In the regional qualifiers and Regina city playoffs: …………………………………………………… In the quarterfinals, the Sheldon-Williams Spartans clubbed the Luther Lions 67-46 as David Tallman scored 32. Andrew Doan led the Lions with 20. The Lions (coached by Drew Hunter) also included Rod Hunter, Trevor Hewson, Robert Davis. …………………………………………………… The Balfour Redmen outlasted the Archbishop M.C. O’Neill Titans 107-102 in overtime as Levi Vann scored 37. Taylor Krislock led the Titans with 30. The Titans (coached by Jason Neumann) also included Erik Weinberger, Graham Mosiondz, Jamie Rensby. …………………………………………………… The Campbell Tartans dispatched the Michael A. Riffel Royals 83-73 as Rory Livingstone scored 19. Aaron Silzer led the Royals with 41. The Royals (coached by Mark Gottselig) also included Derek Molnar, Jon Laybolt, Kelly Lueck, Ryan Hogan, Riley Sisco. …………………………………………………… In the last quarterfinal, the Dr. Martin LeBoldus Golden Suns defeated the Winston Knoll Wolverines 64-54 as Joey Werapitiya scored 25. Sean Coburn led the Wolverines with 21. The Wolverines (coached by Steve Burrows) also included Joel Graham, Jordan McFarlane. …………………………………………………… In the semis, the Balfour Redmen spanked the Campbell Tartans 97-82 as Levi Vann scored 33. Paul Snowdy led the Tartans wit h18. The Tartans (coached by Glenn Szabo) also included Rory Livingstone, Colin Finch, Eric Jackson, Travis Kleinfelder, Keith Kurtz, Brock Findlay. …………………………………………………… In the other semi, the Sheldon-Williams Spartans rolled the Dr. Martin LeBoldus Golden Suns 84-63 as Luke Derkson scored 24. Luke Fellner led the Golden Suns with 17. The Golden Suns (coached by Dale Holmes) also included Tommy Elliott, Ben De Ciman, Braden White, Joey Werapitiya. …………………………………………………… In the final, the Sheldon-Williams Spartans edged the Balfour Redmen 81-80 as Andrew Simaluk notched a bucket with 17.2 seconds to play. Ian Creasor led the Spartans with 21. David Tallman added 19, Luke Sayer 12, Luke Derkson 11 and Simaluk 10. Levi Vann led the Redmen with 31. Nick Brown added 18 and Teale Orban 16.
In the regional qualifiers and Saskatoon city playoffs: …………………………………………………… In the quarterfinals, the 4th-seeded Bishop J. Mahoney Saints nipped the 5th-seeded St. Joseph Guardians 74-72 on a runner by Travis Farro with 1.9 seconds to play. Kyle Reid paced the Saints with 22. Farrow added 20. Mark Breker led the Guardians with 24. …………………………………………………… The top-seeded Evan Hardy Souls clocked the 8th-seeded Bedford Road Redmen 75-46 as David Cooke scored 24. Kevin Stone led the Redmen with 13. …………………………………………………… The 2nd-seeded Holy Cross Crusaders stomped the 7th-seeded Mount Royal Mustangs 82-52 as Patrick Trumpy scored 13 and Jordan Harbidge 13. Ryan Lynchuk led the Mustangs with 15. Sam Seto added 15. …………………………………………………… In the last quarterfinal, the 3rd-seeded Aden Bowman Bears whipped the 6th-seeded E.D. Feehan Trojans 79-63 as Andrew Spragud scored 20 and Nishant Batta 8. The Bears led 32-30 at the half. Brian Eigenmann led the Trojans with 20. …………………………………………………… In the semis, the Evan Hardy Souls defeated the Bishop J. Mahoney Saints 67-59 as David Cooke scored 25 and Tim Olenik 14. Kyle Reid led the Saints with 19. Travis Farrow added 16. …………………………………………………… In the other semi, the Aden Bowman Bears dispatched the Holy Cross Crusaders 85-79 as Andrew Spragud scored 26 and Tom Harrington 20. Kevin Hollman paced the Crusadres with 34. Jordan Harbidge scored 12 and Adam Wilchuk 12. …………………………………………………… In the final, the Aden Bowman Bears nipped the Evan Hardy Souls 72-70 as Andrew Sprague scored 29 and Cody Dyck 19. Collin Baerg led the Souls with 22. David Cooke added 19.
In the opening round of the small cities draw, the 2nd-seeded Prince Albert Carlton Crusaders defeated the 7th-seeded Moose Jaw A.E. Peacock Toilers 74-57 as Jim Guidinger scored 42. Gamble had 19 for Peacock. …………………………………………………… The Swift Current Colts defeated the Estevan Elecs 74-67 as Morstad scored 23. Galloway had 19 for Estevan. …………………………………………………… The Yorkton Regional Raiders defeated the North Battleford Vikings 85-57 as Cory Strandberg scored 27. Corfield had 20 for North Battleford. …………………………………………………… In the semis, the Yorkton Regional Raiders upset Weyburn Eagles 70-61 as Cory Strandberg scored 21. Laden had 17 for Weyburn. …………………………………………………… In the other semi, the Prince Albert Carlton Crusaders defeated the Swift Current Colts 81-57 as Jim Guidinger scored 22. Ludwar had 17 for Swift Current. …………………………………………………… In the final, the Prince Albert Carlton Crusaders defeated the Yorkton Regional Raiders 79-73 as Julian Yeo scored 17 and Jim Guidinger 13. Cory Strandberg had 26 for Yorkton Regional.
In the 5A quarterfinals, the 3rd-seeded Regina Balfour Redmen defeated 6th-seeded Yorkton Regional Raiders 94-68 as Levi Vann scored 28, Marc Lebo 21 and Nebo Kostic 11. Cory Strandburg led Yorkton with 19. Chad Morley added 17. Balfour led 51-31 at the half. “It was a good game,” said Balfour coach Glen Fekula. “It was a good effort and we got lots of guys in the game.” Ever-explosive on offence, Balfour scored 51 points by half-time and was never threatened. “This is not a game we wanted to play because it means we lost our city final, but it was good to get the nerves out and get used to the gym,” Balfour coach Glen Fekula told the Regina Leader-Post. ““It’s not the game you want to be playing, because it means that you lost the city final, but the big thing is that we’re in the tournament. It’s OK because we’re in the gym and maybe we can get the first-game jitters out of the way. It was a good effort and we got lots of guys in the game. … We should be feeling hungry. We’ve got a big game against Bowman that we’ll have to be ready for.” Bosnian-born Redmen guard Nebo Kostic raced back to Regina after the game to attend his Canadian citizenship ceremony. “It was pretty crazy,” Kostic said told the Regina Leader-Post of his travel itinerary. I was starting to panic (Friday) morning. I needed my (driver’s) licence and health card for identification, but I lost my wallet. There was panic all over the house. As it turned out, I had left my wallet in the car. I was kind of nervous about the ceremony but, once we got to Balfour, I was pretty relaxed. … My mom said to me that we were going to become Canadian citizens on March 21st,” he recalled. “I said, ‘I’ve got basketball that day,’ and started to panic. Then it got resolved.”
In the other quarterfinal, 4th-seeded Saskatoon Evan Hardy Souls dumped the 5th-seeded Prince Albert Carlton Crusaders 61-58 as Steve Hall scored 17, David Cooke 16 and Shaun Gullacher 15. Jim Guidinger led Carlton with 33. Julian Yeo added 10. Evan Hardy led 34-33 at the half. The Souls had to fight and claw against a Crusaders team led by Jim Guidinger, but Hardy had just enough in its arsenal to sneak a win. “We didn’t respect those guys as much as we should have,” Souls guard Tim Oleniuk, who had two steals in the last 90 seconds to preserve the win, told the Saskatoon Star-Phoenix. “In that last two minutes, knowing it could be the last game of the year, that was all the motivation we needed.”
In the semis, the 2nd-seeded Saskatoon Aden Bowman Bears defeated the 3rd-seeded Regina Balfour Redmen 87-64 as Tom Harrington scored 21 and Andrew Spagrud 17. Levi Vann led Balfour with 23. Teale Orban added 13. Aden Bowman led 50-32 at the half.
In the other semi, the 4th-seeded Saskatoon Evan Hardy nipped the top-seeded Regina city champion Sheldon-Williams Spartans 57-55 as Shaun Gullacher scored 19 and Colin Baerg 12. Shea Murphy led Sheldon-Williams with 18. Luke Derkson added 12. Sheldon-Williams led 35-32 at the half.
In the bronze medal match, Regina Sheldon-Williams Spartans nipped the Regina Balfour Redmen 83-82 as Luke Derkson scored 28 and David Tallman 20. Levi Vann paced Balfour with 36. Nebo Kostic added 20. Sheldon-Williams led 42-34 at the half. The Redmen (coached by Glen Fekula, assisted by Babcock and Thompson) also included Paul Schubach, Adam McMurtry, Curtis Read, Adam Jaleta, Henok Berhe, Drew Canham, James Walker, Teale Orban, Nick Brown, Mark Lebo, Mike Aldcorn and Charlie McCrystal.
In the final, the 2nd-seeded Saskatoon Aden Bowman Bears defeated the 4th-seeded Saskatoon Evan Hardy Souls 72-48 as Andrew Spagrud scored 39 and Rejean Chabot 14. David Cooke led Evan Hardy with 17. Shaun Gullacher added 14. Aden Bowman led 35-19 at the half. Spagrud was unstoppable, inside and outside, nearly outscoring the Souls by himself. “Our purpose this year was to win,” Spagrud told the Saskatoon Star-Phoenix. “I knew from the first tryout of the year. Everyone finally realized this is what’s supposed to happen. We peaked at the right time, exactly when we wanted to.” Added fellow senior Tom Harington: “This is the kind of thing you dream about.” Coach Paul Humbert added “we had a will to win. We try to plan the whole year so we’re playing as strong as we can in our last games. That’s exactly what happened. We love to be playing Saturday nights in prime-time games. This was prime time.” While Bowman seemed to have more energy early in the final, Hardy trailed just 17-13, thanks to inside forces David Cooke and Shaun Gullacher. The Bears held Hardy to six points in the second quarter, effectively ending the game then and there. Even when Harington went out midway through the quarter with his third foul, the Souls couldn’t capitalize. It was 35-19 at the break and Bowman was showing no sign of slowing down. Cooke scored four points early in the second half to bring the Souls within 12, but Spagrud and Rejean Chabot quickly scored six points off turnovers to end Hardy’s last gasp. The Souls looked weary, especially on defence. “Our hearts were willing, the legs weren’t,” said coach Jeff Colquhoun. “When the stamina goes, the head goes. The more second and third shots they got, the more desire and confidence they got and we maybe lost a bit. We’ve come a long way on sheer will and desire but just couldn’t do it tonight. Andrew was a monster. He showed why he’s the MVP of the province. That whole team was ready for this one. They played awesome.” Harington scored nine points in the first half, and Cody Dyck distributed the ball in fine form. Guys came off the bench, and even when not scoring, did everything Humbert asked of them. Said Harrington: “we do our jobs. We have lots of guys who can step up when it’s needed. This is what we’ve worked for all these years.” Humbert sported an ‘XL’ pin on his shirt throughout the playoffs. He said it represents what his players are about — excelling at everything they set their mind to. “They excelled,” he said. “Now the banner is going to hang in the gym forever. It’s a bond that will exist wherever they go. They earned it.” After the season, Humber retired. “I’ll remember this forever,” he said. Ironically, the final featured a Hardy grad — Humbert — coaching the Bears, and a Bowman alum — Jeff Colquhoun — guiding the Souls.
The bronze medalist Regina Sheldon Williams Spartans: Luke Derkson; David Tallman; Shea Murphy; Andrew Simaluk; Ian Creaser; Luke Sayer; Nate Gawley; Brendan Hysuik; Will Reed; Sean Forsythe; Cory Rondeau; Luke Jacoby; Shea Murphy; coach Ray Jacoby; manager Stan Torgunrud
The silver medalist Saskatoon Evan Hardy Souls: David Cooke; Shaun Gullacher; Steve Hall; Colin Baerg; Ryan Knutson; Tim Oleniuk; Keegan Thomas; Tyson Baergen; Joel Schindel; Richard Aramenko; Zee Cilmdzic; coach Jeff Colquhoun; assistant Kevin Tysowski; assistant Jamie Somerfeld, assistant Tyler Baerg; manager Allison Braun
The gold medalist Saskatoon Aden Bowman Bears: Andrew Spagrud; Rejean Chabot; Tom Harrington; Cody Dyck; Matt Jacoby; Nishant Batta; Mike Butler; Adam Proznick; David Espeseth; Nishant Batta; Alex Lowen; Andrew Wilson; Jessie Schwark; coach Paul Humbert; assistant Rod Friesen; manager Katie Richardson; manager Tracy Dihn