In the opening round: …………………………………………………… The Regina Harvest City Reapers defeated crushed the St. Louis Eagles 74-43 after leading 33-3, 48-13 and 65-27 at the quarters. …………………………………………………… The Sturgis Trojans nipped the Rockglen Raiders 71-70. …………………………………………………… The Herbert Laurels whipped the Borden Trailblazers 100-70 as Colton Unger scored 28 before being sidelined by an ankle injury. Luke Meister paced Borden with 28. …………………………………………………… The Fillmore Falcons crushed the Stoughton Bulldogs 94-41 as Blayz Larose scored 30 and James Kennedy 26. Brendan Rogers paced Stoughton with 15. …………………………………………………… The Lake Lenore Lancers stomped the Cut Knife Chief Poundmaker Chiefs 87-32 after leading 32-11, 49-22 and 67-26 at the quarters. …………………………………………………… The Saskatoon Christian Centre Academy Cougars clipped the Sandy Bay Hector Thiboutot Timberwolves 83-58. Sandy Bay was reduced to four players on the floor by the third quarter because of foul trouble. …………………………………………………… The Mortlach Mohawks dumped the Glaslyn Jets 74-48 by dominating the boards. Logan Polley paced the Mohawks with 19. …………………………………………………… The Middle Lake Three Lakes Avengers clipped Allan 74-61 as Jesse Kwasnica and Simon Hauser scored a combined 49 points.
In the quarterfinals, the Regina Harvest City Reapers stomped the Sturgis Trojans 97-52 as Habib Habib scored 26 and Atlee Simon 23. Michael Burym paced the Trojans with 15. Harley Olson-Clark added 12.
The Herbert Laurels stomped the Fillmore Falcons 83-63 as Cory Braun scored 36, primarily from beyond the arc. James Kennedy led the Falcons with 23.
The Lake Lenore Lancers whipped the Saskatoon Christian 87-52 after leading 49-25 at the half and 73-34 after three quarters.
In the last quarterfinal, the Middle Lake Three Lakes Avengers dumped the Mortlach Mohawks 74-65 as Logan Polley scored 23. Ben Apperley led the Mohawks with 26.
In the semis, the top-seeded Regina Harvest City Reapers edged the Herbert Laurels 83-78 as Habib Habib scored 28, Garrett Peters 18, Atlee Simon 13 and Timothy Edquilane 13. Cory Braun paced the Laurels with 30. Phil Braun added 23 and Eric Solberg 11. The Reapers offence was run by grade eight point guard Atlee Simon. “Everywhere we go, nobody can believe he’s in Grade 8,” Reapers head coach Joel Wells told the Regina Leader-Post. The SHSAA allows teams in the 1A category, consisting of the smallest schools, to elevate Grade 8s if they are short of players. “Atlee has been the big reason why we are where we are,” said Wells, whose team is gunning for its fourth consecutive provincial title. “We lost three starters and our first two guys off the bench and we wondered where our third scorer and third rebounder would come from.” Initially, Simon wondered if he could be that player. “In my first game, I think I got two points the whole game,” he recalled. “I was so nervous. I couldn’t make good decisions at all. After that, I realized there wasn’t a big difference and that I could compete with them. A lot of it was because of my dad (Luis). He kept telling me that I can do it.” Wells expects laurels aplenty for the 5-foot-11 Simon over his next four years of high school basketball. “I said to some people this year, ‘If he grows another three or four inches and doesn’t play on a university team, I’ll consider myself a failure as a coach’,” said Wells, who is coaching at Hoopla for the 13th straight year. “He has that kind of talent. “I’m sure he’s going to play on some provincial teams. My fear is that everyone will be telling him, ‘What are you doing with a 1A school?’ But like I tell him, if he was at any other school in Regina, he wouldn’t be playing basketball in Grade 8.” Previously, Simon played elementary school basketball at Harvest City and was part of the Infernos, a travelling team that is together during the summer. “I knew from watching him in elementary school (basketball) and in recess breaks that he was going to be good, but I didn’t think he’d be this good,” Wells marvelled. “I was hoping he’d be a guy who would get us 10 points and give us a little bit of size, but if he isn’t our second-leading scorer, he’s third. He’s the type of kid where if you show him how to do something, he’ll go into the gym and in a couple of days he’ll be able to do it. He’s very coachable. I knew he had the talent, but the question for me was: In Grade 8, would he be intimidated? Would he be afraid to shoot or go to the basket?” Wells said. “He isn’t afraid at all. You can’t coach that kind of stuff.”
In the other semi, the Lake Lenore Lancers nipped the Middle Lake Three Lakes Avengers 69-65 as Christian Scott scored 27 and Cole Bauml 12. Simon Hauser and Kurt Hauser each scored 19 for Middle Lake.
In the bronze medal match, the Herbert Laurels defeated the Middle Lake Three Lakes Avengers 69-61 as Cory Braun scored 28 and Erik Solberg 12. Simon Hauser led the Avengers with 22. Jesse Kwasnicka added 11. “I am very proud,” Herbert coach Ken Falk, who was in his first hear at the helm after years as an assistant and two years sabbatical, told the Regina Leader-Post. “They probably played their best game all year on Friday afternoon and we lost to the number one seed by only five points. We had injuries but the boys all stepped up. One of our starters sprained his ankle last week and could not play this week so the bench picked it up and we were very proud. … To build them back up after a tough loss was tough but they came out strong and played good, everybody played really well. I don’t know what to say, we were just very excited about the win. Our point guard, Corey Braun, played very well. I don’t want him to stand out because everybody played well, but he had an exceptional weekend. We were proud of each one of the guys and the big guys up the middle really played hard. It was a pretty physical game, talking to the refs afterwards. The boys played hard and stayed in the game which was all we could ask. The strength of our team was total team play with strong defense is what helped us win the game. The first practice, some of us had been to Hoopla before, so we wore our Hoopla jerseys and said ‘boys this is where we want to get to.’ So getting to Hoopla was our goal and we got there and came home with a medal so we surpassed our goals.”
In the final, the Regina Harvest City Reapers captured their fourth consecutive crown by dumping the Lake Lenore Lancers 99-83 as Habib Habib scored 48 and Garrett Peters 19. Christian Scott led the Lancers with 34. Cole Bauml added 31. Peters was elated to win his fourth straight title. “I’m very proud,” the Grade 12 point guard told the Saskatoon Star-Phoenix. “It’s not just me, because (coach Joel) Wells put this team together. It’s probably going to be the top memory (from high school). I can’t compare a lot else to that.” Peters is also an accomplished soccer player who frequently travels to Edmonton during the winter to participate in a national training program. A member of Regina’s AC Pumas club team, Peters hopes to play university soccer in the fall. Wells said “we were watching other teams jumping around and freaking out after they won,” Wells said. “We didn’t do that, but we’re feeling a sense of satisfaction because we accomplished our goal. We didn’t win at the buzzer or anything so the final didn’t have a dramatic feel to it, but we did play well in the final and we played to our capabilities.” The Reapers amassed 16 three-pointers, including seven by Habib, in the wide-open gold-medal game. “We couldn’t stop them, but we were making threes and they were making twos,” noted Wells, who has coached Harvest City in each of its 13 consecutive trips to Hoopla.
The bronze medalist Herbert Laurels: Colton Unger; Cory Braun; Phil Braun; Erik Solberg; Tyler Martens; Jordan Miller; coach Ken Falk
The silver medalist Lake Lenore Lancers: Christian Scott; Cole Bauml; coach Lindsey Foy
The gold medalist Regina Harvest City Reapers: Habib Habib; Garrett Peters; Atlee Simon; Timothy Edquilane; coach Joel Wells