Flin Flon and Creighton high school basketball teams continued with tournament play last weekend, heading south for three separate tournaments, winning one.
The junior Kweens were on the court in The Pas at the Margaret Barbour Collegiate (MBCI) JV invitational tournament Feb. 9-10, impressing both in pool play and in playoffs. Teams were separated into two four-team pools, with each team’s finish deciding what they would play for in the playoff - first-place seeds would play each other for first overall, second-place seeds would play for third and so on.
In their pool, Hapnot took wins big and small, winning 80-7 over the Mantou Sakahigan Kiskinamakewikamik Wolverines from Gods Lake Narrows First Nation, 63-40 over the host Spartans and eking out a 30-29 squeaker over Thompson’s R.D. Parker Trojans. The Kweens picked up the top seed in their pool by one point, but that was enough to get them into the tournament final.
There, the Kweens would play the Dauphin Regional Comprehensive Secondary School (DRCSS) Clippers. Facing off against Cross Lake Mikisew, Norway House’s Helen Betty Osborne Ininiw Education Resource Centre (HBOIERC) Huskies and a second MBCI JV team, the Clippers cruised to their own first-place finish in pool play, giving up just 41 points in three games while scoring 245.
The competition between the Kweens and DRCSS was close on paper and proved to be so on the court. Finally, after a seesaw battle, the Kweens came away with a 35-32 victory, claiming top spot in the tournament and heading back home up Manitoba Highway 10 happy.
Kings
Meanwhile, Hapnot’s senior boys’ squad was on the road to St-Boniface, playing in the Centurions Classic at St-Boniface Diocesan High School against southern opposition. The tournament was a single-elimination, knockout structure - one loss and a team would be sent to the consolation bracket, losing their chance at a first-place finish.
In their first game, the Kings played the Steinbach Christian School Flames and earned a 80-61 victory, getting into the semifinals. The Kings would play the host St-Boniface Diocesan Centurions in the final round, and despite a strong showing against a new opponent, the Centurions overthrew the Kings, handing Hapnot a 58-54 loss.
That result knocked the team out of title contention, but did put Hapnot into the third-place game, where they would play the Westgate Wings. Facing a Winnipeg-based school for the second straight game, the Kings came out on top, winning 61-51 to earn third place in a southern tournament.
This weekend, the senior Kings will go to Neepawa to take part in the local Tigers’ basketball tournament, while the varsity Kweens will go to Warren for a tournament of their own. Neither of Hapnot’s JV squads are scheduled to be in action this weekend.
Kodiaks
The Creighton Kodiaks senior girls' team also headed out of town for tournament play last weekend, going down to Wynyard for a tournament against stiff competition of their own. Three teams that earned medals in last year’s provincial Hoopla tournament hit the court, along with Creighton - each team came from larger schools than Creighton.
The Kodiaks opened up the weekend with a game against the Regina Christian Grizzlies - Creighton kept it close heading into the second half, down by just one basket, but the Grizzlies turned on the pressure late and won 48-38. That led to a matchup against the Unity
Composite High Warriors, which the Kodiaks ran away with, more than doubling up their opponents in a 38-17 win. That led to a final game for fifth place against the Oxbow Black Knights, which ended with another win for the northern squad - 45-37, Kodiaks.
The girls’ team will be back in tournament action in three weeks in Davidson, Sask.
