In the opening round: …………………………………………………… The host Regina Harvest City Reapers stomped the Eston Mustangs 81-47 after leading 28-11, 57-18 and 74-28 at the quarters. Colton Longpre paced the Reapers with 15. Adam Tysdal led the Mustangs with 11. “We had a chance every year and just kind of choked,” Reapers point guard Colton Longpre told the Regina Leader-Post. “Last year the teams we played in regionals weren’t as skilled and we played down a level. When we went into Hoopla (as the No. 2 seed), we weren’t really ready for it.” Coach Joel Wells said “this is definitely the best team we’ve had in the past five years. We’ve beaten everybody … but it will be close. Because we’re a small school, these guys have been on the team for four years. They don’t know what it’s like to win. For them, Hoopla has been a big disappointment every year. Mentally it’s going to be something we have to overcome because we’re used to going and losing. … I’ve tried everything the last few years. I’ve hyped them all up, I’ve relaxed them and tried all sorts of different approaches.” ………………………………………………… The Rose Valley Roadrunners clipped the Middle Lake Three Lakes Avengers 70-63 as Jesse McDonald scored 18. Trevor Kurja led the Avengers with 25. The teams were tied at 49 after three quarters. …………………………………………………… The Saskatoon Christian Cougars stomped Sturgeon Lake 100-39. …………………………………………………… The Fillmore Falcons thrashed Star City 89-54. …………………………………………………… The Craik Cougars whipped Neilburg 116-57 after leading 26-10, 52-20 and 81-37 at the quarters. …………………………………………………… Rouleau defeated the Hepburn Hawks 67-56 after dominating the boards. Rouleau led 20-16, 35-34 and 50-43 at the quarters. …………………………………………………… The Herbert Laurels whipped the Gladmar Falcons 70-42. Herbert led 13-10, 30-18 and 52-30 at the quarters as their superior depth proved the difference down the stretch. …………………………………………………… The Turtleford Thunderchild Titans dumped the Wolseley Warriors 80-62. Wolseley led 20-12 after one quarter but the Thunder ripped off a 28-7 run to take command. Thunderchild’s superior speed proved the difference.
In the quarterfinals, the Regina Harvest City Reapers stomped the Rose Valley Roadrunners 69-41. Harvest City broke to a quick 19-9 lead and extended their edge to 42-13 at the half.
The Fillmore Falcons dumped the Saskatoon Christian Cougars 71-61. The Cougars were coached by Aaron Benneweis.
The Craik Cougars stomped Rouleau 97-76 after leading 33-21, 63-38 and 78-60 at the quarters.
In the last quarterfinal, the Herbert Laurels crushed the Turtleford Thunderchild Titans 74-61. Herbert opened with an 18-0 run and led 24-13 after one quarter. The Thunder rallied to within 36-28 at the half but Herbert took command in the second frame, leading 57-47 after three quarters.
In the semis, the Regina Harvest City Reapers crushed the Fillmore Falcons 76-55 as Miguel Morante scored 21 and Colton Longpre 17. Devon Kosior and James Milton each scored 14 to lead Fillmore.
In the other semi, the Craik Cougars nipped the Herbert Laurels 70-68 as Brenan Ehman scored 20 and Travis Folk 19. Andrew Fast paced Herbert with 17. Kent Robertson added 15.
In the bronze medal match, the Fillmore Falcons dumped the Herbert Laurels 69-55 as Devon Kosior scored 22, Ted Cross 12 and James Milton 12. Kent Robertson led Herbert with 19. James Braun added 17.
In the final, the Regina Harvest City Reapers edge the Craik Cougars 68-65 as Joseph Tarr scored 25 and Dustin Williamson 18. Brenan Ehman and Justin Rogers each scored 20 to pace Craik. The Cougars led 30-24 at the half. The last minute was wild as the Cougars pecked away at Harvest City’s lead. Craik attempted a game-tying trey in the dying seconds but it fell short. “In the final minute, I turned to my assistant coach and said, ‘Why does the clock never move when you’re winning?” Wells told the Regina Leader-Post. “It’s unreal. You start to wonder when you’re ever going to do it again. As well, you continue questioning yourself. I was wondering whether it was me. This was the hardest one (to win), for sure. In the other two, we breezed to wins and we were clearly the dominant team. With this one, I don’t even know if we were the best team, but we found a way to be. … As a coach, it’s almost amazing. I was literally screaming at the guys during timeouts and they couldn’t hear me. I told the guys before the game, ‘OK, you’re on your own. Once the game starts, you won’t be able to hear me.’ Once the whistle goes, it’s chaos.” Reapers forward Andrew Woytuik called it an “intense game. Like they [Craik] wanted it badly too. They probably would have sold their souls to win that game. But fortunately, we played tough, and with the power of girls we won the game.” Two grade twelve girls played for the Reapers, as the school has no girls’ basketball team. They and the other reapers got good crowd support, as did the team from Craik. “The crowds were so loud I couldn’t hear myself think. We had to use hand signals to call out our plays. It was so loud we couldn’t hear each other,” said Woytuik. Cougars coach Kelly Kruppi told the Saskatoon Star-Phoenix that “their outside shooting (was the difference). We let the outside shooters get a couple of open looks. We just couldn’t get out on them. The three-pointer beat us for sure.” Harvest City teammates Carly Paterson and Larissa Eddy are the first girls to win Hoopla boys gold medals. They played senior boys’ basketball this season after Harvest City Christian Academy was unable to assemble enough players to form a senior girls’ team. “I’m pretty excited,” Paterson told the Saskatoon Star-Phoenix. “I always said we’d go to Hoopla, but I never said we’d go with guys.”
The bronze medalist Fillmore Falcons: Devon Kosior; James Milton; Ted Cross; co-coach Tracy Ogden
The silver medalist Craik Cougars: Brenan Ehman; Travis Folk; Justin Rogers; coach Kelly Kruppi
The gold medalist Regina Harvest City Reapers: Miguel Morante; Colton Longpre; Joseph Tarr; Dustin Williamson; Andrew Woytuik; Josh Tarr; coach Joel Wells