In the Regina city quarterfinals: …………………………………………………… The Campbell Tartans thrashed the Thom Trojans 106-35. The Trojans included Gabriel Sichangwa. …………………………………………………… The Sheldon-Williams Spartans stomped the Luther Lions 63-41. The Lions (coached by Joel Hunter, assisted by Adam Hunter, Josh Fink and Justin Lee) included Mitch King, Joshua Onasanya, Adam Galloway, Josh Exner, Jon Artemenko, Connor Bates, Jonathan Halvorson, Will Johnson, Matt Digney, Brendan Heid, Ethan Anderson and Brendan Hill. …………………………………………………… The Balfour Redmen whipped the Michael A. Riffel Royals 84-53. The Royals (coached by Wade Hackl, assisted by Al Collins and Andrew Hamilton), included Matthew Shelest, Walker Millard, Josh Kraft, Dallas Bells, Shawn Painter, Dakota Schmidt, Denzel Seyram Semey, Kendal Daniels, Mitch Drozda and Branden Enright. …………………………………………………… In the last quarterfinal, the LeBoldus Suns clubbed the Winston Knoll Wolverines 74-49. The Wolverines (coached by Mike Silvius, assisted by Gord Sellinger, Will Redl and Steve Comaniuk) included Maksim Kornilov, Cody Mason, Derek Lozinski, Zach Cowper, Jared Stettner, Landon Lavoy, Brady Wiley, Agiapal Santhu, Steven Fraser, Turner Nistor, Tristan Koronkiewicz, Ryland Switzer and Braydon Krysak. …………………………………………………… In the semis, the Campbell Tartans dumped the Sheldon Williams Spartans 69-60. …………………………………………………… In the other semi, the LeBoldus Golden Suns defeated the Balfour Redmen 83-67. …………………………………………………… In the bronze medal match, Balfour whipped Sheldon-Williams 89-57. The Redmen (coached by Glen Fekula, assisted by Mick Panko, Brad Fekula and Tanner Brightman) included Aiden Larsen, Parker Toppings, Spencer Brightman, Aaden Hamann, Brady MacKay, Luke Wilson, Liam Schwartz, Holden Cronin, Mitch Jackson, Kolton Bellamy and Mitch Schwindt. The Spartans (coached by John Bailey, assisted by Addison Docherty, Frank Kraus and Dave Tallman) included Josh Stauber, Jeremiah Dorland, Liam Hansen-Jensen, Ryan Delwo, Nick Essar, Brayden Colin, Quinn Bansecu, Greg Blackmore, Tynan Macnab, Rhys Hipperson, Ethan Anderson and Joe Kelsey. …………………………………………………… In the final, the Campbell Tartans dumped the Dr. Martin LeBoldus Golden Suns 83-60. Campbell’s Connor Gorman and Mack Burns, who led the Tartans to a provincial volleyball title earlier in the year, said the Tartans were thinking about a double gold medal. “I’m a basketball guy, so this win is a little sweeter than the one in volleyball. But to have a shot at two provincial championships is definitely there,” said Gorman, who scored 28. “We have a lot of volleyball guys on this team, too, so we know what it takes to win those big games. We’re definitely ready for it.” Daniel Probe, who’d helped the Golden Suns win a football title, said “we’ll take a day off and then focus on our next goal. A lot of guys on this team have played on the big stage before with football and we aren’t used to failing in those big games. I guess that’s why this loss is so hard to swallow right now. But we have a second chance and we’re going to make the most of it.” Burns and Richie Sindani added 21 and 12 points, respectively. Chan De Ciman led LeBoldus with 21 points. Probe added 12.
In the Saskatoon city quarterfinals: …………………………………………………… The Evan Hardy Souls stomped the St. Joseph Guardians 86-33. The Guardians included Mark Herrick, Jon Sanchez, Jesse Burns, Kristian Kauffman, Paul Weiss, Vernon Longman, Logan Aldridge, Dominic Maza, Mitch Cassidy, Jon Skwarchuk, Joe Novekosky, Robert Sturgeon, Braxton Dirham and Mark Weiss. …………………………………………………… The Walter Murray Marauders dumped the Aden Bowman Bears 78-56. The Bears (coached by Sheldon Lewchuk, Cuyler Borrowman and Luke Patola) included Flinn Herriot, Davis Humbert, Logan Mitchell, Ali Rehman, James Vause, Ben Njaa, Zach Pierce, Jared Libke, Tyler Hurlburt, Brett Solberg, Scott Barrie, Wil Yausie, Kyrin Cybenko and Evan Leier. …………………………………………………… The Bishop James Mahoney Saints nipped the Tommy Douglas Tigers 70-65. The Tigers (coached by Kevin Tysowski, assisted by Kyle Graham and Colin Baerg) included Riley Douglas, Simon Butros, Ryan Turple, Dion Florida, Logan Kelsey, Sam Dueck, Logan Schmautz, Zac Laliberte, Jordan Funk, Travis Gryba, Tanner Matschke, Connor Berglof and William Fennig-Doll. …………………………………………………… In the last quarterfinal, the Holy Cross Crusaders crushed the Centennial Chargers 77-48. The Chargers included Dane Bartel, Abdi Nur, Mike Humble, Abdil Nur, Mitchell Erickson, Abdullah Iftikhar, Brady Woodcock, Rock Wang, Rav Grewal, Joey Pandher, James Pang, Kellen Balzer, Nick Summach and Ethan Frostad. …………………………………………………… In the semis, the Evan Hardy Souls clubbed the Walter Murray Marauders 74-53. …………………………………………………… In the other semi, the Holy Cross Crusaders nipped the Bishop James Mahoney Saints 71-68. …………………………………………………… In the bronze medal match, the Bishop James Mahoney Saints dumped the Walter Murray Marauders 70-61. …………………………………………………… In the final, the Evan Hardy Souls crushed the Holy Cross Crusaders 76-48 as Chad Fulton scored 34. “To have Chad Fulton contribute the way he did offensively was definitely something special and something that he’ll remember, I’m sure,” for the rest of his life,” Souls coach Barclay Patterson told the Saskatoon Star Phoenix. “The way he’s been playing defence in our other playoff games, I needed to reward him with a starting spot. They just didn’t seem to go out and contest him and he just kept hitting the open three and that was definitely one of the differences in tonight’s game.” Evan Hardy opened with an 18-4 run. “They team was just finding me out there and I was just doing what I could to help out,” said Fulton. The Souls led 35-22 at the half. Souls point guard Connor Jay said the team was determined to capture the title after a 62-61 loss to Bishop Mahoney in the 2012 final. “We’ve been waiting for 364 days. So it was nice to get back and win with a bit of space, as opposed to just one (point.”
When a snowstorm prevented the Regina teams from travelling, it was decided on Mar. 21 that the Saskatoon teams would play what essentially were provincial quarterfinals, to determine the two teams that would represent the city in the provincial semis. Officials announced that if the Regina teams were unable to travel for a second day, the provincial final would feature the two Saskatoon teams. Saskatchewan High School Athletic Association executive director Kevin Vollet said no serious thought given to postponing the event one week. “People have other plans next weekend, and if it wasn’t Easter, we still wouldn’t have postponed it. People have lots on the go, and there’s too many things to get re-arranged. That’s our policy in SHSAA – the provincial championships happen on the scheduled weekend. Any teams that can’t make it are foregoing their final tournament of the year, and whoever can get there will play in a celebration of school sports. We’re in the process of building citizens, and they’re learning lessons all throughout the year in many of their activities. It’s disappointing that the provincial championship may not get played for a team, but they’ve had a good year playing basketball up to that point. We feel for the players. It’s unfortunate. These kids are learning that life has some curves. They’re going to face a lot more in their life, but we hope to use this as an educational moment. At the time, though, it’s obviously disappointing that they wouldn’t get to come up and play in the championship to end their year off. There’s always lots of variables in school sport, and weather seems to be the flavour of the year.”
In those quarterfinals, the Saskatoon Evan Hardy Souls dusted the Saskatoon Walter Murray Marauders 81-53 after leading 39-24 at the half. “It was difficult, because we spent the last three days preparing for (Regina’s) Sheldon Williams,” said Souls coach Barclay Patterson. “To find out two hours before this that we were playing a different team, it definitely was an adjustment in terms of getting the guys ready for the game.” Point guard Alex Unruh said it wasn’t a major problem. “We heard from coach that there was problems with the Regina teams coming in, so we knew there was issues, but we tried to not focus on that. No matter who was playing us we still had to come out and play, and try to win.” The Souls dominated the boards and packed the paint. “I believe the team played really well,” said Unruh. “We’ve really been trying to share the ball. Everyone is getting involved, and everyone is peaking at the right time.” Razavan Anca paced the Souls with 19. Alex Unruh added 18. Cain Shepherd led the Marauders with 18. Chris Fryett-Miller added 11. The Marauders (coached by Trevor Mirtle, assisted by Jon Harding and Scott Ferguson) also included Conlin Dewar, Devin Arndt, Kordell Carson, Max Waldman, Angosom Tekheste, Kye Wilson, Enaya Safi, Matt Kasdorf, Baxter Kawula, Khaled Tajik, Matthew Benkic and Knut Lokken.
In the other quarterfinal, the Saskatoon Holy Cross Crusaders clipped the Saskatoon Bishop James Mahoney Saints 69-59. The Saints led 42-31 at the half. Emil Timon paced the Crusaders with 23. Joseph Casker added 19. Seb Turcotte led the Saints with 15. Ryan Nieman added 13. The Saints coached by Brett Hoffman, assisted by Scott Fernquist, Nolan Brudehl and Jamie Charlton) also included Wyatt Schlosser, Marcus Gaco, Neelan Verma, Sean Briant, Zach Yuzdepski, Colin Fraser, Daymen Ashmeade, Will Watson, Zach Riehl, Tom Schnitzler, Josh Sigurdson, Luke Karwacki, Kirk Morrow and Adam Lewis.
In the semis, the Regina Dr. Martin LeBoldus Golden Suns edged the Saskatoon Evan Hardy Souls 70-65. “We didn’t quite execute the game plan,” said Souls coach Barclay Patterson. “One of our mottoes is KISS, Keep It Simple Souls, and, with that, we try to limit our turnovers, make our free-throws and finish our bunnies (jump shots). I don’t feel we did any of those today. That was the difference in the game.” The Souls were also hurt when point guard Alex Unruh fouled out with four minutes to play. “That was huge,” said LeBoldus coach Wade Bartlett. “Alex is an amazing player. He may be the fastest player in the province. He’s a special talent.” With the score knotted at 61, the Souls turned over the ball on several occasions. “We were making poor decisions on shot selections, couldn’t finish our bunnies and couldn’t finish the free-throws,” said Patterson. “It was difficult having Alex on the bench at the end – you lose quite a bit of a threat scoring, even his dribble-penetration to open up shots for other guys. We just didn’t have it there.” Bartlett said the win was unexpected. “To be honest, I thought them and Campbell were the two best teams in the province,” said Bartlett. “I knew we had a bit of a chance, but I knew we’d have to play really well and improve our shots. Shots went down for us and that helped. And, at the end, defence really played a big part.” LeBoldus led 22-11 after one quarter. Hardy led 39-33 at the half. The great start was “super big,” said Bartlett. “We had a little cushion to get our feet wet. It really helped us acclimatize to the game and gave us a bit of breathing room to hang on for a while.” Patterson also told the Saskatoon Star-Phoenix that “it’s disappointing but, in the long run, I told these guys that sport imitates life. You can’t always have a perfect season and we’ll be better from this. We’ve dealt with tons of adversity off the court this year with a number of different situations. Once again, this is one of those situations that will make strong young men even stronger adults down the road.” Daniel Probe paced the Golden Suns with 19. Chan DeCiman added 17. Razvan Anca led the Souls with 21. Kyle Robinson and Chad Fulton each added 8.
In the other semi, the Saskatoon Holy Cross Crusaders defeated the Regina Campbell Tartans 76-67, despite trailing 38-37 at the half. Mitchell Hillis led the Crusaders with 31. Emil Timon added 17. Connor Gorman paced the Spartans with 22. Steven Macers added 14. The Tartans said they were delighted to simply make it to the tournament. “It’s a big relief, because we didn’t know what the weather was going to do,” Campbell guard Connor Gorman said. “We were hearing that we were going to get 10 to 15 centimetres of snow and we didn’t know if the highway was going to be closed. When I woke up, I was listening to the radio and they said the highway was closed in some parts going to Saskatoon. I was like, ‘Oh, that’s great.’ But when Mr. (Cory) Britton (Campbell’s vice-principal) came and found us in the hall and said ‘we were going,’ it was definitely a relief.”
In the bronze medal match, the Saskatoon Evan Hardy Souls dusted the Regina Campbell Tartans 81-61. Kyle Robinson paced the Souls with 31. Alex Unruh added 15. Mack Burns paced the Spartans with 17. Connor Gorman added 13. The Tartans (coached by Terry Burns, Cory Britton and Dan Simalak) also included Matt Peters, Matt Hughes, Shawn McIntyre, Brody Neilsen, Steven Macera, Tommy Soltys, Braden Koteck, Ethan Reoch, Richie Sindani and Connor Crawford.
In the final, the Regina Dr. Martin LeBoldus Golden Suns dumped the Saskatoon Holy Cross Crusaders 63-52. The Golden Suns won their first title since 1983 while completing a boy-girls double. “The key to the game was, I think, in the second half our shots didn’t drop,” said Crusaders’ coach Kevin Harbidge. “They forced us to take tough shots. We had good shots, but they just wouldn’t go in. Then they’d go back and their shots would go in. You’ve got to give them credit.” The Golden Suns broke to a 16-2 lead but the Crusaders rallied to a 35-33 lead at the half. A 15-6 run gave the Golden Suns a 48-41 lead and the Crusaders rallied no closer than 4. Chan DeCiman paced the Golden Suns with 15. Sam Hillis added 14. Joseph Barker led the Crusaders with 14. Emil Timon added 12. Regular season scoring leader Mitch Hillis added just 3 after averaging 16.8 on the season. “It feels amazing,” noted Golden Suns guard Sam Hillis. “Everyone thought we were the underdog and we weren’t going to be doing anything. The next thing you know we’re winning the provincials, and it’s a great feeling.” Golden Suns coach Wade Bartlett said “I see the (1983) banner on the wall. And it’s funny because every year when we’ve gotten to Hoopla, I’ve always pointed out the banner. This year I didn’t point it out, so I changed the routine and it worked out.”
The bronze medalist Saskatoon Evan Hardy Souls: Nick Neufeld, Chad Fulton, Connor Jay, Alex Unruh, Kyle Robinson, Preston McIntyre, Jared Bayliss, Abraham Perrotta, Mitchell Proctor, Braedon Hamilton, Michael Harder, Razvan Anca, Jack Hase, Justin Bryant, coach Barclay Patterson, coach Dave Unruh
The silver medalist Saskatoon Holy Cross Crusaders: Mitch Hillis, Eric Eyolfson, Brett Lang, Jacob Sollie, Gavin King, Logan Pasishnik, Emil Timon, Blake Hermann, Evan Boechler, Joseph Barker, Joseph Trumpy, Taylor Hammel, Nikola Vidovic, coach Kevin Harbidge, assistant Andrew Bitz, assistant Brett Boechler, manager Noah Kelleher
The gold medalist Regina LeBoldus Golden Suns: Ryan Donnelly, Nehmia Tekeste, Mitch Picton, Ethan Reece, Sam Hillis, Quin Pon, Chan DeCiman, Dylan Deck, Ben Wallace, Stefan Grujic, Eric Wicijowski, Daniel Probe, Matt Wallace, coach Wade Bartlet, assistant Garrett Kot