It was another dunk-filled weekend at the North Battleford Comprehensive High School, as they hosted their annual senior boys basketball tournament.
Seven teams took part in the tourney, with games Friday and Saturday. The tournament kicked off with a local matchup, as the NBCHS Vikings took on the John Paul II Crusaders. The game proved to be no contest, though, as the Vikings ran all over the Crusaders by a final score of 102-33.
The Vikings went on to beat the Kinistino Blues by an 85-43 score, and set up a meeting with the Christian Centre Academy Eagles out of Saskatoon. They advanced to the final thanks to wins over Onion Lake by a 61-39 count and over Meadow Lake by a 77-45 score.
In the end, the Vikings just couldn't finish off the Eagles, who took home the title on Saturday night with a 64-44 final score.
As usual the tournament drew good crowds and enthusiastic support from the fans. The Vikings had entered the weekend tournament ranked fourth in 4A, and in spite of the final game, Vikings coach Jamie Sommerfeld said he believed the team showed it deserved that lofty ranking.
"It was a good weekend. We played very well in our first two games," said Sommerfeld, "Certainly the Christian Centre Academy showed us what we had to work on to get better."
Sommerfeld pointed to the performance by Jordon Wuttunee and Cody Buziak during the tournament as highlights. The senior Vikings now head to Yorkton this weekend.
Eagles coach Aaron Benneweis said the final was a "great game - North Battleford was really solid. It's always fun to get out and play those guys."
He said the Vikings were putting a lot of pressure on the Eagles defensively, making it tough to score points in the final game.
"It's good for the starters to play tough competition, that's for sure," Benneweis said. He said Eagles point guard Kyle Donauer was really solid with the ball in the final game and credited Cody Wheeler for rebounding at both ends for his team as well.
Meadow Lake ended up beating Kinistino to finish in third place. On the consolation side, John Paul II lost to Lloydminster Holy Rosary by a 61-58 count.
Holy Rosary went on to defeat Onion Lake 80-66 in the consolation final.
John Paul II then finished its tournament with a 73-42 loss to the Vikings B team in the eighth-place game.
