In the opening round, held in Fort McMurray: …………………………………………………… The 9th-seeded Taber W.R. Myers Rebels clipped the 8th-seeded Lloydminster Holy Rosary Raiders 87-72. The Raiders (coach Henry Bui, assistant Luke Kuypers) included Ben Grassi, Carter Hummelle, J.R. Howdle, Ezra Nedelko, Mayowa Akinloye, Kieran Hoff, Jace Zidar, Liam Columbine, Moyo Akinloye, Ezra Lwanga, Dann Rafael Arreglo, Dominic Campeau and Nevan Rohatyn. …………………………………………………… The 5th-seeded Sherwood Park Strathcona Christian Academy Eagles torched the 12th-seeded Grande Prairie St. Joseph Celtics 78-48. The Celtics (coach Lucas Gorgichuk, manager Jonas Craig) included Cohen Uribe, Kingston Stover, Mason Harley, Trentan Peipgrass, Nicolas Sevigny, Reese Gallup, Tapiwa Jakota, Charlie Dalziel, Chase Driscoll, Ellis Renfree, Thane Deditch, Wyatt Klasson, Nathan Buckley and Cris Fallarco. …………………………………………………… The 7th-seeded Wetaskiwin Sabres dispatched the 10th-seeded Devon John Maland Wildcats 92-76. The Wildcats (coach Don Lewis, coach Brooklyn Porter) included Lincoln Van Dolder, Kade Pollock, Jesse Porter, Cody Porter, Griffyn McCullough, Nolan Grenier, Devins Knisley, Kieran Lewis, Liam Pahal, Liam Mercier, Nolan Franks and Moses Gunda. …………………………………………………… The 6th-seeded host Fort McMurray Holy Trinity Catholic Northern Knights dusted the 11th-seeded Calgary FFCA-North Phoenix 103-53. The Phoenix (coach Karnesh Minhas, assistant Cole McGregor) included Krrish Taneja, Armann Panech, Aryan Panech, Sukhman Minhas, Rayan Nasir, Paulo Orana, Armaan Uppal, Parmveer Gill, Gohar Kahn, Ekamdeep Brar, Eshaan Banwait, Udhay Virk, Karmen Gill and Jashan Atwal.
In the quarterfinals, the top-seeded Brooks Buffalos stomped the 9th-seeded Taber W.R. Myers Rebels 90-68. The Rebels (coach Dale Nielsen, assistant Ben Nielsen, assistant Ty Lepard, assistant Marty Johnson) included Tanner Bullock, Elias Cooper, Nixon Cooper, Dane Den Hollander, James Horsman, Carson Hughes, Dane Jensen, Brady Jensen, Benson Leishman, Gavin LePard, Jess Nielsen, Keatyn Standing and Karsyn Davis.
The 5th-seeded Sherwood Park Strathcona Christian Academy Eagles edged the 4th-seeded Medicine Hat Monsignor McCoy Colts 79-77. The Colts (coach Brant Melle, assistant Wyatt Sehn) included Carlin Messmer, Thomas Kowalchuk, Shawn Gripp, Cruz Pancotto, Kevin Andrea, Jaykeb Bourette, Ephraim Huber, Alejandro Perez, Owen Bruins, Tyler Reynolds and Liam Cunningham.
The 2nd-seeded Strathmore Spartans defeated the 7th-seeded Wetaskiwin Sabres 86-77. The Sabres (coach Rob Cross, assistant Dexter Quinton, assistant Layton Smith, assistant Nicholas Ruff) included Feisal Fares, Noah Morrell, Cash Humbke Baker, Jordan Taylor, Ben Wood, Sam Cross, Nathan Bruno-Carter, Macen Quinton, Ethan Parsons, Yong Terrero, Ethan Dick and Jacob Lemky.
In the last quarterfinal, the 6th-seeded Fort McMurray Holy Trinity Catholic Northern Knights mauled the 3rd-seeded Leduc Composite Tigers 103-78. The Tigers (coach Delton Kruk, assistant Derek DeKlerk, assistant Gina Payne) included Ethan Gatzke, Kai Boettcher, Lyon Debbin, Theo Debbink, Koen DeKlerk, Ty Payne, Oriyomi Rowe-Ojelade, Christian Lowe, Emerson Matter, Liiban Jaal’ataa, Thomas Harding and Ethan Goddyn.
In the semis, the top-seeded Brooks Buffalos clipped the 5th-seeded Sherwood Park Strathcona Christian Academy Eagles 79-62.
In the other semi, the 6th-seeded Fort McMurray Holy Trinity Catholic Northern Knights whipped the 2nd-seeded Strathmore Spartans 99-65.
In the bronze medal match, the 2nd-seeded Strathmore Spartans dispatched the 5th-seeded Sherwood Park Strathcona Christian Academy Eagles 70-67. The Eagles (coach Marcus Reed, manager Kaden Reed, manager Dave Wickett) included Jordan Reed, Nathan Froelich, Koen Giesbrecht, Makumi Kayumba, Praharsha Murala, Joshua Schmidt, Christian Gordon, Nathan Janzen, James Cartwright, Weston Algera, David Otitoju and Jayden Walsh.
In the final, the 6th-seeded Fort McMurray Holy Trinity Catholic Northern Knights stunned the top-seeded Brooks Buffalos 119-106 in overtime to capture their second consecutive title. Northern Knights assistant Jeremy Fresz wrote to say “We were not happy being ranked 6th going into provincials. We had won provincials the year prior and brought back three starters and four other players. One of our starters was the best player in 3A and is going to U of Calgary next year on scholarship. We had a labour strike in Fort McMurray by our educational assistants and janitorial staff, which resulted in none of the local schools being able to play any city games for almost two months. It also affected our ability to practice. As a result, we had only played a dozen or so games leading into zones. We won our zone handily and it didn’t affect our rankings as all. We should have been ranked 2nd at worst going into Provincials, but it didn’t work out that way. As a result, we had to play four games, beating the 11th, 3rd, 2nd, and 1st ranked teams in succession. The final against Brooks was unreal. Our team was down the whole game and just couldn’t get it to less than 12. With 6:30 left in the game, we were down 90-72. Our boys then just chipped away to where we had a lead just before the end of regulation. Brooks tied it and we went to overtime, where we won by 13. Over those 11:30 minutes to finish the game, we outscored Brooks 47-16. The added bonus was doing that at home in front of around 400-500 fans. The atmosphere was unreal.”
The bronze medalist Strathmore Spartans: Brady Vaughn; Dan Lehmann; Indi Mertz; Jake Sevcik; Jared Rilling; Kaden MacFarlane; Kieran Neale; Lyon Nelson; Nathan Markel; Owen Robinson; Reegan Smith; Rylie Bassen; Ronen Plante; Miles Johansen; Jacob Screpnek; coach Justin Silva; assistant Tim Smith; assistant Dion Galandy
The silver medalist Brooks Buffalos: Athian Madut; Manyuon Dishol; Alung Ruot; Thiec Ruot; Frank Gray; Martin Lual; Foday Konneh; Ismail Abdillchi; Amber Orillo; Johnathon Gilborn; Akoi Akoi; coach Katelyn McColl; assistant Darsen Dueck; manager Karen Gilborn
The champion Fort McMurray Holy Trinity Catholic Northern Knights: Daniel Chijoki; Curren Gregoire-Jenkins; Tiago Lance; Kobe Lance; James Fresz; Ethan Matutu; Zedrick Erl Flores; Julien Gamarcha; Ben Fitzgerald; Hillary Ssengoba; Miko Lopez; Elijah Sapad; Cruz Botel; Rohith Samsonroy; Owen Martinovic; coach Grace Lokole; assistant Stephen Connolly; assistant Tatenda Matutu; assistant Jeremy Fresz; manager Cruz Botel
Thanks to: Holy Trinity assistant Jeremy Fresz for filling in missing information and the delightful description of the final.