In the opening round: …………………………………………………… The Birch Hills Marauders mauled the Unity Warriors 125-40. The Marauders led 63-18 at the half. The Warriors had only six players. …………………………………………………… The Esterhazy Warriors defeated the Onion Lake Eagleview Eagles 79-64. Eagleview led 33-28 at the half as Eagle Iron scored 10 quick points, forcing Esterhazy into a box-and-one defence. Esterhazy trailed by 15 but rallied to dominate the second half. Lawrence Off paced Esterhazy with 35. Eagle Iron led the Eagles with 22. Gerry Chell added 21. …………………………………………………… The Moosomin McNaughton Marquis clocked the Biggar Blazers 79-49 after leading 44-26 at the half. Ryan Bartley paced the Marquis with 30. Mike DeRoo added 11. Michael Muller and Josh Meszaros each scored 16 to lead the Blazers. …………………………………………………… The Shaunavon Shadows whipped the Nipawin L.P. Miller Bears 84-57 after leading 37-29 at the half. Tyler Sonen paced the Shadows with 21. Rocky Winter added 14. Brydon Ozman led the Bears with 22. Blake Tebbatt added 16. …………………………………………………… The Moose Jaw Riverview Royals dusted the Langham Walter W. Brown Vikings 110-39. …………………………………………………… The Regina Scott Blues nipped the Humboldt Mohawks 77-76. The Hawks led by one at the half. …………………………………………………… The Regina Lumsden Devils stomped the Outlook Blues 105-31 after leading 58-17 at the half. Colby Boyes paced the Devils with 23. Andrew Bowey led the Blues with 7. …………………………………………………… The Clavet Cougars clipped the Melfort Comets 64-54. The Cougars broke to a seven-point lead as posts Dylan Dickson and Joel Haight dominated. They extended their lead to 12 in the final quarter before Michael Dallman hit a pair of treys to cut the margin to six but Clavet pulled away down the stretch. “We had trouble making shots all night, but we were particularly bad on the first quarter and trailed 12-4 after the first 10 minutes,” Comets’ coach Linsey Thornton said. Brennan Weisberg led the Comets with 23 points, while Derek Busby added nine and Michael Dallman added eight.
In the quarterfinals, the Birch Hills Marauders dumped the Esterhazy Warriors 87-61 after leading 55-22 at the half.
The Moosomin McNaughton Marquis defeated the Shaunavon Shadows 70-59 after leading 42-26 at the half. Mike DeRoo led the Marquis with 19. Ryan Bartley added 13. Tyler Sonen paced the Shadows with 32. Matthew Benesh added 13.
The Moose Jaw Riverview Royals dusted the Regina Scott Blues 87-63. The Blues included Nathan Sangwais, Jordan Laframbois, Jordan Allary.
In the last quarterfinal, the Regina Lumsden Devils dumped the Clavet Cougars 85-64 after leading 25-13, 36-27 and 66-44 at the quarters. Brennan Andreas paced the Devils with 21. Tom Blahun led the Cougars with 18.
In the semis, the top-seeded Birch Hills Marauders crushed the Moosomin McNaughton Marquis 88-54 as Gianni Iradukunda scored 24 and Brody Kilgour 23. Mike DeRoo led the Marquis with 16. Ryan Bartley added 13.
In the other semi, the Moose Jaw Riverview Royals whipped the Lumsden Devils 73-56 as Brody Wasmaan scored 22 and Dillon Pinfold 16. Colby Boyes led the Devils with 21. Matt Forbes added 13. The Royals said they were playing for teammate Steve Beitel, who was injured Feb. 23 when he was hit by a car while walking. “We’ve been playing for him ever since the accident,” Royals point guard Ryan Cox told the Regina Leader-Post. “He’s always on our minds and we’re hoping he’ll get better every day.” Beitel, who is in Grade 12, suffered a fractured skull and some broken bones in the accident. He has been recovering at home since being released from hospital. “The fact that he’s alive and coming to the game is a miraculous thing,” Royals coach Dwight Cameron said, adding that the Royals rallied around Beitel, and each other, following the accident. “We were dealing with internal issues. When the accident happened with Steve, we realized we should put the personal issues aside and work as a team.”
In the bronze medal match, the Regina Lumsden Devils stomped the Moosomin McNaughton Marquis 77-53 as Colby Boyes scored 18 and Matt Forbes 14. Ryan Bartley led the Marquis with 12. Parker Gourlay added 9.
In the final, the Moose Jaw Riverview/Cornerstone Royals clocked the Birch Hills Marauders 76-60 as Brody Wasmann scored 27 and Devin Crabbe 11. Gianni Irandukunda led the Marauders with 27. Brad Boutin added 11. The Royals won the school’s first Hoopla gold medal since 1963. “It’s the best scenario those guys could have had,” Royals coach Dwight Cameron told the Moose Jaw Times-Herald. “Our Grade 12s were pretty much flawless, they maintained their composure and kept playing hard when Birch Hills took a couple runs at us. In the end it just worked out perfectly.” The Royal posts Dillon Pinfold and Joseph Sherling dominated the paint, guards Ryan Cox and Jamie Copeland controlled the ball and Brody Wasmann kept bombing. “I’m very proud of these guys and what they were able to accomplish,” Cameron said. “This year was definitely a year where we had set the goal of getting to the provincial final and winning gold. That was set from day one, and the team was able to have the focus to succeed. … When we played them before, all his (Gianni Irankunda’s) points were from inside the paint, but he started shooting from the outside and getting his team back into it. He helped make it interesting for a while, but the guys kept working hard and playing hard and came out as champions. … I’m just so happy and excited for the team. It’s something these guys have earned. . . it was great to be a part of history, we really wanted to get a banner up there and it’s fantastic that we were able to do it.” Birch Hills coach Kim Kuperis said “it is always tough to take because you have to lose to get silver, but it was alright and the guys played well. We had beaten them about a month ago, from that game on they were working hard to figure out how to beat us and they figured it out so credit to them,” she said. “I think Gianni played amazing in both games, he was our top scorer in both games. He just played his heart out in that last game. That is what we have been trying to do with our program is make us competitive, so it is nice to have been able to have gone to Hoopla two years in a row. Second is good, it always hurts to begin with but in the long run you look back at it and we were second and that’s an accomplishment for a small school like us.”
The bronze medalist Regina Lumsden Devils: Colby Boyes; Brennan Andreas; Matt Forbes; Joel Mukendi; Brett Gyug; Nic Windrum; Kody Chriest; Kyle Brandt; Daniel Punga; Tanner Aulie; Shylo Neumann; Cian Bannerman; Benny Auzenne; Preston Scott; Cole Hoffort; Brian Skidmore; coach Falon Holinaty; assistant Jonathon Forbes; assistant Drew Schenk
The silver medalist Birch Hills Marauders: Gianni Irandukunda; Brody Kilgour; Brad Boutin; coach Kim Kuperis
The gold medalist Moose Jaw Riverview/Cornerstone Royals: Brody Wasmann; Dillon Pinfold; Devin Crabbe; Ryan Cox; Steve Beitel; Joseph Sherling; Jamie Copeland; coach Dwight Cameron