In the opening round: …………………………………………………… The top-seeded Melfort Comets and 2nd-seeded Moose Jaw Central Cyclones drew byes. …………………………………………………… The 9th-seeded Moose Jaw Vanier Vikings clipped the 8th-seeded Regina Johnson Wildcats 58-49. The Wildcats included Matthew Hajewich. …………………………………………………… The 4th-seeded Regina Martin Monarchs stomped the 13th-seeded Warman Wolverines 92-64. …………………………………………………… The 5th-seeded North Battleford John Paul II Crusaders dispatched the 12th-seeded Wilcox Athol Murray College of Notre Dame Hounds 60-51. The Hounds (coached by Greg Pelletier and Colton Neithercut) included Majok Madal. …………………………………………………… The 7th-seeded Saskatoon Bedford Road Redmen clocked the 10th-seeded Yorkton Sacred Heart Saints 84-61. “We knew it was going to be tough to advance, but we felt we had a chance,” Saints coach Garrett Karcha told Yorkton This Week. “We knew they were going to be a strong team because they had beat Holy Cross at BRIT earlier in the year, but I thought we matched up well with them.” Jake Javier, who scored 20, notched four treys in the first half. “Jake (Javier) kept us in it and we were going blow for blow with them early on,” said Karcha. “Our shooting was keeping us in it early but every time we would make a three, they would come down and make a three because they were a good shooting team, so we were kind of trading back and forth. … They’re a good, all-around team and they had really good depth that we had a hard time matching. In the third quarter we had it to within nine points at one point and we just had a heck of a time with turnovers at times and not finishing layups on fast breaks and passing the ball ahead just a little too far and in the end that’s what hurt us.” Brody Kormos added 7 points and 13 boards for Saints, while Noah Clarke scored 12 and nabbed 13 boards. The Saints (coached by Karcha, assisted by McKenzie Unyi) also included Zach Goulden-Maddin, Brian Buzinski, Ethan Allen, Zach Sutian, Cody Doll, Bryan Buzinski, Kade Johnson, Grady Hawkins and C.J. Gimena. …………………………………………………… The 3rd-seeded Weyburn Eagles stomped the 14th-seeded Martensville Royals 111-15. …………………………………………………… The 11th-seeded Meadow Lake Carpenter Spartans stunned the 6th-seeded Humboldt Mohawks 72-69. The Mohawks included Genesis Legaspi and Jared Giddings.
In the quarterfinals, the top-seeded Melfort Comets bombed the 9th-seeded Moose Jaw Vanier Vikings 86-38. The Comets built a 53-20 lead at the half on Alex Linnell’s defence and Kalen Senecal’s boardwork. Comets coach Mitchell Taylor told the Moose Jaw Times Herald “we’ve been playing great defense most of the season. Tim (Johnstone) and I preach defense. Our kids’ defense is what won the gold medal last season, and they’ve really bought in. We had a defensive game plan coming in and our guys executed it. Our defense also forced them into several turnovers which we were able to turn into quick points.” Linnell said “I think we played really good defense,” said Linnell. “That led to lots of open opportunities on the offensive end where we were beating them down the court.” Linnell paced the Comets with 22. Jomar Malaggay added 16 and Curtis Glanville 10. Taylor said “Alex is a great young man to have on the team. He leads by example and possibly has the best game sense of anyone I’ve been around. It showed today in the way he scored and that he was in all the right places defensively all game.” Linnell said “I just came out confident shooting the ball. I was open and my teammates were finding me so I was just knocking down the shots.” The Vikings (coached by David Tardiff) included Chad Buchko, Kody Morales, Xyrus Smith and Dustin Todd.
The 5th-seeded North Battleford John Paul II Crusaders stomped the 4th-seeded Regina Martin Monarchs 93-53. The Monarchs included Jacob Lipp, Eric Appelquist, Jordan Stonechild, Josh Wilson-Martel, Zach Lehner, Kyle Angielski, N’Doh Soe, Joseph Handoc, Jayden Lorenz, Caleb Pelletier, Maaz Eissa Daffala, Isaiah Stonechild and Josh Montana.
The 7th-seeded Saskatoon Bedford Road Redmen shocked the 2nd-seeded Moose Jaw Central Cyclones 77-63. The Cyclones (coached by Leigh Pethick, assisted by Troy Setter) included Austin Drake, Ryan Reidy, Dez Henrikson, Abu Dukuly, Jonah Branning, Joel Forer, Zach Hagerman, Jonah Branning, Cody Moore, Mohamed Suliman, Kaleb Seida, Jaden Large and Sam Rigetti.
In the last quarterfinal, the 3rd-seeded Weyburn Eagles topped the 11th-seeded Meadow Lake Carpenter Spartans 74-45. The Spartans (coach Jesse Shakotko, assistant Navanga Burke, assistant Kale Lajeunesse) included Kolby Lewis.
In the semis, the top-seeded Melfort Comets clipped the 5th-seeded North Battleford John Paul II Crusaders 72-63 after leading 38-34 at the half. James Malaggay led the Comets with 19. Riley Loeppky led the Crusaders with 28.
In the other semi, the 3rd-seeded Weyburn Eagles dispatched the 7th-seeded Saskatoon Bedford Road Redmen 80-66 after leading 39-35 at the half. Bryden Rumpel led the Eagles with 26. Justin Lightle led the Redmen with 22.
In the bronze medal match, the 5th-seeded North Battleford John Paul II Crusaders defeated the 7th-seeded Saskatoon Bedford Road Redmen 77-72 after leading 33-21 at the half. Riley Loeppky paced the Crusaders with 23. Cree Ben led the Redmen with 25.
In the final, the top-seeded Melfort Comets dusted the 3rd-seeded Weyburn Eagles 81-66 to capture their second consecutive provincial title. The Comets led 59-35 at the half. Curtis Glanville paced the Comets with 27. Adair Borys led the Eagles with 17. Comets coach Mitchell Taylor told the Moose Jaw Times Herald that “it’s a great feeling to win another championship. Tim (Johnstone) and I couldn’t be more proud of our group of kids. The kids graduating this year have been with me for the majority of the last six years. They’ve always worked hard, pushed each other every day to improve and it showed in their performance this season.” Taylor said the defensive efforts of Kalen Senecal were critical. “Kalen Senecal is hardly noticed and often doesn’t get much credit because he doesn’t light up the score sheet, like Alex Linnell and the other three guards, but he is the heart of soul of the team and a leader on and off the court. He makes us significantly better when he is on the floor. … Jomar (Malaggay) was our only starter that wasn’t in foul trouble. He carried us while the other starters were rotating on the bench. He’s deceptively quick and is the pure scorer we need when we need him most. He carried us offensively in the first half until we could afford to get regular minutes out of the other starters. Troy (Taylor) was big for us in the second half on defense, switching to guard JP’s best player who was causing all kinds of problems for us in the first half.” The Comets opened with an 11-0 run. Taylor also said “I’m really proud of the way Curtis came to play. He didn’t have a very good Hoopla last year and he was very disappointed. From the second half of the first game onward, Curtis was an unstoppable force. He was able to do what he wanted offensively, whether hitting big shots from three, hitting his mid-range shot or getting an open look for someone else. He has phenomenal talent and was exceptional on both ends of the floor in the last game of his high school career.”
The bronze medalist North Battleford John Paul II Crusaders: Riley Loeppky;
The silver medalist Weyburn Eagles: Adair Borys; Bryden Rumpel; Spencer Anderson; coach Jacquie Williams
The gold medalist Melfort Comets: Curtis Glanville; James Malaggay; Kalen Senecal; Alex Linnell; Jomar Malaggay; Troy Taylor; Jasel Naranja; Ram Bagsit; Michael Jose; Graham Fagnou; Christian Laude; Tyler Jones; Chase Misskey; coach Mitchell Taylor; assistant Tim Johnstone