WATERLOO REGION (March 21, 2016) – On Monday, District 8 released its individual basketball award winners and without a surprise, grade 12 Zubair Seyed was given the MVP nod for the second year in a row.

Seyed lead the Saints to their first senior D8 basketball title since the 2000-2001 season scoring 20 points in the final over the St. Mary’s Eagles. The St. Benedict’s point guard was their leading scorer for the season including five games where he scored 20 points or more.

Saints’ sharp shooting 3-point specialist Justin Malnerich joined Seyed on the first team ballot.

Adham Eleeda from St. Mary’s was also named as a first team all-star as he lead the Eagles to a 7-4 regular season record and a berth in the D8 finals. Eleeda cranked up his performance in the second half of the season leading the Eagles in scoring in every game after January 11th, averaging more than 21 points per game including a 34 point performance over Resurrection in their semi-final.

Resurrection’s Muyang Iluya was given the first team nomination for a consistent scoring performance all season, while Monsignor Doyle’s Ryan Stafford rounded out the first team, scoring 20 or more points five time during the Mustang’s D8 campaign.

St. Benedict’s grade 12 front court of Evan Rodenburg and Devante Douse were nominated as second team all-stars as they played pivotal roles in securing the D8 title, including 22 points from Douse in the final.

St. David’s big man Mitch Lavigne and guard Brent Lasovich were named to the second team as they lead the Celtics to a 6-5 regular season record.

Resurrection’s Korbil Gany was a consistent scorer for the phoenix including an early season 30 point performance which earned him second team honours.

The junior first team awards were dominated by St. Mary’s as the Eagles cruised through District 8 undefeated in impressive fashion. The Eagles defeated their opponents by an average of almost 30 points per game on a balanced scoring approach from Ethan Passley, Michael Carali and Jody Brown  who were all given first team credit.

One of the best stories to come out of the District 8 basketball season was grade 9 scoring sensation Jiggie Villaver who averaged 23.7 points per game including 32 and 47 point games.

Grade 10 forward Jaxson Matcheski of Resurrection rounds out the junior first team as he lead the Phoenix in scoring in 10 of their 12 D8 games.

St. Mary’s grade 9 point guard Paolo Malacad and grade 10 forward Gew Chuol were named to the junior second team. Ben Mascarenhas and Sebastian Llorin represent the Saints on the second team while Wani Zubari was named from Resurrection.

2015-16 District 8 Senior Boys Basketball MVP: Zubair Seyed (St. Benedict CSS)

Senior First Team All-Stars:

Adham	Eleeda	Forward	12	St.Mary’s HS
Muyang	Iluya	Shooting Guard	12	Resurrection CSS
Justin	Malnerich	Shooting Guard	12	St. Benedict CSS
Zubair	Seyed	Guard	12	St. Benedict CSS
Ryan	Stafford	Small forward	12	Monsignor Doyle CSS

Senior Second Team All-Stars:

Devante	Douse	Forward	12	St. Benedict CSS
Korbil	Gany	Shooting Guard	12	Resurrection CSS
Brent	Lasovich	Guard	11	St. David CSS
Mitch	Lavigne	Centre	12	St. David CSS
Evan	Rodenburg	Centre	12	St. Benedict CSS

Junior First Team All-Stars:

Jody	Brown	Shooting Guard	10	St.Mary’s HS
Michael	Carali	Shooting Guard	10	St.Mary’s HS
Jaxson	Matcheski	Forward	10	Resurrection CSS
Ethan	Passley	Point Guard	10	St.Mary’s HS
Jiggie	Villaver	Guard	9	Monsignor Doyle CSS

Junior Second Team All-Stars:

Gew	Chuol	Forward	10	St.Mary’s HS
Sebastian	Llorin	Point Guard	10	St. Benedict CSS
Paolo	Malacad	Point Guard	9	St.Mary’s HS
Ben	Mascarenhas	Shooting Guard	9	St. Benedict CSS
Wani	Zuberi	Shooting Guard	10	Resurrection CSS