Dave Leaderhouse
Special to the Herald
For three Prince Albert high school basketball teams it was mission accomplished on the weekend as the Carlton Crusader senior boy’s and girl’s teams, along with the St. Mary Marauder senior boy’s, will all be heading to HOOPLA following successful appearances at Saskatchewan High School Athletics Association regional playdowns.
“The guys showed up; played like we needed to,” says Carlton senior boy’s head coach Randy Emmerson. “Carlton and St. Mary as rural seeds No. 1 and 2, both will continue to perform well and showcase Prince Albert basketball.”
The Crusaders entered the boy’s regionals in Swift Current as the No. 1 seed following a strong season that saw them win 25 of 32 tournament and exhibition games. They continued with their strong play winning three more beginning with a 95-76 decision over Estevan and following that up with 89-70 and 112-92 victories over Swift Current and St. Mary, respectively.
“I wouldn’t call it easy at all,” replied Emmerson when asked if the margins of victory indicated his club dominated play on the weekend. “Swift Current played us tough and the St. Mary game was real close until the last five minutes.”
Despite the loss to Carlton, the Marauders accomplished what they had set out to do and that was to get into next weekend’s provincial tournament in Moose Jaw.
“Our expectation was to make it to HOOPLA and we accomplished that,” said St. Mary head coach David Seto. “Against Carlton it was tight going into the fourth quarter. They are a great team and their key players made some key baskets.”
“It was a great showcase for P.A. basketball,” added Seto. “We are going in the right direction.”
After receiving a first-round bye at regionals, St. Mary then dispatched Yorkton Regional by a 98-75 margin and followed that up with a convincing 91-71 verdict over North Battleford Comprehensive High School. That set the stage for the showdown with Carlton, a team that has dominated them this year including victories in a pair of gold-medal games at recent tournaments in Moose Jaw and North Battleford.
The third rural boy’s berth for HOOPLA was claimed by North Battleford when they edged Swift Current 82-77 in the bronze-medal game at regionals.
At the girl’s regionals in Warman, Carlton moves on to HOOPLA despite falling 54-42 to the No. 1 seeded Swift Current in the final game. The Crusaders secured their spot in provincials with earlier wins over Yorkton Regional (67-44) and North Battleford Comprehensive (63-49). Estevan also advances following a 54-44 win over North Battleford in the bronze-medal match.
St. Mary senior girls were also at regionals, but their quest for a trip to HOOPLA ended when they were outscored 74-25 by Swift Current in the second round. St. Mary opened the event with a 54-49 triumph over Warman.
In addition to the 5A schools holding regionals there were a number of smaller schools from the surrounding area that will be making the trip to HOOPLA for their respective championships.
In 4A girl’s action, Meadow Lake dominated Nipawin 71-30 to set up a semi-final tilt with Moose Jaw Central; St. Brieux outlasted Valley Christian Academy 70-52 to advance to a 3A girl’s semi-final against Regina Christian School; Preeceville blasted Shellbrook 55-20 to reach the final four in 2A girl’s action and will now face Langham; In the 2A boy’s draw both Preeceville and St. Brieux are moving on with the former beating Saskatoon Christian School 82-64 and the latter getting past Rocanville 85-42. Preeceville will now meet Davidson while St. Brieux goes up against Waldheim.
There were no local teams moving on in 3A and 4A boy’s divisions as La Ronge and Tisdale both lost consolation games in 4A boy’s action while Cumberland House experienced a similar fate at the 3A level.
HOOPLA gets under way on Thursday and runs through until Saturday in Moose Jaw. Both Carlton teams will be looking to improve on their two-and-out showings from a year ago while St. Mary is returning to the provincial tournament after failing to qualify a year ago.
The draws will be finalized early in the week with the Prince Albert squads being joined by the other rural qualifiers along with three teams from Regina and two more from Saskatoon. Regina Leboldus is the defending 5A girl’s champions while Holy Cross from Saskatoon topped the 5A boy’s field last year.
