In the opening round: …………………………………………………… The top-seeded Shaunavon Shadows dusted the 16th-seeded Onion Lake Eagleview Eagles 114-76. The Shadows broke to a 10-3 lead and then ripped off a 20-0 run, led by Matthew Benesh, as they took a 42-13 lead after one quarter. Pahtayken began to rally the Eagles in the second quarter before being sidelined by injury. Shaunavon led 64-39 at the half and 86-60 after three quarters. Benesh led the Shadows with 36, including 25 in the first half. Jay Selvig added 22. Winddancer Waskewitch led the Eagles with 30. Horse added 18. …………………………………………………… The 8th-seeded Outlook Blues stomped the 9th-seeded Unity Warriors 94-46. The Blues opened with a 21-0 run as Brown forced several turnovers before Lang got the Warriors on track to rally Unity within 29-14 after one quarter. The Blues extended their lead to 45-29 at the half and then exploded with a 26-0 run, 22 of which were scored by Brown and Bowey, and led 79-34 after three quarters. Brown led Outlook with 34. Redick and Bowey each added 22. Lang paced Unity with 12. Maze added 11. …………………………………………………… The Hudson Bay Riders whipped the Dalmeny Cougars 92-26 after leading 19-9 after one quarter and 41-18 at the half. Jesse Rogalski led the Riders with 28. J.J. Nash added 21 and Connor Neu 16. Riley Pauls paced the Cougars with 10. Byron Prokopetz added 9. …………………………………………………… The Clavet Cougars crushed the Fort Qu’Appelle Bert Fox Lakers 96-53 after leading 24-11, 49-24 and 76-28 at the quarters. Tom Blahun paced the Cougars with 27. Riley Kerr added 20 and Colton Glover 19. Nathaniel Deegan led the Lakers with 13. Sean Moostoos added 12. …………………………………………………… The Caronport Cougars annihilated the Biggar Blazers 101-50 as Jalen Radics scored 16. Michael Muller led the Blazers with 27. The Blazers (coached by T.J. Wright) also included Kyle McCarty, Dylan Brant, Aaron Beeson, Joshua Johnson, Daniel Markewich, Kale Heart, Sam Mao, Chanse Lorenz, Jeremey Yurchak, Landon Robillard, Ryan Hunter and Brandon Markewich. …………………………………………………… The Regina Scott Blues defeated the Balcarres Bulldogs 72-60 in overtime as Zach Klyne scored 15. Zane Lynxleg led the Bulldogs with 14. …………………………………………………… The Moose Jaw Riverview/Cornerstone Royals smacked the Wynyard Golden Bears 103-54 as Dillon Pinfold led all scorers. Wade Bugyi paced the Golden Bears. …………………………………………………… The Moosomin Marquis clipped the Birch Hills Marauders 65-49 as Brody Kilgour led all scorers. Kyle Hintz and Parker Gourby paced the Marauders.
In the quarterfinals, the Shaunavon Shadows dumped the 8th-seeded Outlook Blues 84-62. Outlook took an early lead on treys by Brown but Matthew Benesh responded with a series of treys and Funk hit a bucket as the Shadows took their first lead, 26-25 after one quarter. Shaunavon began to take command of the boards as they built a 44-35 lead at the half and a 65-48 lead after three quarters. Redlick and Britnell fouled out for the Blues. Grade 10 post Jesse Voll paced the Shadows with 34 points, 29 boards and 6 steals. Grade 10 guard Matthew Benesh added 22 points and 10 boards. “That was an incredible effort (by Voll),” Shadows coach Tim Miller sad. “And it didn’t matter whether, they were offensive or defensive, he was getting rebounds at both ends of the court.” Karl Wilkins added 18 for Shaunavon, while grade 11 forward Marty Funk nabbed 11 boards and grade 11 guard Jay Selvig dished 5 assists. “When you look at things across the board, everyone played well, which speaks well of the team effort,” said Miller. The Shadows led 26-25 at the end of the first quarter and 44-35 at halftime. Dustin Brown paced the Blues with 34. Redlick added 11.
The Clavet Cougars clipped the Hudson Bay Riders 73-53 after leading 35-32 at the half. Ryan Dickson paced the Cougars with 23. Tom Blahun added 16 and Colton Glover 13. J.J. Nash led the Riders with 21. Jesse Rogalski added 13.
The Caronport Cougars whipped the Regina Scott Blues 93-61 after leading 27-11 after one quarter and 51-24 at the half. Daniel Nelson led Caronport with 23. Nathan Sangwais paced the Blues with 21.
In the last quarterfinal, the Moose Jaw Riverview/Cornerstone Royals clocked the Moosomin Marquis 89-62 as Dillon Pinfold scored 23, James Copeman 22 and Reegan Carter 20. Jordan Volk paced the Marquis.
In the semis, the Clavet Cougars clipped the Shaunavon Shadows 87-57 after leading 20-10, 46-21 and 68-35 at the quarters. Tom Blahun paced the Cougars with 29. Riley Kerr added 22. Jesse Voll led the Shadows with 15. Matthew Benesh added 14.
In the other semi, the Caronport Cougars stuffed the Moose Jaw Riverview/Cornerstone Royals 69-48 after leading 21-5, 36-28 and 49-43 at the quarters. Daniel Nelson led the Cougars with 21. Jalen Radics added 14. Dillon Pinfold paced the Royals with 16. Jayson Peters added 9. After having a 12-point lead early in the quarter, the Royals surged to draw within 45-43. The Cougars regrouped. “We called a timeout and one of our leaders (Jayson Wendel) said, ‘you know what guys, they’ve comeback on us before, but we’ve always surged ahead and we’re going to do it again,’” said Cougars head coach George Willatt. “That was just an affirmation to the rest of the guys, saying ‘we can do it, there’s no time to panic.’ I guess our key here was really staying composed the entire game and battling through adversity. In losing a lead like that, we could have very easily caved… but it has become a characteristic of our team to not deflate, but to respond to challenges and tonight, we did it again.” The Cougars outscored the Royals 20-5 in the fourth quarter to pull out the win. “All of a sudden, it just exploded there. I was asking our assistant coach (Chad Romanuk), where did that come from exactly?” said Willatt. “I think it was just a steadiness on defence and just we regained our composure after they made their run to get it to two points.”
In the bronze medal match, the Moose Jaw Riverview/Cornerstone Royals nipped the Shaunavon Shadows 55-54 as Reegan Carter scored 17. Jesse Voll the Shadows with 19. Royals guard Reegan Carter hit the winner with 0.8 seconds to play. Royals guard Jesse Seida stripped a Shadow of the ball with just ten seconds left, cycled it to Carter, who made no mistake with just before the buzzer. The bronze finish is the Royals’ second-consecutive Hoopla medal after getting gold last year, and their third since 2006.
In the final, the Clavet Cougars edged the Caronport Cougars 86-84 in overtime as Colton Glover scored 27, Tom Blahun 26 and Riley Kerr 17. Daniel Nelson led the Cougars with 21. Jalen Radics added 20 and Willie Cole 16. Clavet, a village with a population of just 345, captured both the 3A boys title and the 3A girls title. The Cougar were up by 17 points in the third quarter, but fell behind and needed a last-second three-pointer from Colton Glover to force overtime. “This game meant the world to me,” said Glover. “At the beginning of the season, we were nothing. We lost so many games, but somewhere along the line we just turned it around and now we’re here.” Coach Paul McTavish said “if you had asked me before we played our first game (of the season), I would have said we had a shot (at provincial gold).” Glover had doubts. “I never thought this day would come,” said the 6-foot-3 senior. “Every night before I’d go to bed, I’d always think about this and I’d always think about how amazing it would be to win Hoopla. Winning Hoopla in this fashion is just amazing.”
The bronze medalist Moose Jaw Riverview/Cornerstone Royals: Dillon Pinfold; James Coleman; Jayson Peters; Reegan Carter; Jesse Seida; coach Dwight Cameron
The silver medalist Caronport Cougars: Jalen Radics; Daniel Nelson; Willie Cole; Jayson Wendel; Thabo Mthembu; coach George Willatt; assistant Chad Romanuk
The gold medalist Clavet Cougars: Tom Blahun; Riley Kerr; Colton Glover; Ryan Dickson; Nigel Lendsay; Brandon Knull; Kyle Zurevinsky; Devan Reddick; Drew Fitzgerald; Joel Beresh; Zach McTavish; Riley Kerr; Josh Froehlich; Spencer Krips; Zeek Merta; coach Paul McTavish; assistant Claire McTavish; assistant D Dickson