2012 Humber Classic HS Tournament Standouts

Teams from over 10 cities converged on Toronto’s Humber College for their annual high school tournament. This year’s tourney, that took place October 19-20, 2012, was won by the Westwood Warriors who defeated St. Anne’s in the Final.

Here is a spotlight of some of the players that stood out throughout the tournament:

Class of 2013

Among the standouts in the 2013 Class in this tournament, their features a couple of high performer players that were forced to take on much of their team’s workload attempting to bring their team success. In Sam Cooper (6’2″, G/F, 2013) of Lockerby’s case, she was literally head and shoulders above the rest of her teammates. Hailing from Sudbury, ON, this Canadian Junior National player is the only player on her team over 6-feet tall, and likely saw more double teams than any other player in the tournament. Cooper did a lot to create for her teammates, and herself as the team’s main ball handler. She seemed to be everywhere the ball was and logged heavy minutes. The Lockerby standout had several high output games including scoring 31 of her team’s 41 points against St Joseph’s (Wellesley) and 21 of her team’s 38 against Govenor Simcoe. Cheyanne Roger (6’2″, F, 2013) was also a standout player that garnered quite a bit of attention, with play that far exceeded those of her peers. When she was able to get her hands on entry passes, she was able to cash in against teams that couldn’t seem to bring help coverage. She continues to exude a quiet leadership that seems to mesh well with her current group of girls. That, along with a tidy 25 points was a major reason for Power’s 63-60, triple overtime win, over St Joseph’s (Wellesley), even though her team was down to 3 players on the floor after several players fouled out, the last of which was Roger. An indication of how Roger plays with a game on the line, she only scored 4 points in the First Half of that game. Nicole Morrison (5’5″, PG, 2013) may have been blessed with a better supporting cast, but it didn’t detract from her has standout abilities. Where she may loose out in height, she makes up with a very good ability to adapt and make adjustments on the fly. Never shying away from calling audibles, this on-court quarterback was a major reason why Westdale’s ended up wearing Gold around their necks at the end of the tournament. Whenever Northern Secondary of Toronto, ON needed a big play, all eyes turned to their go-to, McKenzie Sigurdson (5’8″, G). And very rarely did she disappoint. One of the biggest things that struck me was how much heart Sigurdson plays with. She will give everything she has into a game and her hard work usually does pays off in scores.  She put up big numbers throughout the tournament, including 27 against the Notre Dame Lady Cougars and 25 against the Eastview Wildcats.

Class of 2014

The Eastview Wildcats combination of Alex Hay (5’9″, PG) and Megan Smith (6’0″, G/F) were often too much for their competition to handle. The two worked very well together indicating that they may play together quite a bit, knowing exactly where each other would be working pretty ‘give-n-gos’ and executing the pick and roll successfully repeatedly. Both are solid players in their own right with Hay’s ability to protect the ball while running the Point Guard position, and Smith’s nice looking 3-pt stroke and strength to play the post against the smaller opponents that would guard her. But together along with the other parts of that Wildcats team they appear poised to make another OFSAA (Ontario provincial HS championship) run. In other ‘Pairing: Humber Classic’ news, a couple of Oakville ON’s Holy Trinity Titans are worthy of mention, Lauren Jamieson (6’1″, F) and Tiffany McNeil (5’6″, G). Jamieson possesses a nice shot as seen in her 19 point game against the Notre Dame Lady Cougars where she hit three trey balls. She also hit two more against Eastview, where she scored 16. Titans Coach, Anthony Pugliese likes McNeil’s speed, and so do I, especially her ability to find another gear with her acceleration.

Ottawa, ON area’s Louis-Riel Rebelles tends to not disappoint when it comes to standouts at this tournament. Last year, for me it was Catherine Traer, this year it is Ashley Polacek (5’4″, PG). Small in stature, but big in game, this Point Guard can play. I found her to be an unselfish player that is deep in skill and understanding of the game.

Class of 2015

Julia Chandler (6’2″, F) showed signs of continued development while playing alongside Mckenzie Sigurdson in Northern’s lineup. I found that Chandler runs the floor better and this school year, has better footwork.  As she continues to refine her position in the paint and continue to work on her post moves, I can see big things in store for her.

Class of 2016

Its always nice to watch a girl play and realize to yourself that, ‘Hey, this girl can play!’ The added bonus comes when you realize you have never seen before. This was the was for me when I saw St Joseph’s (Wellesley) Bears’ Liana Villegas (5’7″, PG). Villegas was called upon for added play due to a couple of injuries on the Bears’ bench and she took full advantage. Villegas’ has a mature ball handling way about her that makes stutter steps while driving to the basket seem not forced. Her development going forward will be one I look forward to.