Two more zone banners will be hanging in the Hapnot Collegiate gym. Both the school’s senior varsity Kweens and Kings won their zone 11 championships last weekend, moving on to provincials.
The senior varsity Kweens continued their perfect season with a flawless run through the zone tournament, playing one game in their home gym and finishing the tournament in The Pas. Five teams would be in the mix, with the top two teams moving on to a winner-take-all one-game final for the title.
The Kweens started with a 79-35 win over the Frontier Collegiate Raiders at Hapnot March 2, with the two teams closest to Flin Flon playing each other closer to home before moving to Margaret Barbour Collegiate (MBCI) the next day.
Once in The Pas Friday afternoon, the Kweens would face the MBCI Spartans for the fourth time this season. Hapnot had beaten their southern rivals in all three previous matchups and would do the same in The Pas, winning 47-38. The Friday night matchup pitted Hapnot with the Helen Betty Osborne Ininiw Educational Resource Centre (HBOIERC) Huskies from Norway House, which ended in a lopsided 73-13 Hapnot win.
With first place in their pool within reach Saturday morning, the Kweens defeated OCN’s Oscar Lathlin Collegiate Wolverines 60-31, moving into the tournament final. There - for the fifth time this season and the third time in a tournament final - it would be another Kweens/Spartans matchup.
Hapnot battled their southern rivals in what would be their last game against each other this season and the Kweens took their opportunity at a clean sweep, taking the banner and the W by a 56-46 score.
The Kweens will advance to provincials in Souris March 16-18.
Kings
The senior Kings had a five-team field in Norway House to contend with. Hapnot started strong with a 64-43 victory over Frontier Collegiate Friday afternoon, then a 72-13 win over the host Huskies later in the day.
The next day brought two tough tests in Cross Lake Mikisew and MBCI, which the Kings passed with flying colours, winning 74-34 over Mikisew and 53-37 against the Spartans. That clinched a first-place berth in the final, where Hapnot would face Frontier in a rematch of their earlier faceoff.
After their loss to the Kings, Frontier went full steam ahead, defeating MBCI 73-49 and putting up triple digits against the other two teams, winning 117-31 over Mikisew and 115-20 against HBOIERC. Hapnot was the only team to hold the Raiders to less than 50 points through pool play.
In the rematch, the Kings and Raiders went blow for blow, keeping it close until the end, but Hapnot eked out a 59-57 victory to claim the banner.
The senior Kings will advance to provincials later this month, played at Virden Collegiate Institute and hosted by the provincial second-seed Virden Bears March 16-18.
