In the opening round: …………………………………………………… The Fillmore Falcons stomped the Langham Walter W. Brown Vikings 86-23. …………………………………………………… The Luseland Arthur Geelan Lords whipped the Canwood Cougars 66-48. …………………………………………………… The Lake Lenore Lancers stomped the St. Walburg Saints 69-45 as Lisa Bauml scored 22. Vanessa Nasby led the Saints with 10. Jenna Nicodemus added 9. Lake Lenore used their press to build a 36-22 lead by the half. The Saints had a few surges in the second half but couldn’t close the gap. …………………………………………………… The Kenaston Kodiaks crushed Paradise Hill 92-31 as Amy Chomyshen scored 26. Jennifer Helboe paced Paradise Hill with 10. Kenaston used the press early to jump out to 31-7 lead at the end of the first quarter. At the half the lead stretched out to 59-15. In the second half the Kodiaks slowed the pace of the game. …………………………………………………… The Frontier Raiders whipped the Lloydminster Hillmond Central Cowboys 98-40 as Hailey Coakley scored 38. Lindsay led Hillmond with 14. Frontier led 29-9, 47-17 and 83-31 at the quarters. Frontier were up 8-0 before Hillmond got on the board. Frontier forced turnovers at all times and used the rebounders to a quick outlet. This led to the two guards combining for 50 pts on the fast break. The second quarter saw Hillmond try to work the ball more inside. The second half proved to be much slower. Frontier used all eleven players on the bench, rotating continually. A dominant performance by Frontier – shot well from the outside and rebounded well. …………………………………………………… The Southey Eagles nipped the Turtleford Thunderchild Titans 65-64 as Liz Thompson-Gale scored 16. Starr led Thunderchild with 31. Both squads were cold at the start. Thunder took a lead of 14-3 but Southey slowly whittled that away to 16-14 at the quarter. Both teams worked at drawing fouls in the second quarter. Both teams struggled to control rebounds. It was a mad scramble every time the ball was put up. The 2nd half was equally as intense. Both teams had players in foul trouble. Both teams again put up mega shoots but could not make them fall. Thunder stretched the lead to 9 at the end of third quarter. Both teams ended up laying off the press a bit to try and ease the foul trouble. The 4th quarter started much the same – Thunder stretched the lead to 10 but Southey would not quit. They battled back to within four points with 1:28 left in the game. A series of fouls by the Thunder gave Southey the chance to shoot foul shots. They led by one with 7.8 seconds in the game. Thunder could not get a decent shot off in the dying seconds. Thunderchild led 16-14, 35-22 and 49-40 at the quarters. …………………………………………………… The Central Butte Bulldogs annihilated the Radville Rebels 98-18 as Natasha Miller scored 25, Deandra May 20 and Natasha Fowler 14. The Bulldogs led 33-2, 61-9 and 54-15 at the quarters. …………………………………………………… The Middle Lake Three Lakes Avengers defeated the Stobart Rebels 59-44 as Jill Heidecker scored 25, Taylor Krentz 19 and Hannah Laforme 7. Megan Bourdon paced the Rebels with 17. Lacy Pilon added 11 and Jessica Pilon 7. After a tight first quarter, the Rebels led 17-14 on the strength of good shooting and Avenger fouls. The Avengers came back and took a 30-27 lead into the half. The Avengers pushed their lead to 45-34 after three. The Rebels worked hard but the Avengers continued the hot shooting from the perimeter to pull out the win.
In the quarterfinals, the Fillmore Falcons clipped the Luseland Arthur Geelan Lords 72-34.
The Kenaston Kodiaks edged the Lake Lenore Lancers 49-43. Lake Lenore got up early and led 11-7 after 1. Lots of defensive pressure on both ends kept the lead at 26-20 at the half. The Lancers had some foul trouble in the first half which would cause problems later in the game. The Lancers held a lead of 9 at the end of the 3rd. The foul trouble began to take its toll in the fourth as the Kodiaks rallied back to close the gap to 4 with two minutes remaining. The final two minutes was fast-paced and saw the Kodiaks continue to pound the ball inside and eventually pull out the win.
The Frontier Raiders defeated the Southey Screaming Eagles 63-50 as Heggestad scored 17. Calhoon led Southey with 17. Frontier started strongly building up an 8-0 score before Southey got on the board. The Eagles played great “D” but Frontier just took shots from outside and sunk them. Southey found the range and after that it was a trade until the end of the first quarter, after which Frontier led 16-8. In the second quarter, Southey answered back. A pair of timely buckets by Calhoon gave the Eagles momentum. This seemed to set Frontier back. At one point, the game was tied at 22. The Raiders resorted to putting up 3-point shots with no success. At that time, the frustrated Raider team put on the press. This resulted in a number of turn overs and conversions to create a 12-point lead. Although the Eagles used two complete lines and Frontier only one, the speed of the hometown team seemed to overwhelm the Eagles at times. Frontier was not running the fast break as much as they usually do – but they took every advantage to clean the back court quickly and move into the offensive zone. The Raiders led 36-24 at the half. They had control of the boards at both ends to gain the edge in the second frame but Southey was shooting bonus by the end of the 3rd quarter, after which the Raiders led 52-38. The fourth quarter saw Southey outscore the hometown Raiders. But Frontier spent much of it burning precious time off the clock. In one possession, they used 2 full minutes before Southey got the ball. “I was happy with the way we played on the weekend and I think that the physical battle with Southey has prepared us well for Hoopla,” stated coach Darryl Anderson. “We are so close to putting these good teams away early, but just let them hang around. Southey’s post was a very strong player but we went to a box and one defense and stopped her for most of the second half.”
In the last quarterfinal, the Central Butte Bulldogs earned their first Hoopla berth in 24 years by edging the Middle Lake Three Lakes Avengers 51-48 as Deandra May scored 20. Jill Heidecker led the Avengers with 28. Middle Lake led 13-11 after one quarter and 22-20 at the half. The Bulldogs led 41-35 after three quarters.
In the semis, the Fillmore Falcons clipped the Kenaston Kodiaks 50-27 as Nicole Paslawski scored 13. Dielle Bleakley led the Kodiaks with 6.
In the other
semi, the Central Butte Bulldogs, making their first appearance in the playoff
since 1985, defeated the Frontier Raiders 61-51 as Karleen May scored 20 and
Deandra May 18. Hailey Coakley paced the Raiders with 19. The first three
minutes were played at a furious pace with both teams working the fast break. Frontier
had a four-point lead after the first quarter, but in the second quarter Central
Butte’s depth and rebounding began to take their toll.
After taking a one-point lead into the half at 27-26, the Bulldogs opened the
second half on an 8-0 run thanks to a full-court press that created numerous
Raiders turnovers. Down 47-35 after three quarters, the Raiders mounted a comeback
in the fourth to close the gap to 10 with two minutes left, but their inability
to rebound the basketball allowed the Bulldogs easy second chance points.
Raiders’ grade 11 point guard Janelle Bennett noted their five-person rotation
zapped their energy by the end. “They had more legs than us and we just ran out
of gas.”
In the bronze
medal match, the Frontier Raiders defeated the Kenaston Kodiaks 51-36 as Kailyn
Hoggestad scored 18. Brittney Prpich led Kenaston with 12. The opening half was
a tight defensive struggle, with Frontier falling behind 6-5 after the opening
quarter before building a 20-12 lead at the half. Both teams struggled to hit
shots from the field and the line. Kenaston closed their deficit to five points
by pulling to within 30-25 after three quarters and then took a brief 23-22 lead
midway through the quarter before an 8-0 run by the Raiders to retake the lead.
The final quarter was all Frontier as they held a 22-11 edge in points while
earning the 52-36 win. The Raiders were able to take advantage of a depleted Kenaston
squad with fast-break baskets from Hailey Coakley and Lindsay Anderson.
Heggestad said “it felt really good, our fans motivated us a lot. We played our
hearts out to get a medal, we did what we could, and we accomplished it.” Grade
12 post Lindsay Anderson overcame a rough start and contributed nine points
while controlling the defensive glass. Guard Janelle Bennet added 10 points including
a trio of crucial three-pointers. Coakley finished with eight points including
three second half fast-break baskets. “We have kind of had a monkey on our back
the last three years,” said coach Darryl Anderson. “We got in a pretty tough
battle up north in regionals a couple of years ago and it has just kind of
been following us around. We have been playing teams that we fell we are far
superior to and losing. I told the girls today that it is time to get that monkey
off our back and play like we can. We came out and shot very poorly today but
we still played good defense and managed to come on in the end and win the game
quite easily.”
In the final, the Fillmore Falcons
captured their eighth provincial title in nine years by whipping the Central Butte
Bulldogs 57-38 as Amanda Ogden scored 15. Deandra May had 8 for Central Butte,
making its first Hoopla appearance since 1985 (when her mother played in the
tournament). Central Butte led 17-13 after one quarter but did not allow
another point for the next 16 minutes. Fillmore led 28-17 at the half and 45-24
after three quarters. Fillmore’s start was not exceptional. The Falcons trailed
17-13 after the first quarter, but did not surrender another point until midway
through the third frame. Fillmore led 28-17 at halftime and 44-24 after three
quarters. “You can’t beat this,” Falcons coach Tracy Ogden told the Regina
Leader-Post. Raquel Kosior captured her fourth title, having also been part of
a provincial champion in 2005 (as a Grade 8 student), 2006 and 2008. She also
won a silver medal in 2007, when the Eatonia Spartans defeated Fillmore in the
final. “All of them are special, but this one especially because it’s my last
year,” Kosior said. “It’s a great way to finish. There are so many emotions.
I’m so happy and I want to give everyone a hug because they were behind us all
the way. The fans are great and we want to give them all a special thank you.”
The bronze medalist Frontier Raiders: Hailey Coakley; Kaitlyn Hoggestad; Lindsay Anderson; Janelle Bennet; coach Darryl Anderson
The silver medalist Central Butte Bulldogs: Karleen May; Deandra May; Natasha Miller; Natasha Fowler; Allison Ewen; coach Troy Wist
The gold medalist Fillmore Falcons: Nicole Paslawski; Amanda Ogden; coach Tracy Ogden