High school basketball is back again and two Hapnot teams have already done well in recent tournaments.
The Hapnot and Creighton’s boys varsity teams started the season with the Creighton Border Bash, an annual tournament for teams in northern Manitoba and Saskatchewan.
The Kodiaks started their season with a big 84-46 home win in their first game against La Ronge, putting them into the winner’s bracket. However, the team would lose their next game against the Frontier Raiders.
That set up a third-place game matchup with Sandy Bay, which ended with a 79-62 Kodiaks loss, placing Creighton in fourth overall.
Hapnot Kings lost 65-53 to Sandy Bay in their opening game, but defeated La Loche 57-21 in their second game, putting them in the B-side finals against Nipawin.
The game was close, but Hapnot came out on top, winning a 49-48 squeaker to get the B-side title and a fifth-place overall finish.
The next major tournament, the Bill McDonald Memorial Basketball tournament in The Pas, was held Dec. 14 and 15. Creighton and Hapnot entered teams in both the girls’ and boys’ draws, kicking off the season for the Kweens.
The Creighton Kodiaks and the Hapnot Kweens both won their opening games on the girls’ side.
Creighton beat the host Margaret Barbour Spartans 65-33, while Hapnot took down the Neepawa Tigers 49-22.
That set up a Creighton-Hapnot game in the semi-finals, with a spot in the finals on the line.
Hapnot beat the Kodiaks 61-25, setting up a matchup with RD Parker for the tournament championship. There, the Kweens’ luck ran short, ending with a 52-21 loss to the team from Thompson.
Creighton would later lose the third place game 74-38 to Nipawin’s LP Miller Bears.
In the boys’ tournament, both the Kings and Kodiaks lost their opening games, with Hapnot losing 56-22 to the host Margaret Barbour Collegiate Spartans and Creighton dropping a 74-40 match to the Frontier Raiders.
Entering the consolation bracket, Hapnot defeated the Kamsack Comprehensive Spartans 64-44, qualifying for the consolation final.
Creighton had a chance to face Hapnot by winning their consolation game, but the RD Parker Trojans put an end to that notion, beating Creighton 95-64. The Trojans would go on to beat Hapnot in a 76-71 nailbiter, claiming the B-side title.
Creighton would face Kamsack in the seventh-place game, losing 72-47.
Frontier beat Porcupine Plain in the semi-finals, punching their ticket to a date with Margaret Barbour in the tournament final.
Margaret Barbour earned the title, beating Frontier 73-39.
The basketball season will take a short break over the holidays, resuming again in the new year.
