Although a major dumping of snow curtailed the full conclusion of the North Battleford Comprehensive High School Senior Boys Invitational tournament Saturday, it was a beneficial weekend for the two local squads.
The host Vikings and the John Paul II Collegiate Crusaders each got in four games over the course of the two-day event, in what was their final action before they compete in regional tournaments next weekend as they try to qualify for this month’s Hoopla tournament in Prince Albert.
“In my opinion it’s one of the best tournaments in a rural community to help 4A and 5A teams get ready for Hoopla,” Vikings head coach Jamie Sommerfield said. “We had a chance to play some great teams, including a Yorkton team that’s one of the best in the 5A category, so it’s a good test for us.”
“We had four quality games against four quality opponents, including two in Estevan and Moose Jaw Peacock that we might see down the road in the 4A tournament,” Crusaders head coach Shalen Fox said. “For our guys, that’s exactly what we want them to face at this time of the year.”
With both teams taking this weekend off, the Vikings and Crusaders will be hard at work in practice ahead of their regional tournaments.
The Vikings will be travelling to Warman for the 5A rural regional tournament, where they will be battling it out with seven other teams for two spots in Hoopla.
“It should be an interesting tournament,” Sommerfeld said. “We should be one of the top seeds along with Yorkton, but it will be an interesting tournament as teams like Estevan and Swift Current are both capable of pulling off upsets.”
The Crusaders won’t find out until next week where they will head for their 4A regional tournament and what teams they will face for a spot in the final four in Prince Albert.
“If I were to guess, we’d be in the six to eight range as a seed,” Fox said. “It’s a pretty close group in that fourth to ninth range, so it really can go either way.
“I expect Moose Jaw Central, Weyburn and Meadow Lake to be the three top seeds. We’ve played well against Weyburn and Meadow Lake in close games and match up well against them. Central would be a tough test, but we’ve trended upwards since Christmas and I like our chances.”
