Basketball teams from both Hapnot Collegiate and Creighton Community School have had their seasons unceremoniously ended - for very different reasons.
On the Manitoba side, the Manitoba High Schools Athletic Association (MHSAA) cancelled all high school basketball and hockey championships province-wide March 12, ending the year for Hapnot’s two qualifying basketball teams.
Both the junior varsity Kings and senior Kweens teams were set to take part in provincials this year. The Kweens qualified for their provincials, which were set to be held at Immanuel Christian School in Winnipeg, by winning the Zone 11 title late last month. The tournament was set to take place from March 19-21. The Kweens had been assigned the second seed in the tournament and entered ranked as a top 10 team in the province.
The Kings qualified by winning a wildcard play-in game against McGregor after finishing second at zones. Playing in Swan River - roughly halfway between the two towns - the Kings won 92-74 to secure a spot.
The Kings had travelled to Carberry for provincials this weekend and had just wrapped up their first game when the announcement was made. The Kings lost 85-76 to the fourth-seed Gilbert Plains/Grandview Co-op squad and would have been sent to the consolation round had the tournament continued.
Creighton
Across the provincial border, the Kodiaks girls’ teams will be unable to continue their season due to an ongoing conflict between the provincial government and the Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation (STF).
As a result of ongoing tensions spurred by what STF described as the government’s “[unwillingness] to provide adequate support for students across the province,” the group announced sanctions March 9 which were implemented three days later. As a result of the sanctions, STF members went work-to-rule, working no more than 15 minutes before or after a school day and no longer providing any voluntary or extracurricular activities, including sports.
“The team knows. We are trying to really navigate how to end the season now. It is really awful for our Grade 12s,” said Kodiaks coach Chelsea Kirschman.
The Kodiaks won their conference 2 matchup against Sandy Bay 101-74 at Hector Thiboutot School in Sandy Bay March 7. The team was slated to continue to the regional round, but a lack of resolution solving the government conflict by March 11 ended the team’s hopes of advancing.
“It is the first year these girls have won conferences,” Kirschman said.
“As it stands, those Grade 12s’ last game was in Sandy Bay and they didn’t even know it.”
