gravel Devivois.
Strengths: Speed; defensive intensity.
Weaknesses: Lack of size and big game experience.
LAURA SECORD PATRIOTS
Number of returning players: Six.
Key returning players: Ayden Ross, Deondre Beaufort and Colby Capra.
Key newcomers: Oneich Samuels, Vardo Johnson and Eljay Johnson.
Strengths: Hustle and passion.
Weakness: Inexperience.
NIAGARA CHRISTIAN NAVIGATORS
Number of returning players: Five.
Key returning players: Neil Wangler, Dayo Williams and Winson Xiao.
Key newcomers: Ladi Aganga and Adam Chan.
Strengths: Ball pressure; guard play; shooting.
Weaknesses: Big game experience; interior defence; rebounding.
RIDLEY COLLEGE TIGERS
Number of returning players: Two.
Key returning players: Nolan Crawford; S.J. Tuedor.
Key newcomers: Adam McDonald; Mugina Karugire; Henry Song
Strength: Athletic backcourt that can push the ball on offence and work the ball on defence.
Weaknesses: Inexperience; undersized.
SIR WINSTON CHURCHILL BULLDOGS
Number of returning players: Five.
Key returning players: Brendan Barker, Nick Beaudoin, Oreoluwa Fowler, Connor Johnston and Nate Butler.
Key newcomers: Alex Evseyev, Devonte Edwards and Yaseen Ali.
Strengths: Improved team speed; better shooting team than last year.
SMITHVILLE CHRISTIAN STORM
Number of returning players: Seven.
Key returning players: Zion Hoekstra, Jayden Talsma and Derrick Breukelman.
Strengths: Older team made up mostly of Grade 12s who came within four points of making OFSAA last year.
Weakness: Lack of strong point guard.
ST. CATHARINES COLLEGIATE SAINTS
Number of returning players: Five.
Key returning players: Ethan Taylor, Nathan Taylor and Joseph Waterman.
Key newcomers: Louizidor Fenelon, Teegan Mann and Ethan Smith.
Strengths: High offensive basketball IQ and see court well; chemistry; familiarity between players.
Weaknesses: Lack of true post player and overall size.
ST. FRANCIS PHOENIX.
Number of returning players: Six.
Key returning players: Igor M’Baya, Quinton Duemo and Sacade Kasamba.
Key newcomers: Allen Kalonji, Ben Lannan and Max Riddell.
Strengths: Athleticism; defence.
Weaknesses: Inexperience; rebounding.
THOROLD GOLDEN EAGLES
Number of returning players: Five.
Key returning players: Nathan Brew, Yvan Canlas, Jack Yarnell, Andrew Wing and Matt Literovich.
Key newcomers: Jeff Kim, Blayden Burrows, Connor Schuman, Chris Cameron, Riley Burt, Krish Walia and Lucas Switzer.
Strengths: Experience; foul shooting.
Weaknesses: Height; speed; size; experience.
