The 2022-2023 high school basketball season is reaching its final stages and the St. Mary Marauders are hopeful a strong showing at regionals will secure a spot at HOOPLA, which is being hosted in Prince Albert next weekend.
GIRLS
The St. Mary Marauders girls enter the regional tournament in Lloydminister as the number three seed.
Head coach Dwayne Gareau says the Marauder girls are feeling confident, but aren’t looking past any opponent.
“There’s a certain level of confidence that you need to be successful all at the same time. It’s a unique thing. A tournament where you have to worry about each game that’s in front of you, but you have to start game planning for multiple teams within a weekend. So, we’re confident. At the same time, we’re trying to take each game one game at a time, as cliche that may sound.”
The Marauders will begin play against the sixth seeded North Battleford Comp.
St. Mary has been depleted at times this year due to many players on the roster being multi-sport athletes.
Gareau says the depth of Marauders was key to their success during the regular season and will be crucial to their weekend at regionals.
“It’s very unique this year where we actually have 12 girls, (and) eight of them are club volleyball players, so we have a lot of multi-sport athletes within the same season. The depth has been extremely important this year because we’ve gone to a tournament and played games without our full roster. We’ve were able to carve out a three seed all the while not having a full 1 to 12 roster for a ton of our games this year, so, the depth has paid off to where we still were able to earn a three seed and give ourselves a good opportunity and hopefully be successful this weekend.”
Gareau adds the Marauders are not feeling any additional pressure heading into regionals with another spot up for grabs with Prince Albert hosting Hoopla.
“The one unique thing this year about our regional competition because it (Hoopla) is being hosted in P.A. there are going to be three representatives this year from our region. Last year there was only two. So, if you are able to win your quarterfinal game, you then have two opportunities to win a game to Hoopla. It gives you some anxiousness, but at the same time you’re not worrying too much about it being in PA. You’re just trying to get through that given game in that scenario.”
BOYS
In the boys regional tournament in Moose Jaw, the Marauders enter as the number two seed.
Head coach David Seto says the Marauders are playing some of their best basketball all season heading into regionals.
“We’ve had a little bit of a lull come the middle of the season. We played really well at the beginning. A little bit of a lull in the middle. But ever since the February break, we’ve kind of peaked again. I told the team that the last few weeks is probably the best scrimmages that I’ve seen them play. So, I think we’re heading in feeling good. Time will tell. I think we’re peaking again at the right time.”
The Marauders will open the tournament against seventh seeded Weyburn, who defeated 10 seed Balgonie 75-53 to play in the championship bracket.
Seto says the weekend will be a challenge for the Marauders with different opponents and a compacted schedule.
“There’s lots of game planning going on. We play a lot of regular season tournaments, so, we’ve had a chance to see all the different teams or play them. Once the first round gets settled you know that the game planning and the level of focus will be important. There’s not a lot of practice, obviously, during that time, but there’s going to be a lot of meetings in hotel rooms and game planning going that way. The other thing is obviously big at the time is rest. It’s been a long season, so going in healthy and getting in rest, not just during the nights, but obviously in between games, because on Saturday, there’s obviously a chance you’ll play multiple games.”
Hoopa will take place in Prince Albert Mar. 25.
sports@paherald.sk.ca
