Unity
The Unity Warriors senior boys’ basketball team hosted conferences March 8 and 9, emerging as conference champions. They beat Chief John Keenatch School 73-53 and Maidstone 78-49.
Unity Composite High School then was the site for regionals, March 15 and 16. Attending were the Creighton Kodiaks, Waldheim Raiders and Moose Jaw Cornerstone Falcons.
The Warriors advanced to the regional final by defeating Creighton 94-55 March 15.
The final, played in front of a large and vocal crowd in the UCHS senior gym, was a close and exciting game. Early on, teams were trading basket for basket, with the first quarter ending in favour of the Falcons, 19-17.
The Falcons maintained their thin lead through the second quarter, with the score 38-35 at half-time. The Warriors kept chasing but the score was 52 Falcons, 49 Warriors at the end of the third.
Although, with 6:52 remaining in the game, the Warriors pulled ahead 58-57, the ability of the Falcons to make their foul shots as well as sinking some three-point baskets proved to be too much for the Unity boys. Moose Jaw Cornerstone won the game 74-68, along with the right to play at Hoopla.
Coach Jeremy Wagner noted that “Coming into this season, we were definitely a younger team than previous years. We had two returning Grade 12 players, and the rest of our team consisted of Grades 10 and 11 players.”
The team won 19 of a total of 28 games over the season. Wagner said, “Heading into conferences, we felt we were prepared and ready, and ended up conference champs. This took us to regionals and we were ranked fourth, which meant we got to host in our own gym …
“In the final, we played fifth ranked Moose Jaw. It was back and forth the whole game, so it came down to the last minutes, and unfortunately, we couldn’t come out on top, and ended up losing by six points. These boys fought hard right up until the last seconds of that game.”
In looking back, Wagner said, “Overall, it was a great season. I’m going to miss our two graduating players, who have been with me since junior. They’re great kids, and I wish them the best of luck in their future endeavours. As for next year, I anticipate a strong season again, as many of our players will remain the same, which is very exciting. I’m already looking forward to getting back into the gym.”
The graduating UCHS players are Jack Brebner and Cooper Lewin, leaving a core group of 11 veterans for next year.
Kerrobert
Meanwhile, the Kerrobert Rebels were on the road for their conference and regional tournaments. Herbert School hosted conferences, March 8 and 9, where the Rebels beat both their host 98-36 and Eston 99-48.
Coach Bev Kraft said, “Finding out we had received our best ranking to date – sixth overall in the province for all 1A schools – the boys started to gear up for our trip to Hafford,” for regionals.
Kraft described the tournament. “On Friday night, we bested a strong Paradise Hill team, putting us into the regional final against a very strong and polished third ranked Hafford team. In the game, the boys came up a little short, but they played with the heart, grit and determination of champions. They played for each other and they left it all on the court.”
The Rebels finished their season with a 12-2-1 record and Kraft said, “It was a season to be proud of and we can’t wait to see what next year brings.”
Although the Rebels have four players graduating this year – Kyran Amola, Landon Schell, Tyson Borschneck and Andrew Parnitsky – they had four Grade 9s playing with the senior team this year. That experience, along with nine veterans currently in Grades 10 and 11 should leave them in good stead for next year.
Unity girls
On the girls’ side, the Unity Warriors finished conferences in second place, beating Biggar 57-32 and losing a close game to Kindersley 59-53. They still qualified for regionals, travelling to Lanigan, March 15.
In Lanigan, the Warriors beat Assiniboia 60-52 in their first game. This put them into the regional final against a very strong Lanigan team who ended the Unity girls’ hopes of advancing to Hoopla 2024.
