In the opening round: …………………………………………………… The Radville Rebels crushed the Central Butte Bulldogs 64-24. …………………………………………………… Denzil nipped the Hepburn Hawks 51-50. …………………………………………………… The Kinistino R.J. Humphrey Blues defeated Prince Albert Central Bears 96-52 as Michael Lawrence scored 28 and Daniel Burke 21. C. Mears paced Central with 16. Kinistino led 28-10; 52-25 and 74-41 at the quarters. …………………………………………………… The 5th-seeded Regina Western Christian Mustangs defeated 12th-seeded Loon Lake Makwa Sahgaiehcan Falcons 83-74. Regina Western Christian’s depth wore down Loon Lake, which only had six players. Once two fouled out, Loon Lake was forced to play with only four bodies, allowing Regina Christian to break a 72-72 tie with a late 11-2 run. Loon Lake hit 11 treys on the night but fell short of the upset. Christian led 28-21, 48-44 and 62-58 at the quarters. K. Richotte paced Regina Christian with 23. M. Chin added 17. Sonny Weeseekase led Loon Lake with 32. Nathon Mitsuing added 28. …………………………………………………… The Norquay Nikes whipped the Saskatoon Christian Centre Academy Cougars 93-41. …………………………………………………… The Regina Western Christian Mustangs defeated the Fillmore Falcons 67-58. …………………………………………………… The Regina Harvest City Christian Academy Reapers thumped Eastend 91-46 as Justin Reves scored 24. Chet McCuaig led Eastend with 19. …………………………………………………… The St. Brieux Crusaders dumped the Stoughton Bulldogs 70-47 as Daniel Mark scored 14. Cody Tanner paced Stoughton with 19. …………………………………………………… The Radville Rebels defeated Denzil 48-38.
In the regional finals and provincial quarterfinals, the Kinistino R.J. Humphrey Blues nipped Regina Christian 82-80 in overtime. Kinistino trailed for most of the affair but rallied to knot the score at 72 with 25 seconds on the clock. In the overtime, Kinistino outscored Regina Christian 10-8.
The Regina Western Christian Mustangs edged the 2nd-seeded Norquay Nikes 72-68. Norquay coach Trevor Olson was disconsolate. “I wouldn’t have wanted to coach any other team than you guys,” he told his troops. “The last few nights I’ve been waking up and all I see is the scoreboard,” Olson told the Saskatoon Star-Phoenix. “72-68. It’s burned in my mind. I know it’s only 1A basketball, but you spend this much time together . . .” Olson didn’t play the game, learning it from a book ‘Basketball for Dummies’. Three years ago, we were still losing game after game. These boys didn’t complain. A lot of kids would have said ‘Oh, what’s the use and packed it in.’ Not them.” Nathan Sapach scored 21. The Nikes (coached by Olson) also included Bryan Belous, Danny Bobowski, Luke Thiessen.
The Regina Harvest City Christian Academy Reapers crushed the St. Brieux Crusaders 71-40 as Justin Reves scored 25. Ken Lefebvre paced the Crusaders with 12. Harvest City led 39-22 at the half.
In the last quarterfinal, the Radville Rebels defeated Denzil 48-38.
In the semis, the Radville Rebels upset the Kinistino R.J. Humphrey Blues 61-54 as Daniel Koszman dominated the floor. Jeremy Kulcher paced Kinistino with 18.
In the other semi, the Regina Western Christian Mustangs defeated the Regina Harvest City Reapers 78-60 as Tim Bolton scored 22. Justin Reeves led Harvest City with 30. Regina Western Christian, a school with just 42 students, built an early 21-12 lead and remained in command until the final whistle. Mustangs head coach Ryan Brennan told the Regina Leader-Post it’s always an exciting time playing the Reapers. “Oh, that was lots of fun. We’ve played them four times now this year — all the games have been like this. We really appreciate playing Harvest City, they’re a bunch of nice guys. The guys are friends back and forth. We felt really good, we had a really good weekend in Norquay last weekend and we learned how to keep a lead — which is something we’ve struggled with,” Brennan said. Tim Bolton scored 22. Harvest City’s Justin Reves had a game-high 30 points. Harvest City, which just 12 boys between 9 and 12, lacked depth. For Bolton, playing against Harvest City is special because the schools have a common thread. “It’s awesome because we know these guys,” he said. “We’re both Christian schools so it’s really cool just to come out and play each other and not hold any grudges. I don’t know, it just makes the games so pure.”
In the bronze medal match, the Kinistino R.J. Humphrey Blues defeated Regina Harvest City Reapers 83-67 after rallying from a 42-35 half-time deficit. Daniel Burke paced Kinistino with 29. Jeremy Kulcher drilled a trey to ignite a 9-0 run that put the outcome out of reach. Justin Reeves led the Reapers with 28.
In the final, the Regina Western Christian Mustangs defeated the Radville Rebels 57-46. Once based the Weyburn, the school transferred to Dauphin, Man., and then to Regina in the 2003-04 school year. It proved an efficacious move as they captured the provincial title while rallying from a six-point deficit at the half. “Everyone has asked me what I said at halftime and I can’t remember. But it must have been good,” coach Ryan Brennan, told the Regina Leader-Post. Tim Bolton paced the Mustangs with 20. Adam Calibaba led the Rebels with 16. Brennan said winning the title in the school’s first year in the SHSAA “was special. The school won the 3A boys title when we were in Weyburn in 1988 – the year we left for Dauphin (Manitoba). We didn’t win any basketball championships when we were in Manitoba. To win it the first year back in Saskatchewan was really sweet.”
The bronze medalist Kinistino R.J. Humphrey Blues: Jeremy Kulcher; Colin Sinclair; Daniel Burke; Michael Lawrence;
The silver medalist Radville Rebels: Daniel Koszman; Adam Calibaba; coach Todd Wills
The gold medalist Regina Western Christian Mustangs: Tim Bolton; Jonathan Littman; Lucas Relfsema; coach Ryan Brennan