In the opening round: …………………………………………………… The Regina Harvest City Reapers stomped Neilburg 101-49 as Habib Habib scored 40. Courtney Ironbow led Neilburg with 26. …………………………………………………… The Mortlach Mohawks crushed the Norquay Nikes 70-50. …………………………………………………… The Fillmore Falcons whipped the Rockglen Raiders 86-48. Fillmore’s fast break got them off to a quick start with a 27-6 first quarter lead. Fillmore led 39-21 at the half and 76-35 after three quarters. Fillmore’s speech proved too much for Rockglen to handle. Tanner Hanson led Fillmore with 14. Eli Crooks led Rockglen with 26, including a crowd-pleasing dunk. …………………………………………………… The Turtleford Thunderchild Titans stomped Sturgis 76-64. Thunderchild got off to a hot start, hitting four treys in the first few minutes of the game to go ahead 19-8 at the end of the first quarter. Thunderchild continued to play strong taking a 39-21 lead at half time. Sturgis came out with the press in the third and outscored Thunderchild 28-13 to cut the lead to 52-49 at the end of three. In the fourth the game went back and forth, but Thunderchild made clutch free throws down the stretch to seal the game. Steven Thunder led Thunderchild with 27. Greg Cameron paced Sturgis with 21. …………………………………………………… The Herbert Laurels whipped the Luseland Arthur Geelan Lords 85-33. In the blowout, rookie Erik Solberg hit a Hail Mary trey that left his teammates gaping. Herbert was led by Jason Falk, Tadd Bali, Mason Forsyth and Mark Siemens. Luseland was paced by Graeme Finlay and Jason Fisher. …………………………………………………… The Craik Cougars defeated the Saskatoon Christian Cougars 77-68 as Jon Reich and Taylor Muirhead each scored 24. Micah Marroux paced the Cougars before fouling out. …………………………………………………… The Rose Valley Roadrunners stomped the Hafford Vikings 68-33 as Jordan Kohlen scored 22 and Jordan Martinson 16. Kent Janostin led the Vikings with 10. …………………………………………………… The Lake Lenore Lancers dumped Hepburn 74-63. Lake Lenore led by 24 in the first half. Hepburn managed to cut the margin to single digits but faced down the stretch.
In the quarterfinals, the Regina Harvest City Reapers whipped the Mortlach Mohawks 86-55 as Habib Omar Habib scored 34. Harvest City led 25-22 at the half and took over the second frame.
The Fillmore Falcons defeated the Turtleford Thunderchild Titans 59-49. The game got out to a fast start, but both teams showed some nerves in the first few minutes missing some easy shots. Both teams go on track midway of the 1st quarter and ended the quarter tied at 18. In the second Thunderchild took a 6-point lead midway but Fillmore clawed back to cut the lead to 33-32 at half. In the third Thunderchild got into some foul trouble and Fillmore took advantage to take a 45-39 lead at the end of the third. In the 4th the game stayed close, but Fillmore’s offensive rebounding and second chance points proved to be too much for Thunderchild down the stretch. Tanner Hanson led Fillmore with 28. Steven Thunder led Thunderchild with 17.
The Herbert Laurels whipped the Craik Cougars 81-52. Jason Falk, Jared Klaasen and Cory Braun paced Herbert. Taylor Muirhead and Jon Reich led Craik.
In the last quarterfinal, the Rose Valley Roadrunners dumped the Lake Lenore Lancers 57-66. Rose Valley jumped out to an early lead and never trailed, leading 54-36 after 3. Lake Lenore went on a run in the fourth and closed the gap to just two with 3 minutes remaining. Some good foul shooting and solid defense allowed Rose Valley to pull this one out.
In the semis, the Herbert Laurels dumped the Rose Valley Roadrunners 55-47 as Mason Forsyth scored 14. Jordan Kohlen led Rose Valley with 17. The Forsyth brothers play on Herbert High School’s farm team. “Everywhere we go,” Mason Forsyth said Friday during a break at Hoopla, “we’re talking about hoops or cattle.” That cattle-farm/hardwood mix has an intriguing twist: Mason is a Grade 12 senior, while his 22-year-old brother Mark is the squad’s head coach. You’ll often see brothers running together at Hoopla, but the coach/player connection is a whole different thing. “He knows how to treat me and be rough on me, to show me what I need to do,” Mason said after Herbert’s win. “I like to have someone yell at me and say what I’m doing wrong. He’s great for that; he’s a great brother. It was kind of tough (at the beginning). I wanted to make sure he wouldn’t play it soft on me, but he’s definitely not like that.” Mark confirms he is no softy when it comes to his brother. “I’m his coach,” he said with a grin. “If he doesn’t play good, I’ll pull him. I coached him in Grade 9, too, and he’s ridden the pine for me lots.” There was no need for that Friday — Mason topped the second-seeded Laurels with 14 points during a game they led 24-16 at halftime. Herbert led 51-40 with under four minutes to play when Rose Valley reeled off seven straight points. The Laurels hit a field goal and two foul shots down the stretch. “This has been my dream since Grade 6,” Mason said. “Last year was all a blur. This time, we’re trying to set it steady and not think about last year; not think about where we’re ranked.”
In the other semi, the Regina Harvest City Reapers clipped the Fillmore Falcons 76-48 as Andrew Woytuik scored 14 and Aaron Cockerill 14. Tanner Hanson led Fillmore with 23. Harvest City led 34-18 at the half. The win surprised head coach Joel Wells. “I basically graduated my whole starting lineup from last year,” Wells told the Regina Leader-Post. “I didn’t think at the end of last year that we would be back this year. We’ve come a long way this year and faster than I expected.”
In the bronze medal match, the Rose Valley Roadrunners nipped the Fillmore Falcons 52-48 A Jorden Konlen scored 29, Jesse MacDonald 12 and Jordan Martinson 12. James Howie led the Falcons with 17. Tanner Hanson added 12. The Falcons (coached by Daryl Charron) also included Bryan Nixon, Dylan Griep, Travis Lubiens, Ian Dunham, Brandon Wilson, Quinton Beckstead, Oskar Roettger and Will Howie.
In the final, the Regina Harvest City Reapers defeated the Herbert Laurels 61-52. An energetic Herbert Laurels crowd pushed their team to an early lead, but it wasn’t enough to stop the smooth skills of the Reapers, who won their second straight title Led by Garrett Peters, a Grade 10 guard, the Reapers pulled away late in the third quarter and never looked back. “We knew they were gonna come out hard, but they came out really hard,” said Peters, who finished with 15 points and several assists. “We had a lot of expectations coming into the tournament. Ranked No. 1, we knew everyone would be headhunting for us.” The Laurels’ Jason Falk hit a couple of jumpers and some deep threes to give his team early, but had to leave the game with foul trouble. The Reapers responded with guard Habib Habib hitting clutch shots to close the gap in the first half. Laurels’ guard Jared Klassen pushed the ball inside and Cory Braun hit a couple of key buckets and a deep three to give Herbert an eight-point lead at the half. Harvest City started strong in the second half, connecting on some quick baskets inside. Andrew Woytuik, the Reapers’ senior forward, used his size to score all 12 of his points within a couple of feet of the rim. Falk entered the game with six minutes left, but quickly fouled out, leaving the game with a team-high 15 points. While both teams relied on their fast break, the Reapers hit clutch shots from outside. “Coming into this season I thought we were two years away from a championship,” said Reapers coach Joel Wells. Said Peters: “We’re hoping to repeat next year.” The game was tied until about four minutes remained in the fourth quarter, when back-to-back three- pointers by Habib Habib and Garrett Peters put Harvest City ahead to stay. “It was more relief than anything,” Harvest City head coach Joel Wells said. “Last year, it was sheer excitement. This year, we were more clearly the favourite and sometimes that’s a tougher position to be in. To find a way to win in the end, it was sheer relief.” Wells has coached Harvest City to all four of its provincial titles. The Reapers also repeated as the champion in 2001. Most of this year’s team is to return for the 2008-09 season. Harvest City trailed by five points at halftime and one point after the third quarter. “We scrapped our way back into it and we played extremely well in the fourth quarter, when we were able to score in transition,” Wells said. Jared Klassen paced the Laurels with 15. Jason Falk added 13.
The bronze medalist Rose Valley Roadrunners: Jordan Kohlen; Dustin Montes; Jesse MacDonald; Jordan Martinson; Joel Prosko; Blaize Lipinski; Brenden Derksen; Riley Braaten; Jeremy Nelson; coach Judd Kruger
The silver medalist Herbert Laurels: Todd Bali; Jared Klaassen; Dustin Munroe; Mark Siemens; Cory Braun; Jason Falk; Jordan Miller; Colton Unger; Craig Hilmour; Erik Solberg; Nathan Fast; Mason Forsyth; coach Mark Mason (Forsyth?)
The gold medalist Regina Harvest City Reapers: Andrew Woytuik; Joel Ernest; Garrett Peters; John Cockerill; Stephane Hay; Habib Habib; Sean Wilson; Chris Jijian; Aaron Cockerill; Mike Singer; Humed Habib; coach Joel Wells