In the opening round: …………………………………………………… The Regina Harvest City Reapers clocked the Borden Trailblazers 80-35 after leading 52-16 at the half. Bryson Ostepchuck paced the Reapers with 29. Jackson Wiebe led the Trailblazers with 12. …………………………………………………… The Middle Lake Three Lakes Avengers whipped the Saskatoon Ecole Canadienne Patriotes 60-41 after leading 27-19 at the half. Nathan Hauser led the Trojans with 21. Joel Emard paced the Patriotes with 15. …………………………………………………… The Sturgis Trojans dumped the St. Brieux Crusaders 82-65 after leading 21-3, 54-23 and 69-40 at the quarters. Michael Burym paced the Trojans with 36. Julius Rara led the Crusaders with 35. …………………………………………………… The Stoughton Bulldogs thumped the Turtleford Thunderchild Titans 91-76 after leading 22-13, 46-34 and 74-63 at the quarters. Dylan Turner led the Bulldogs with 30. Carl Paddy paced the Titans with 50. …………………………………………………… The Herbert Laurels crushed the Southey Screaming Eagles 92-34. Herbert opens strongly with a 6-0 lead and does not look back. The young Screaming Eagles, who started two grade 9s, 2 grade 10s and 1 grade 12 struggled with the veteran Laurels, who started four grade 12s. South rallied to within 16-8 but Herbert sunk two treys and added a steal to build a 26-9 lead by using its superior height to their advantage and forcing turnovers. The Laurels led 30-11 after one quarter and extended their lead to 55-18 at the half on Dueck’s playmaking. The Laurels led 82-22 after three quarters in the romp. Phil Braun led Herbert with 16 points, including four treys. Rennie and Nixon each scored 6 to pace the Eagles. …………………………………………………… The Cut Knife Chief Poundmaker Chiefs annihilated the Hepburn Hawks 81-51. The Chiefs led 14-13 after one quarter but their defensive pressure soon took its toll and they built a 37-22 lead at the half. The Hawks opened with a 6-0 run but the Chiefs responded with an 8-0 run and extended their margin to 61-32 after three quarters in the romp. Jeremy Stone led the Chiefs with 31. Dakota Gagne paced the Hawks with 11. …………………………………………………… The Fillmore Falcons dusted the Rockglen Raiders 79-45. …………………………………………………… The Craik Cougars nipped the Outlook LCBI Bisons 66-63.
In the quarterfinals, the Regina Harvest City Reapers dispatched the Middle Lake Three Lakes Avengers 84-75. The score was knotted at 36 at the half but Atlee Simon, who scored 46, hit a series of tough buckets down the stretch to pull out the win for Harvest City. Thomas Edquilane added 16 for the Reapers. Nathan Hauser paced the Avengers with 29. Brandon Shreiner added 18. “This year, we’re not as strong as we’ve been in years past,” Reapers coach Joel Wells said. “I think it’s going to be a dogfight. We found that out today. It was a gut-check kind of a game. I’m just thankful we got out of it.”
The Sturgis Trojans clipped the Stoughton Bulldogs 78-58 after leading 20-4, 42-19 and 61-35 at the quarters. Michael Burym paced the Trojans with 39. Dylan Turner led the Bulldogs with 17.
The Herbert Laurels dumped the Cut Knife Chief Poundmaker Chiefs 87-73. The Chiefs built a 17-8 lead after one quarter off their defensive pressure. But Herbert rallied with a 7-3 run and kept draining treys to trim the margin to four. Stone and Checkosis piled the ball for runout layouts to give the Chiefs a 34-23 lead before Phil Braun hit a trey at the buzzer to rally Herbert within 39-31 at the half. Herbert dominated the third quarter by a 36-12 count to take a 67-51 lead, primarily by hitting treys. Braun kept nailing treys in the final frame to ensure the win. Braun paced the Chiefs with 27 points, including seven treys. Jeremy Stone led the Chiefs with 28. The Laurels trailed 18-8 after one quarter and 39-31 at halftime. They heated up in the second half, led by Braun’s distance shooting, out-scoring the Chiefs 36-12 in the third quarter. “I am very proud of the team,” said Herbert coach Mark Forsyth. “These guys have built and become way more strong as the season progressed. I am happy to see them finish second in the league and happy to go to Hoopla for six grade 12’s to have a chance of winning the title.” Braun said “I am so proud of these guys. We fought and we stayed in it. Nobody gave up and that is the thing I am most proud of. It is just great to see that we don’t quit, because for a moment there it didn’t look like we were going to be able to do it. We just kept fighting and played hard until the end and I am thankful for that.”
In the last quarterfinal, the 11th-seeded Craik Cougars edged the Fillmore Falcons 73-70 in overtime. “We are very excited,” said Craik coach Gord Taylor. “This is a big thing for our school, our kids and our community.” The two teams were tied at 62-62 when they went into overtime and Craik pulled ahead for the win with 30 seconds left in the game. “I, myself, as a coach and a player went to a lot of provincials over the years and this one was one of the highlights in terms of emotion,” said Taylor. “I like to rack up the game to a lot of heart and soul and a lot of pride in the school, team and community.”
In the semis, the top-seeded Regina Harvest City Reapers whipped the 4th-seeded Sturgis Trojans 95-67. Atlee Simon paced the Reapers with 52. Michael Burym led the Trojans with 26.
In the other semi, the 2nd-seeded Herbert Laurels nipped the 11th-seeded Craik Cougars 66-62 despite trailing 20-5 after one quarter and 40-20 at the half. Phil Braun led the Laurels with 20. Grade nine guard Kurt Robertson added 20. A 15-5 run – including two three-pointers from Braun – in the last six minutes capped the comeback. Craik, led by 28 points from Tyler Sanden, had a chance to tie but came up empty on its last possession, and a layup by Robertson with four seconds left sealed the win.
In the bronze medal match, the Sturgis Trojans smacked the Craik Cougars 85-72. Michael Burym paced the Trojans with 39. Sam Folk added 29. Tyson Scott led the Cougars with 30.
In the final, the Regina Harvest City Reapers clipped the Herbert Laurels 97-82 after leading 48-34 at the half. Atlee Simon led the Reapers with 36. Bryson Ostepchuck added 25 and Thomas Edquilane 24, all on treys. Layton Dueck and Stewart Meyer each scored 19 to pace the Laurels. The title was the Reapers sixth consecutive and eighth since 2000. “There is a lot of pressure on us because everyone expects that we’re going to come in and win,” Harvest City’s Bryson Ostepchuck said. “When the game got close in the third quarter, it was a little bit nerve-racking. We just had to stay calm and we know if we played our game we could win.” Reapers coach Joel Wells said “I really don’t know what it is. I’ve been fortunate that in the six years that I’ve had a couple of really top-level players (Habib Habib and Atlee Simon). That’s unusual for 1A. To have two guys who are that dominant means we can fill in the pieces around them. … “We’ve put a lot of work into it.” Simon was assessed his third foul three minutes into the second quarter and sat out the final five minutes of the second quarter. Harvest City led 35-23 when Simon went off and held a 48-34 advantage at the half. “A lot of the guys started to panic,” said Ostepchuck. “I told them to keep their heads into it. We had a 10-point lead at the time and I knew if we could keep that we would be OK. We are more than a one-man team.” The Laurels had fought back from a 14-point halftime deficit to take a brief three-point lead early in the fourth quarter. The silver medal was a great way to cap the season, said Laurels coach Mark Forsyth. “Oh yeah, for us thinking that we were not going to take anything this year, so it was pretty awesome. But it is hard when it is that heart-breaking and that close with this many grade 12’s. We wanted it. We led by three in the fourth quarter and I thought we had her for sure. The momentum had swung. But that kid [Simon] is good.” Dueck said “yeah, we were pretty happy, but gold would have been nicer. A lot of us played the best that we have ever played. We can’t be ashamed of that game. We all did well. We lost to a really good team.” Robertson said “yeah, we wanted to get first but we are okay with second. We made it to the final game.”
The bronze medalist Sturgis Trojans: Michael Burym; Sam Folk;
The silver medalist Herbert Laurels: Phil Braun; Jonathan Miller, Kurt Robertson; Layton Dueck; Stewart Meyer; Brandon Fast; Darcy Geisbrecht; Andrew Meyer; Frank Meyers; Tyler Martens; Derek Doerksen; Brett Klassen; coach Mark Forsyth; assistant Mason Forsyth; manager Tracy Miller
The gold medalist Regina Harvest City Reapers: Bryson Ostepchuck; Atlee Simon; Thomas Edquilane; Antonio Carmona; coach Joel Wells