Rankings?Prov. Champ? Tough Teams?Will Raytown repeat?
What are your predictions for this year?
I think it will be a great year for basketball.

Let me Know wat u think

The rankings should be out tomorrow - here's how I see it:

1 Western - credit star imports (Eli - Bow Valley, Ammon - Okotoks: both played on team alberta: is Calgary now without boundaries like Edmonton?)
2 Cardston (lost to Western at LCI, but recently beat Raymond!)
3 St FX (beat RS and JP at their tournament)
4 JP (lost to Western at North Shore Invitational for bronze and to St FX at opening tourney - maybe over-rated?)
5 RS (beat HA in league by 1 pt)
6 HA
7 Raymond (playing ~3 weeks less than their competition, will they put it together again?)
8 BC
9 Bishop McNally (gave Western their toughest test at higher hoops)
10 SWC (not sure this is the best choice, but from here the water is pretty muddy)

Can't include any more teams from the south at this point, like last season - too weak although there doesn't seem to be as much 'beaking off' down their either. That leaves a large selection of big city teams. Calling all would be "Cinderella's", the gauntlet has been thrown down, can you bring it?

the rankings are out this is boys

1.Western Canada
2.Cardston
3.St.Francis
4.Raymond
5.Jasper Place
6.Bishop McNally
7.Ross Sheppard
8.Bert Church
9Bishop Grandin
10. Sir Winston Churchill

HM( Aphabetical order)
Harry Ainlay
Lester B Pearson
M.E. LaZerte
Medicine Hat High
Strathacona Composite

How is a city conference team(Beaumont)ranked ahead of Holy Trinity a premier conf school witha 3-1 record. Ditto withLSL ranked ahead of Trinity. Do they know anything about the Edmonton zone?

Well last night Raymond upset Cardston in Raymond 84-78 a very intense game the Raymond girls also beat Cardston 71-68 also in a close match.

my guess:

01 Western - composite team is on a roll...
02 Raymond - unbeaten in league, with a recent win over rival Cardston
03 Cardston - still in the hunt - won't roll over and die this year
04 Bishop McNally - recent win over SWC
05 JP - may be over-rated but unbeaten in their league (haven't played RS)
06 RS - same story as JP (see what happens when they play Feb 16)
07 SWC
08 Notre Dame - glass slipper...?
09 Bishop Grandin
10 BC

HM: PK, Bishop O'Byrne, MELazerte (just beat HA in league), ...

Not bad picks. What about SFX from Edmonton? Unbeaten in their league. They must be averaging wins by 30, too. Have beat JP earlier in the season, too.

I agree STFX should be in the top 5-- way too many Calgary schools ranked. No way PK grabs an HM- too many losses to mid level teams. They(PK) Needs to somebody good.

I was at the Cardston -Raymond games. The boys JV game should have not even been close if you look at the two teams. Cardston got thrown off there game by the physical game that raymond played. I was sitting behind the cardston bench and I seen two kids had bloody noses and another two kids had bloody mouths. I seen the coach ask them what happened and they all said they got elbows. One even said that after he got the elbow he was asked if he was going to cry? The coach I must say was pretty pissed off. The kids all said who it was and I am sure the raymond coach knows who it was also. Why does raymond resort to these tactics to win. The girls game was physical also but not that bad. There was alot of grabbing of shirts on screens. Cardston got all there starters in foul trouble and played alot of there bench. Raymonds, cameron was also in foul trouble. Cardston was down by double digits for two quarters but came back to make it a close game but had trouble scoring when they lost four of there starters.i am sure that when they meet again in Carsdston the outcome will be different. The varsity boys game was very good game.But I will say it was VERY PHYSICAL. I am not sure why raymond has C.Ralp on the team ,other than to take people out. He through a vicious elbow at one of the cardston players and got a technical foul. Luckly he missed or I am sure he would have been thrown out. Both teams had players with blood on there jerseys, either from there nose or from there elbows. Both giving and taking. Just like the jv game raymond was way more physical and got away with it. I really thought jimmy ralph had a cooler head than he showed. He intentionally throws down a cardston player. because he was playing in his face and would not let him get the ball. Cardston was also in foul trouble this game. All but one starter had three fouls by half time. Cardston like the girls game played alot of there bench. Raymonds J ralph only had three fouls the whole game. Cardstons main guard Mcmurray who usually guards jimmy ralph got two charge calls against him that I thought were phantom calls. Nobody takes the hit in the chest. no position on d, it was really a laugh. Now on to the officiating. As you probably guessed, it was terrible in all three games. If the southern officials are going to alow that much contact in all there games, they are saying they that basketball is a full contact sport. If that is the case why not let the football officials ref basketball too. Iam sure that cardston would not have to play that way unless they have too. Now all the other teams in the league should take a page out of this game. If you want to compete against raymond you have to play tough, no backing down. and if the referees are not going to call the game the way it should be called play as tough as you can till you get caught. Thats raymonds philosophy why not the rest of the leagues. Until the refs start calling it and get this league back under control, thats the way it is going to be. I hope you officials read this and take it to your meetings cause all those players that went and watched that game in raymond( LCI- MAGRATH-Iseen some of those players sitting beside me) They will have to play the same way or get destroyed. Also from reading a message on the girls site about north teams coming to southern alberta to play teams here and complaining about the officiating.They have every right to complain cause i am sure your reffinf is ALOT better that what we have down here. If I was ref in this league I would take thjis to heart and take the leauge back and gain some respect back from all the coaches, players, and fans who come to see a basketball game not a rugby match. Maybe they should send out there best for now on to the raymond-cardston games and gain some respect back.

This is my point of view as a fan of basketball. Lets clean up the game. Once the officials can gain the respect from both players and coaches,nothing is going to change in southern alberts basketball.

When did Bishop McNally beat Sir Winston Churchill? What was the score? Tournament game?
Which Notre Dame team are you talking about? From Calgary?
Should Raymond move ahead of Cardston? Isn't Cardston 2 wins and 1 loss vs. Raymond so far this year.
What about SFX from Edmonton?

Hey Slimjim, you make me laugh buddy. I am not a member of the Raymond Comet fan club, I am not from Raymond, but I was at the games in Raymond. I will never stick up for a ref on anything because there is nothing greater in the world than ref bashing, but I feel that you fail to give Raymond any credit for their efforts last weekend. The reffing wasn't great, but it was not in favour of either team.
If you have ever played basketball in your life, you would realize that basketball is a contact sport.
You ask why Connor Ralph is on the team???? He doesn't even have to score a point and he can be one of the most effective players on the floor. His hustle is unmatched by anyone, and the technical he got...I'm sorry but even I could see that he wasn't trying to make contact with the kid and missed him by about 4 feet. He also had 2 fouls that should not have been on him, but they were called on him by reputation only. He can't help it if a 120 pound kid bounces off him while he stands still. How many times did Cardston come down with a rebound swinging elbows? I will give Raymond credit for making Cardston play their game, and yes the refs were bad, but not in favour of one or the other.
The girls game...I saw four Raymond girls sitting on the bench fouled out at the end, and I also saw four grade 10 girls on the floor for Raymond to seal the victory. I give any senior team credit that can win a close game with 4 grade tens on the floor. That game had too many fouls called both ways if anything. It was the longest game in history.
Just a reminder - it is a contact sport. If you don't believe me, watch Lebron, Shaq, Kobe, or any of the superstars and see how hard they get beat up in a game. Diving for loose balls is allowed as well, its just tthat most people don't like to sacrifice like that.

Both teams are good, well coached, and when you lose, accept it with no excuses. There will be a next time.

If you were to read what I said was a Full contact sport. I am not ref bashing, just stating that it is poor officiating when both teams can get away with swinging elbows and no call. You just proved my point that raymond does play that way when you say you give credit to raymond for making cardston play there game.Basketball is a contact sport I never said it was not, read what I said. I was not going to bring this up but since you want to talk about next time, is coach heggie going to tell the boys to take out mcmurray first then once he is out of the game go after skylar like he did this past weekend? How do I know that you ask, is because my son was sitting RIGHT behind the raymond bench and was listening to coach heggie tell his boys that if we get jon mcmurray out of the game we will win. Then once jon got into foul trouble his comment was, now u can go after skylar. One other thing I have played ball before, all through jr. high, high school and post secondary for your info.
I do agree with you that both teams are good,well coached. Not making any excuses for any body cause I really dont care which team wins. I got more imprtant things in life to worry about that who wins or loses a high school ball game. Only thing I would like to see is the game cleaned up where the skilled players can play there game and not get beaten up. Jimmy ralph and Jon mcmurray are the best in this league and it would be nice for both of them to showcase there talents with out being beat up in the process.
Back to the reffing , i agree it was bad both ways. just wish they would clean up the rough stuff.

the funny thing is is that cardston's just as rough as raymond is. el tigre made the point already in stating that it looks way worse because of the size. but there's sketchy play, all over the floor, on ALL TEAMS. take the jv boys game for example. sure raymond played rough, but number seven on cardston was just as wild as "C.Ralp". there's plenty of pushing, shoving, and elbowing that BOTH teams initiate, not only the big bad comets. in the girls, haha. this really made me laugh, raymond's "rugby" squad was beating up on the poor innocent cougars! when you fail to mention, or probably even realize, that one of raymonds best rugby players PLAYS AT CARDSTON. and she kneed raymonds n. tollestrup right at center court, with no effect. so pulling that card doesn't really work either. and the comment about "taking out" cardston's players was the best. do you honestly think he meant injure or run him down? no! of course he didn't. taking the ball to them, and making them initate calls, is used by every basketball team! it's just smart play! honestly, that analysis was fairly sketch. all teams were suspect of rough play, that's what happens in huge rivalrys like this.