The battles for the provincial basketball titles are heating up and all divisions in Saskatchewan are down to the sweet 16.
In the four divisions: 4A, 3A, 2A and 1A, there are 14 teams from the Northwest, including two from the Battlefords, still alive and will be regional action this weekend including two from the Battlefords.
The teams are now down to the point where they have to win to advance - second or third place is no longer good enough to qualify from one of the four regional playoff championships for HOOPLA.
At the 3A level, Unity will be playing in both the girls' and boys' regionals. The girls' team will travel to Clavet and face the host team in their first game Friday. The winner will advance to play the winner between Wynyard and Canora. Unity will have their hands full, as Clavet is the top ranked 3A girls team in the province, while Unity didn't make the top 10 cut. Last weekend at conference playoffs in Unity, the host team lost 44-43 to Biggar in the championship, but both teams advanced.
The Unity boys, like the girls, are also not ranked, and hosted conference playoffs last weekend. The boys will be in Shaunavon for regional playoffs. Unity's opponent is Outlook, who holds the 10 spot on the 3A boys' list. Unity beat Turtleford 68-55 and Eagleview 73-64 last weekend too.
In 2A girls' playoffs, only one team from the Northwest is ranked. Maidstone holds the ninth spot, but four teams from the area are still alive.
Maidstone will be playing in Kinistino along with Lashburn. Paradise Hill heads to Southey and Turtleford will be playing at Regina Christian School.
Maidstone beat Lashburn in Lashburn in the conference final Saturday by a 62-51 score. Paradise Hill advanced after winning 46-40 over Turtleford in another conference final in Paradise Hill Saturday.
Blaine Lake and Wilkie also competed in 2A girls' conference playoffs but were eliminated last weekend.
At the 2A boys' level, Maidstone is the last Northwest team standing after placing second in their conference playoffs. Maidstone beat Minahik Waskahigan 66-59 at provincials in Kerrobert. In the conference final, Thunderchild beat Maidstone 88-49. This weekend, the Maidstone Huskies will play at Outlook LCBI against Asquith. Neither Maymont nor Asquith is ranked in the SHSAA rankings.
Blaine Lake, another Northwest team, was knocked out of contention last weekend.
Edam hosted and earned third place in 1A girls' conference playoffs last weekend. A third place finish was good enough to send them to regionals after a 63-40 victory over Glaslyn. Luseland won the conference playoff in Edam after beating Canwood 49-35 in the final.
Luseland will play regionals this weekend in Middle Lake while Edam heads to Lake Lenore.
The 1A boys division has Chief Poundmaker playing in Lake Lenore and Glaslyn and Borden heading to Kinistino.
Glaslyn is ranked 10th in the 1A division, but last weekend lost 62-55 to Chief Poundmaker at the conference playoff in Paradise Hill.
Borden's conference playoffs were in Hepburn, where they lost 74-34 in the final, but still advanced with a second place finish. Hafford also competed in Hepburn Saturday.
HOOPLA for all divisions will be played in Moose Jaw March 25 and 26, where the provincial champion will be crowned.
