In the Regina regionals: …………………………………………………… In the city quarterfinals, the Luther Lions dusted the Winston Knoll Wolverines 82-44 as Andrew Henry scored 18. Zach Taylor led the Wolverines with 10. The Wolverines also included Evan Youle, Landon Bessel, Jordan Quest, Theodore Malegride. …………………………………………………… The Dr. Martin LeBoldus Golden Suns clipped the Balfour Redmen 69-56 as Mike Morgan scored 19. Jeremy Zver led the Redmen with 19. The Redmen also included Cooper Toppins, Sawyer Lawlor. …………………………………………………… The Campbell Tartans stomped the Thom Trojans 79-51 as Bryce Gorman scored 12, Matthew Campbell 12 and Mike Malecha 12. Jon Wishira paced the Trojans with 21. The Trojans also included Ryan Knaus, Josh Dupuis. …………………………………………………… In the last quarterfinal, the Michael A. Riffel Royals crushed the Sheldon-Williams Spartans 81-57 as Brendan Hebert scored 14. Nicolas Brown led the Spartans with 15. The Spartans also included Addison Richards, Stafford Bates, Nathan Sandbeck, Nicolas Brown. …………………………………………………… In the semis, the Luther Lions dispatched the Dr. Martin LeBoldus Golden Suns 63-53 as Andrew Henry scored 16, Mitch Jones 13 and Ethan Kummerfeld 12. Marcus Ward led the Golden Suns with 15. Anthony Israel added 11 and Mike Morgan 11. …………………………………………………… In the other semi, the Campbell Tartans defeated the Michael A. Riffel Ryals 92-85 as Mike Malecha scored 40. Brendan Hebert led the Royals with 33. …………………………………………………… In the bronze medal match, the Dr. Martin LeBoldus Golden Suns clipped the Michael A. Riffel Royals 82-74 as Marcus Ward scored 25 and Joe DeCiman 25. Andrew Hamilton led the Royals with 25. …………………………………………………… In the final, the Luther Lions nipped the Campbell Tartans 67-66 in overtime as Andrew Henry hit a fadeaway jumper from 15 feet as time expired in the extra session. Henry led the Lions with 17. Matt Campbell led the Tartans with 21.
In the provincial quarterfinals, the Saskatoon top seed and city champ Holy Cross Crusaders stuffed the Regina M.A. Riffel Royals 106-82 as Evan Ostertag scored 42 and Jon Karwacki 19. Ben Quesnel led the Royals with 18. Matthew Lueck added 15. The Royals (coached by Wade Hackl, assisted by Bob Pilon, Al Collins and Derek Pilon) also included Paul Duchsher, Brad Grywul, Brandon Zimmer, Errol Beech-Smikle, Andrew Hamilton, Brendan Hebert, Branden Daniels, Nathan Baron, Steven Shelest, Mitchell Zimmer, Daniel Osiowy, Julius Landry and Daniel Rapley.
The Saskatoon Aden Bowman Bears dumped the defending champion Regina Campbell Tartans 95-81 as Ben Baker scored 32 and Sam Derksen 32. “We came out and fought hard from the start and grinded out a tough win,” Derksen told the Saskatoon Star-Phoenix. The Bears were all over the Tartans right from the opening tip off and never took their foot off the pedal. They took a 26-14 lead after the first quarter and that was as close as the Tartans would get. “They are a really tough team this year,” Derksen said. “To have a quality win like that is positive looking forward.” Bears coach Sheldon Lewchuk said his troops delivered an all-around effort. “We’ve got some great scorers on our team but everything started in the defensive end tonight. I think we had more of a controlled tempo, we pushed the ball and created up-tempo opportunities when we had too and if not, we pulled the ball and ran our offence.” Controlling Matt Campbell was a key to the Bears success against the Tartans. “I think we really frustrated him tonight,” Lewchuk said. “When you frustrate him, you can really get to their team and be successful.” Matthew Campbell paced the Tartans with 31. Andrew Schmidt added 16. The Tartans (coached by Skip Campbell, assisted by Brent Cole and Tylor Campbell), also included Mike Malecha, Kyle Burns, Bryce Gorman, Josh Miller, Jesse Cole, Logan Salm, Frankie Gray, Geoff Hughes, James Sawatzky, Taylor Garrett, Matt Haacke and Ben Simaluk.
The Regina city champ Luther Lions clipped the Saskatoon St. Joseph Guardians 82-67 as Ethan Kummerfield scored 21. Adam Henry added 19. “It’s good to get going, especially with the way we won the city final,” Ethan Kummerfield, who helped Luther post a 67-66 overtime victory over Campbell in the RIBL’s championship game, told the Regina Leader-Post. “We didn’t want to come out and have a big letdown. We’re working toward the goal of the provincial title. One down, two to go.” Dave Butros led the Guardians with 18. Tyson Leibel added 13. The Guardians (coached by Gord Desjarlais) also included Brett Boyko, Eli Lichtenwald, Holden Blue, Dan Bofoya, Brendan Libner, Brayden Lefebvre, Shane Buchanan, Travis Mazrukewich, Nick Korchinski, Christian Meggs, Emmanuel Ojukwu.
In the last quarterfinal, the Regina Dr. Martin LeBoldus Golden Suns dusted the Saskatoon Evan Hardy Souls 79-62 as Joe De Ciman scored 26. Marcus Wood added 22. Mitchell Sepke paced the Souls with 16. Graham Unruh added 14. The Souls (coached by Barclay Patterson) also included Matthew Unruh, Nick Stooshinoff, Matthew Sisson, Andrew Rigby, Garrett Cutts, Tyler Harder, Shaun Johnson, Dylan Borody, Gaurav Chauhan.
In the semis, the Saskatoon Holy Cross Crusaders defeated the Saskatoon Aden Bowman Bears 85-71 as Evan Ostertag scored 23 and Jacob Lazariuk 18. Sam Derksen paced the Bears with 20. Ben Baker added 16.
In the other semi, the Regina Dr. Martin LeBoldus Golden Suns defeated the top Regina seed Luther Lions 64-48 as Joe DeCiman scored 30, along with 15 boards and 4 steals, Mike Morgan 13 and Marcus Ward 12. Andrew Henry led the Lions with 22. Mitchell Jones added 18 and Brendan Lee 10. Golden Suns Wade Bartlett told the Regina Leader-Post that DeCiman was sensational. “He’s not even 16 yet. He goes for his license in three weeks.” Lions coach Drew Hunter said DeCiman “was the best player on the court today.” De Ciman said “it’s really exciting. Our team came in really hungry. After we lost the semifinal, we didn’t feel too good. We kept that in mind and played hard.” The Golden Suns led 43-20 early and 48-34 at the half. The Lions rallied within three down the stretch but De Ciman twice hit critical buckets to quell the threat. “This is the best player I’ve coached and he’s only in Grade 10,” Bartlett said. “I don’t have the words to describe Joey.” Hunter said “Joey’s a terrific talent. You know he’s going to make some plays. He certainly showed maturity for a young guy in the final minutes.” Hunter said “the thing about Joe that I like is that he’s a humble kid who works hard at his game. He carries himself the right way. It’s the same way with (Lions star) Andrew Henry. Those are two players who are easy to root for because they’re coachable. I’d rather that (De Ciman) have success against somebody other than us, but …”
In the bronze medal match, the Saskatoon Aden Bowman Bears nipped the Regina Luther Lions 77-73 in overtime as Sam Derksen scored 21 and Ben Baker 15. Luther’s Andrew Henry forced OT by scoring with seven seconds left. Many of the Lions players were hampered by the flu. “The few healthy guys were hanging out with each other, because they didn’t want to get sick,” Henry told the Regina Leader-Post. Henry helped Luther win the RIBL’s 5A boys title by scoring the winning basket in OT against the Campbell Tartans. Luther won that game 67-66. After Saturday’s contest, Henry reflected on his three years of senior boys’ basketball. “I’m just trying to take it all in, knowing that I won’t be able to put on a Luther jersey again,” he said. Mitchell Jones led the Lions with 19. Andrew Henry added 18. The Lions (coached by Drew Hunter, assisted by Bill Johnson, Adam Hunter and Joel Hunter) also included Ethan Kummerfield, Brendan Lee, Dara Onasanya, Justin Lee, Xavier Kosolofski, Paddy Foley, Eric Anderson, Kelsey Guenzel, Brock Mackenzie, Matt Haroldson and Carter Carson.
In the final, the Saskatoon Holy Cross Crusaders stuffed the third Regina seed Dr. Martin LeBoldus Golden Suns 92-79 as Evan Ostertag scored 34, Jon Harding 25 and Jon Karwacki 17, including 5 treys. Mike Morgan paced the Golden Suns with 25. Joe DeCiman added 18. Holy Cross completed a boys/girls double. “That’s a strength of our team; we’re able to see where the gaps and opportunities are,” Crusaders coach Shaun Nechvatal told the Saskatoon Star-Phoenix. The one-school sweep was the first in the 5A category since Regina Balfour won both titles in 1998. “(The girls) accomplished that, and the pressure was kind of on us to follow suit,” Nechvatal said. The Crusaders led 42-41 at the half and 71-64 after three quarters. The Crusaders hit six treys in each half, while the Golden Suns hit 6 in the first and just 1 in the second half. “We were really anticipating them driving,” said LeBoldus forward Marcus Ward. “We watched the (semi-final) Bowman game and they took a lot of drives, so we were anticipating that. Then they kind of struck us on those threes.” Ostertag said “the key today was handling pressure. When they got it close, we didn’t panic and we didn’t throw the ball away. We were able to keep making shots.” The Crusaders finished 28-6 on the season. “I look at a kid like Jon Harding, who was a Grade 10 player two years ago,” Nechvatal said. “To be at Hoopla for three years and get bronze, bronze then finish off with a gold . . . for him, he played exceptionally well tonight — stayed out of foul trouble and got on the glass. For guys who were here last year as Grade 11s and saw us fall a little bit short of our goal, it was a nice way to finish off — absolutely.” Ostertag said “it feels great to end it on such a high note.” Golden Suns guard Marcus Ward told the Regina Leader-Post “we never gave up. We knew we could compete way better than we did during the season and we wanted to show that off during provincials. We were the underdogs in provincials, so coming home with second is pretty good.”
The bronze medalist Saskatoon Aden Bowman Bears: Ben Baker; Sam Derksen; Davis Mitchell; Brogen Cochlan; Drew Burko; Keaven Simes; Luke Patola; Jordan Arndt; Quinn Pierce; Russ Agnew; Ben Altrogge; Jared Udchi; Garrett Moss; Zak Barnes; coach Sheldon Lewchuk; assistant Wendy Benson; manager Raza Naqvi; manager Foster Herriot; manager Brett Peberdy
The silver medalist Regina Dr. Martin LeBoldus Golden Suns: Joe DeCiman; Marcus Wood; Mike Morgan; Anthony Israel; Dipo Ziwa; Chad Bosgoed; Jared Suchan; Tyler Folk; Tyler Klenk; Gumaa Ladongi; Emmanuel Jones; Pan Yannitso; Chase Salembier; coach Wade Bartlett; coach Garrett Kot; coach Jordan Puscus
The gold medalist Saskatoon Holy Cross Crusaders: Evan Ostertag; Jon Karwacki; Jacob Lazariuk; Jon Harding; Andrew Bitz; Michael Farion; Daniel Ostertag; Arthur Boan; Ryan Keene; Brett Barrington; Adam Beitel; Anson Liski; Jacob Lazariuk; Ryan Thomas; coach Shaun Nechvatal; assistant Brett Boechler