High School Sports blog

Look ahead: girls hockey

And finally, some important match-ups on the ice on the girls' side.

St. David vs. Grand River

When: Thursday at Kiwanis, 3 p.m.

Skinny: By this time, these two clubs could be gutting it out for eighth spot in the standings. A key battle with playoffs looming.

Southwood vs. Elmira

When: Thursday at Elmira Arena, 2 p.m.

Skinny: The Lancers have home ice advantage for this battle for first place. Both teams have been eagerly awaiting this tete-a-tete. Can Elmira hand Southwood its first loss of the season?

Look ahead: boys hockey

It's the last week of regular season action in boys hockey. 

Who will win the goal scoring title? Who will finish first? 

Oh the drama!

Here are a few of the key games on the schedule:

Resurrection vs. St. Benedict

When: Tuesday at Hespeler Arena, 2:30 p.m.

Skinny: Lots of talk about a slow start for Rez, what with some of the lads still playing football. So expect a better team than their record indicates. Bennies needs to keep winning to lock down a top spot in the standings.

Bluevale vs. Forest Heights

When: Thursday, RIM Park, 2:30 p.m.

Skinny: This should be a battle for first place by the time Thursday rolls around. Two good teams with solid goaltending and big guns. Expect a real gem. The winner of this game may just grab the No. 1 seed in the top ten rankings as well.

Others to watch: Cameron Heights vs. SJAM, Tuesday at McCormick (2:30 p.m.) and Grand River vs. Rez, Thursday at Don McLaren (3 p.m.)

Look ahead: senior girls volleyball

St. Benedict at Resurrection

When: Wednesday, 3:30 p.m.

Skinny: Depending on how things play out Monday, Rez could potentially leap frog into top spot with a win over Bennies.

Preston at Grand River

When: Thursday, 3:30 p.m.

Skinny: With Forest Heights and WCI pretty much locked in at 1-2, the battle is one for positioning further down the standings. Grand River and Preston both have a shot at third place and this game could end up being a tie-breaker.

Look ahead: senior boys basketball

OK, it's getting thin here on the high school news with the exam break still going. 

So, for the next four days, I'm going take a look at some key games coming up next week.

Rockway at St. Mary's

When: Wednesday, 5 p.m.

Skinny: Battle for second place in District 8. Timing is key with playoffs around the corner.

Bluevale at KCI

When: Wednesday, 3:30 p.m.

Skinny: This should be a no-brainer for Bluevale, but a deeper look shows that KCI is prime upset material, especially if BCI is suffering some post-exam sluggishness.

Memory lane: Hockey all-stars 2002

WCSSAA HOCKEY ALL-STARS: Mark VanderBeek, Grand River; Chris Cook, St. David; Ryan Benesch, St. David (league MVP); Brandon Gingerich, Waterloo-Oxford. Goalie is Jeff Young, Grand River.

Some interesting names here. VanderBeek is brother to national skier Kelly and Benesch now plays pro lacrosse for the Edmonton Rush.

Josh is on vacation; back next week

Karlo Berkovich, online editor at The Record here. Josh is sunning himself in Mexico this week. A well-deserved break. He's back next week.

So as to someone's question about how the hockey playoffs work, you'll have to wait. Yeah, I should know, being a former sports editor here. But it's been a few years. So if a convenor out there knows, feel free to comment and help out.

Cheers,

-- Karlo

P.S. Then again, looks like Josh posted girls hockey scoring today. Josh, buddy, relax. Have a cerveza or five and get off the blog this week.

Girls hockey leaders

I finally tracked down three missing St. David scores. Thanks to the coaches for helping out.

Now we have an up-to-date goal scoring list for girls hockey. 

St. David's Nicole Gehl joins the top group, courtesy of a five-goal performance in one game earlier in the season.

25 - Erin Zach, Elmira 

14 - Lauren Coxon, Forest Heights

13 - Jessica Buttinger, Rez

11 - Natalie Buttinger, Rez

11 - Laura Neu, Southwood 

10 - Nicole Gehl, St. David 

8 - Carly Payerl, Rez 

8 - Kristy Kelly, Huron Heights

8 - Keri Neeb, Huron Heights

8 - Kirsten Quistberg, SJAM

8 - Kat Zgraja, Bluevale

Rainy day football

Two pics here from high school football quarter-final action. This game was between Jacob Hespeler and WCI and goes back to 2004.

These shots don't do the day justice. It was the most rain I think I've ever seen at a high school event. It might rank second behind last year's Bluevale/Galt fiasco but that was more snow.

Anyway, it poured and poured and poured. Players were slip sliding everywhere. Photographer Dave Bebee captured the moment.

They call it the leap frog dunk

Two interesting things about this one.

First, the guy uses his opponent as a stepping stool to dunk, which, in itself, is worth watching.

Second, there is a big debate around the call. Defensive foul or offensive charge? 

I say the defender moves his feet at the last second and the refs got it right. But that's just my two cents.

Timmy Rose tourney draw released

The annual Timmy Rose Memorial senior boys hoops tournament returns to St. David early next month.

Here's the goods:

Friday, Feb. 6th

St. David vs. Waterloo-Oxford, noon

Stratford St. Mike's at Fergus Centre Wellington, 1:30 p.m.

Galt vs. Guelph Bishop Macdonell, 3 p.m.

Guelph Our Lady of Lourdes vs. Bolton Humberview, 4:30 p.m.

Play downs continue Saturday, Feb. 7th with the friendship game at 2:30 p.m., third place match at 5:30 p.m. and championship at 7 p.m.