Standard tourney returns after two-year absence: SWC seeded No. 1
The Standard Tournament is back.
After a two-year, COVID-related absence, the 59th Annual Standard Kully’s Boys High School Basketball Tournament begins Monday afternoon at Holy Cross (Ridley vs. Holy Cross at 1:15 p.m. and Churchill vs. Collegiate at 2:45 p.m.), Governor Simcoe (Governor Simcoe vs. BT at 1:15 p.m. and Crossley vs. West Niagara at 2:45 p.m.), Eden (Eden vs. Centennial at 1:45 p.m. and GFESS vs. Smithville at 3:15 p.m.) and Thorold (DM vs. Thorold at 1 p.m. and St. Francis vs. Westlane at 2:30 p.m.). On Tuesday, the games will be played at 6 and 7:30 p.m. at Sir Winston Churchill, Saint Francis, Eden and Governor Simcoe. Following a day off Wednesday, the event moves to Ridley College Thursday with consolation semifinals at 3 and 4:30 p.m. and championships finals at 6 and 7:30 p.m. Championship night will be staged at St. Catharines Collegiate Friday with the consolation final scheduled for 5:30 p.m. and the championship game for 7 p.m. The finals will be livestreamed at https://livestream.com/accounts/15502389/events/10700473
“On behalf of all our committee members, we’re thrilled to be back. As always, it’s all about the kids and making sure we deliver a lifetime memory and continue the legacy of the tournament in our community,” tournament chair John Pilling said. “See you Friday night at CI. Let’s pack the gym.”
Admission to all games is $5 for adults and $2 for students.
The top eight seeds in the tournament are Sir Winston Churchill, Saint Francis, Eden, Governor Simcoe, E.L. Crossley, Greater Fort Erie, Denis Morris and Ridley College.
Below are profiles of the 16 competing teams:
BLESSED TRINITY THUNDER
Returning players: Five.
Key returning players: Mawana Chidovi, Caleb Olemide, Michael Akinpetide and Luc DiFlavio,
Key newcomers: Vinnie Pucci, Sam Gatto, Tre’von Higgins, Luka Rafanelli, Matteo Villella, Benjamin Soltes, Nick Kolenko, Andrew Furtney and Lucious Dungey.
Strengths: Athletic and quick; several good shooters; some inside presence this year.
Weaknesses: Team just selected so still learning about each other’s strengths and weaknesses.
CENTENNIAL COUGARS
Returning players: Three.
Key returning players: Cam Larmand, Max McNeil and Kevin Zhang.
Key newcomers: Joel McDede, Timi Ijaodola, Matt Millar and Elliot Slack.
Strengths: Depth; hustle.
Weakness: Youth.
DENIS MORRIS REDS
Returning players: 10.
Key returning players: Will Hastings, Campbell Hastings and Joshua Kauffman.
Key newcomers: Nathan Sansaet and Owen Millar.
Strengths: Depth; size.
Weakness: Transition game.
EDEN FLYERS
Returning players: Seven.
Key returning players: Chad Thorpe, Riley Stewart, Caleb Stewart and Edson Sanecki.
Key newcomers: Luke Midgley and Luke Johnson.
Strengths: Great size; strong perimeter shooting; high basketball IQ.
Weakness: Lack of familiarity with playing together.
E.L. CROSSLEY CYCLONE
Returning players: Four.
Key returning players: Samuel Jeffery, Connor Bleich, Aakash Senthil and Jackson Kalybaba.
Key newcomers: Matthew Kleinsmith and Luca Burattini.
Strengths: Backcourt has speed and quickness; lack of height up front but forwards have the strength to compete with other teams’ big men; looking to run the ball this year.
Weaknesses: A dominant big man in the paint and the ability to stop teams that take the ball inside.
GREATER FORT ERIE GRYPHONS
Returning players: Two.
Key returning players: Isaiah Vernon and Noah Dado.
Key newcomers: Kyle Barrett, Noah Gmoser and Nate Jones.
Strengths: Athleticism; defence.
Weaknesses: Team concepts; shot selection.
GOVERNOR SIMCOE REDCOATS
Returning players: Four.
Key returning players: Reza Changizian and Malcolm Perrin.
Key newcomers: Ari Steenhuis and Lochlan Belliveau.
Strengths: Deep bench; quickness.
Weakness: Young and inexperienced squad with nine Grade 11s and only one returning starter.
HOLY CROSS RAIDERS
Returning players: Seven.
Key returning players: Dwayne Osborne, Lucas Muon, Arin Sayegh and Greg Wenglowski.
Key newcomers: Terrell Wallace and Owen Bradford-Andrews.
Strength: Experience; compete level.
Weakness: Adapting to new system.
RIDLEY COLLEGE TIGERS
Returning players: Five.
Key returning players: Josh Owanuma, Darius des Vignes, Thomas Vaillancourt and David Badalov.
Key newcomers: Parker Emanoilidis and Isaac Gonda.
Strength: Athletic and long; decent basketball IQ.
Weakness: Very young, starting two Grade 9s and a Grade 10; lack of experience together as a team.
ST. CATHARINES COLLEGIATE SAINTS
Returning players: Five.
Key returning players: Connor Hammond and Colton Joyce.
Key newcomer: Larry Smith.
Strength: Defence.
Weakness: Size; lack of travel players.
SIR WINSTON CHURCHILL BULLDOGS
Returning players: Seven
Key returning players: Mazen Yagubi and Brady Pupek.
Key newcomers: Matteo Scaglione and Will McAlpine.
Strengths: scoring; rebounding; size; depth; experience.
ST. FRANCIS PHOENIX
Returning players: Four.
Key returning players: Jack Ciocca, Andrew Ens, Matt Futino and Seth McLaughlin.
Key newcomers: Thomas Goodwin, Anthony Heyes, Nawaf Kigab, Jakub Labanowicz and Josh Smith.
Strength: Work ethic.
Weakness: Inexperience.
SMITHVILLE CHRISTIAN STORM
Returning players: One.
Strengths: Vigour and enthusiasm; love of game; athleticism of Grade 11 players.
Weaknesses: Youth and inexperience.
THOROLD GOLDEN EAGLES
Returning players: Eight
Key returning players: Isaac Walker, Nate Miller and Hunter Fluellon.
Key newcomers: Zaniel Brown, Aaron Kennedy and Spencer Fluellon.
Strength: Good balance of size and athleticism, coachability and intensity.
Weaknesses: Overall basketball experience, speed.
WESTLANE SPARTANS
Returning players: Five.
Key returning players: Dylan Klassen and Marko Niezurawski.
Key newcomers: Tegbir Gill, Arnav Sharma and Strahinja Suzic.
Strengths: Attitude; energy; eagerness to learn.
Weakness: Inexperience at senior level.
WEST NIAGARA WOLFPACK
Returning players: Nine.
Key returning players: Kabeer Phull, Tyler Foster, Shiv Ramdial and Zander Culic.
Key newcomers: Brodie Heidekamp, Ben Unrau, Nate Skeldon and Ben Spittal.
Strengths: Experienced and athletic squad.
Weakness: Injury to Culic who will miss Standard tourney.
