Central Division Finals Preview: St. John's vs Kitchener-Waterloo
After an unforgettable start to the playoffs, the last two teams in the Central Division will now showdown for a place in the final.
The KW Titans will still be on a high having reached their best post-season position in history. They showed great resolve as they defeated the double defending NBLC champions London Lightning in a memorable five games.
Meanwhile, the St. John’s Edge had more of a fight against the Sudbury Five in the first round, but rampant offence in games four and five ultimately saw them through.
KW’s newfound confidence and St. John’s recovering after a heated division semi-final could make for an interesting and unpredictable series between the two – with results between the teams this season serving as precedent. Surprisingly, the Titans have scored more and totalled more rebounds on the season than the Edge, and they lead the head-to-head record by two games to one.
Looking at the numbers also proves interesting. Both teams have really strong starting fives, who regularly put up high-scoring performances. In addition, each team has great depth with plenty of reliable and skilful rotation players they can call on.
Titans star Akeem Ellis has been leading the team on both offensive and defensive ends, while the same can be said for Glen Davis during his time with the Edge.
KW have seen great all-around work from Desmond Lee throughout the season, where he has played in every game so far. Flenard Whitfield has been a key offensive player for the team, who have also seen promising numbers on both ends from Justin Strings.
Junior Cadougan has stepped up his game since joining the Edge this season – efforts that saw him named Most Improved Player – while imports Maurice Jones and Murphy Burnatowski have been putting up great numbers on offence, while defence has been taken care of by Olu Ashaolu.
At first glances the conclusion to this series may seem like an inevitable, but after seeing how evenly matched the teams seem to be, and after the Titans’ surprise semi-final victory, all bets could be off when the Central Division throne is contested. The series begins in St. John’s on April 20th.
Picture: Stjohnsedge.ca
