The Prince Albert Collegiate Institute senior boys’ basketball team is hoping that home court advantage will prove to be the perfect start towards making their year’s Hoopla tournament.
The program will be hosting a 3A boys’ conference tournament Saturday as they’ll take on Se Se Wa Hum at 10 a.m. in a semifinal game that will determine who will advance to next week’s regional tournament.
“We’re really excited about having the chance to host the conference games,” PACI coach Kylie Emmerson said.
“We’ve really focused on playing together as a team both on and off the court. That’s going to be the key for us this weekend as we can’t succeed if we are relying on one player to carry us.”
The winner of that first semifinal game will play either Sandy Bay or Tisdale, who square off at 11:45 a.m., in the final at 3:30 p.m.
That will help to determine where each side will be ranked for next weekend’s regionals, which will be held at a yet to be determined location once the final rankings are released by the SHSAA.
“We’ve been fortunate enough to play all three teams this season,” Emmerson said.
“We all have our different strengths, but all of the games have been close when we’ve played each other, so we should see some great basketball here this weekend.”
According to Emmerson, this year’s team has a balanced approach with a solid of mix youth and experience.
“We have a couple of seniors and the rest of the team is made up of players in Grades 9, 10 and 11,” Emmerson said.
“We’ve really spent a lot of time on our mental toughness and making sure that the guys stayed composed out there. That’s something that they can also use for day-to-day life when they are off of the court.”
The PACI senior girls’ are also in action this weekend at 3A girls’ conference tournament in Tisdale.
They took on Melville in a semifinal game on Friday night with the winner facing either Tisdale or Yorkton Sacred Heart in Saturday’s final.
The Carlton Crusaders and St. Mary Marauders basketball programs are both off this weekend before taking part in 5A rural regional tournaments that begin next Friday.
The Crusaders senior girls’ will host a six-team tournament, while both senior boys’ squads will travel to Yorkton.
The top two teams will advance to Hoopla, which takes place in Saskatoon from March 21-23.
