The Saskatchewan High Schools Athletic Association's senior basketball conferences hit the hardwood this past weekend throughout a variety of communities.
Humboldt's own HCI hosted the boys' 4A conference seven playoffs with three teams competing for a spot at this weekend's Regionals, with an eye on the ultimate destination of Saskatoon where the provincial titles will be decided at Hoopla.
The first game to hit the boards Saturday morning was between the Melfort Comets and the Nipawin Bears. When the final buzzer sounded, Melfort had recorded a 70-47 win.
Next on the floor was the hometown Mohawks against the Tisdale Sabres.
Humboldt held a 20-plus point lead at half and went on to win the game 81-65. Grade 9 student Genesis Legaspi was the leading scorer for HCI with 23 points.
The final game of the day featured Humboldt and Melfort. A tight battle the Comets held a slim 36-35 lead at the half. Humboldt got into foul trouble in the third quarter and with seven minutes left in the quarter, Humboldt's pair of tall players were sitting on the bench. From that point on, Melfort simply kept going in underneath in the field and capitalized on their free throw opportunities to record a 64-48 win and the top ranking from the conference heading into Regionals.
The senior girls trekked to Melfort to compete in the six-team, 4A conference.
Friday night, third-ranked Humboldt played second-seeded P.A. St. Mary's. A tight battle to the buzzer the HCI girls pulled out a 38-34 victory and a direct trip to the gold medal game on Saturday afternoon. Rachael Hergott was leading scorer for the Mohawks.
Saturday afternoon, Humboldt met the team from the largest high school in the conference, P.A. Carlton. This battle proved to be much more one-sided with Prince Albert cruising to a 56-27 win to go into this weekend's Regionals as the number one ranked team from Conference Four with Humboldt ranked as the second seed.
The boys will travel to Yorkton while the girls take a road trip to Meadow Lake for regional play.
Across the Horizon School Division, four more girls' and two more boys' teams have qualified for Regionals.
In senior girls, 1A Lake Lenore traveled to Hepburn for conference play. Lake Lenore defeated Wakaw 76-29 and Hepburn 77-30 to qualify in top spot for Regionals which they will host.
Also in 1A, the Middle Lake senior girls' team traveled to Kinistino where they defeated Preeceville 80-14 in their first game but fell 87-76 to Kinistino. Their second place qualifier sends them to Frontier for Regionals.
In 2A girls, Wynyard defeated Creighton and Norquay in Creighton to qualify in top spot for Regionals at home in Wynyard.
Highway 16 rivals Foam Lake traveled to Canora where they defeated both Langenburg and Canora to finish first and advance to Regionals in their home gym this weekend.
In boys' 1A play St. Brieux hosted Conferences. St. Brieux defeated Imperial 104-48 in their opening game. On the other side of the draw, Middle Lake came out on the top end of a 77-55 final score against Lake Lenore. This set up a St. Brieux-Middle Lake final in which St. Brieux won 93-75, but both teams advance to Regionals. St. Brieux will host this weekend while Middle Lake travels to Saskatoon.
