In the opening round: …………………………………………………… The top-seeded Birch Hills Marauders crushed North Battleford Sakewew Aboriginal x 110-66 as Braden McLean scored 22 and Gianni Iradukunda 20. Samual Littlewolfe hit nine treys for Sakewew. Dustin Haaland added seven treys. Birch Hills led 25-15, 55-34 and 88-50 at the quarters. …………………………………………………… The Moosomin McNaughton Marquis defeated the Clavet Cougars 96-80 as Matt Lecomte scored 36 and Ryan Bartley 20. Brad Blahun led Clavet with 28. Brett Lendsay added 20. Both teams worked hard pressing the ball up the court and playing solid defence. It was tied at the end of the first quarter 26-26 and by halftime Moosomin took the lead 49-46. At the end of the third quarter it was 74-59 for Moosomin and Clavet tired down the stretch. …………………………………………………… The Assiniboia Rockets whipped Prince Albert Collegiate Institute Golden Bears 88-40 as Paul Thomson scored 21 and Chris Bamford 19. Justin Henry led PACI with 15. Assiniboia’s height proved the difference. …………………………………………………… The Warman Wolverines clipped the Onion Lake Eagleview Eagles 89-43 as Anesu Saruchera scored 18. Windy Waskewitch led the Eagles with 19. Warman’s fastbreak proved too much for Eagleview to handle. …………………………………………………… The Lumsden Devils stuffed the Saskatoon Tommy Douglas Tigers 73-43 as Colby Boyes scored 21. Bradyn Wiebbe led the Tigers with 14. The Devils defence dominated. A balanced offensive attack by Lumsden saw them extend to an early lead. Colby Boyes led the Devils with 19 first half points. Combined with the dominant presence of Matt Forbes inside, the Devils showed poise and intelligence within their offense. Timely outside shooting, aggressive offensive rebounding, and smart decisions gave them the lead at half 48-19. Braydyn Weibbe led the Tigers with 9 first half points. Saskatoon seemed out of sync but played hard despite the score. The second half saw a more aggressive Saskatoon squad but they were unable to close the gap. …………………………………………………… The Melville Cobras nipped the Unity Warriors 73-72 in overtime on a buzzer beating trey by Brian Kirschman. Kirschman finished 24 points. Daniel Herrick led Unity with 25. Neither team led by more than five. …………………………………………………… The Shaunavon Shadows stomped the Biggar Blazers 75-31 as Tyler Sonen scored 21, Karl Wilkins 16 and Ryan Wig 12. Jeremy Yurchak led the Blazers with 10. Carter May added 8. Shaunavon led 25-6, 40-13 and 61-25 at the quarters. …………………………………………………… The 11th-seeded Dalmeny Cougars dumped the Fort Qu’Appelle Bert Fox Lakers 90-65 Michael Farion scored 25 and Justin Bergman 17. Michael Head led Fort Qu’Appelle with 16. Brandon Giroux added 15. Dalmeny led 22-12, 49-34 and 69-58 at the quarters.
In the quarterfinals, the top-seeded Birch Hills Marauders whipped the Moosomin McNaughton Marquis 91-71 as Josh Bruce scored 30 and Braden McLean 27. Taylor Volk led Moosomin with 21. Matt Lecomte added 18.
The Assiniboia Rockets clipped the Warman Wolverines 86-68 with solid halfcourt offence and tough defence.
The Lumsden Devils crushed the Melville Cobras 79-58 as Matt Forbes scored 27. Brian Kirschman led the Cobras with 27. Lumsden led 20-17 after one quarter as Matt Forbes scored 10 and Benny Auzenne 6. Derek Morris tossed in 10 for the Cobras. The Devils led 38-32 at the half, with Daniel Punga scored 7 in the second quarter. Brian Kirschman notched 6 for the Cobras in the second quarter. Lumsden led 59-45 after three quarters, with Forbes scored 7 in the frame. Kirschman had 8 for the Cobras.
In the last quarterfinal, the 11th-seeded Dalmeny Cougars edged the Shaunavon Shadows 60-58. Both Shaunavon and Dalmeny seemed to be evenly matched, but Dalmeny was able to pull ahead of Shaunavon ending the first quarter in a 17-13 lead. The teams traded the lead in the second quarter before Dalmeny built a 36-30 lead at the half. Dalmeny worked hard to stay ahead of Shaunavon, but Shaunavon managed to finish only one basket behind Dalmeny with a 48-46 score for Dalmeny at the end of the third quarter. The last quarter was intense. Shaunavon managed to tie it with 25 seconds to go but Dalmeny notched two free throws to win it.
In the semis, the top-seeded Birch Hills Marauders nipped the defending provincial champ Assiniboia Rockets 66-65 as Giani Iradukunda scored 22. Paul Thomson and Will Richards each scored 17 to pace Assiniboia. The Rockets held a 10-point lead in the second half before the Marauders rallied. A basket by Braden McLean with 26 seconds left gave Birch Hills a 66-64 lead and Assiniboia couldn’t tie it. The loss stung, Rockets forward Paul Thompson told the Regina Leader-Post. “There were so many little things that could have gone either way — a call this way or that way, a shot that could have dropped here or there. But no matter what, I’ll remember it forever.”
In the other semi, the Lumsden Devils defeated the 11th-seeded Dalmeny Cougars 65-57 as Matt Forbes scored 27. Michael Farion led Dalmeny with 15.
In the bronze medal match, the Assiniboia Rockets defeated the 11th-seeded Dalmeny Cougars 67-58 as Paul Thomson scored 39. Michael Farion led Dalmeny with 17. Dalmeny led 22-18 after one quarter. Assiniboia led 39-29 at the half and 48-43 after three quarters.
In the final, the Lumsden Devils, making their first appearance in Hoopla since 1982, defeated the Birch Hills Marauders 55-44 as Colby Boyes scored 17. Giani Iradukunda led Birch Hills with 15. The Devils were appearing in Hoopla for the first time since 1982. “I don’t know if we had the best team if you look at the top five in 3A basketball, but they played like they were up there,” Devils head coach Drew Schenk told the Regina Leader-Post. “I’m very proud that they did. I can’t believe that it happened. … “The players were something else. I told them they could make history by winning a game, because we lost both games in 1982. It was a little surreal. In the locker room afterwards, there were pictures and cheering and yelling and hugs. Some of the boys had tears in their eyes because it was just sinking in for them. For others, it’s still sinking in. If you’re going to allow 44 points, you don’t have to be a great offensive team to win. If we could defend well, I knew we had a chance. I thought we had a chance if we could hold them to 50 or 55. If you hold someone to 44, it’s like you have to shoot yourself in the foot to lose.”
The bronze medalist Assiniboia Rockets: Paul Thomson; Chris Bamford; Will Richards; Carter Lewis; Kris Booth; Reece Cayer; Colton Cote; Brendan Feh; Matt Hysuik; Eric Moseley; Ilja Schirokov; Mike Topola; coach Brent Chadwick
The silver medalist Birch Hills Marauders: Gianni Iradukunda; Braden McLean; Josh Bruce; coach Kim Kuperis
The gold medalist Lumsden Devils: Matt Forbes; Colby Boyes; Benny Auzenne; Daniel Punga; coach Drew Schenk