They're in like Flynn, and they aim to win.
Soon they'll find what all the Hoopla is about.
The Humboldt Collegiate Institute (HCI) Mohawks senior girls' basketball team earned a spot in the provincial Final Four last weekend, hustling to a pair of victories in regional 4A playoffs to gain a berth at Hoopla 2011.
Sixteen teams took part in Regionals March 18-19, with pools of four facing off at four different locations throughout the province. Only one team advanced from each pool, setting the stage for next weekend's championship in Moose Jaw.
HCI hosted the Moose Jaw Vanier Spirits, Estevan Elecs, and Warman Wolverines in their regional playoff, with the format being a single knockout, winner-take-all affair.
The Mohawks cruised to an easy 84-38 victory over Warman in their opening game Friday night, taking an early lead and never letting up. The Mohawks' high-powered offence rode the arms of Paige Crozon (34 points) and Lindsay Larson (29 points), and their relentless defence rarely let the Wolverines see the light of day outside of their own end.
That victory put HCI in Saturday's regional final against Moose Jaw. The Spirits had defeated Estevan in Friday's late game.
The final was a much closer affair to start, and the two squads were deadlocked 23-23 after the opening quarter. But as the game wore on, Humboldt's gazelles simply ran the legs off Moose Jaw, sapping the Spirits through superior conditioning to pull out an 85-65 win.
"I think we were in a bit better shape, and that began to show as the game went on," Mohawks head coach Kerri Archibal agreed. "But it was a bit tense for a while there, especially when we started to get into a bit of foul trouble in the second half.
"Three of players had four fouls called against them, and all three are starters. And one of them (Caitlynn Graf) actually ended up fouling out. So we really needed our bench to contribute. Some of those players did a great job in stepping up."
Crozon and Larson again led the way on offence, with 29 and 23 points, respectively, while Kaitlyn Hantke contributed 14. Crozon was also a tower of power inside the Mohawks' key, making several key blocks and snatching rebounds from out of the air just like a lizard catching flies.
Rachel Hergott came in of the bench and hit a couple of clutch baskets right when the team needed a momentum boost. Taylor Wittke was another big contributor off the bench, playing outstanding defence whenever called upon.
Joining HCI at Hoopla next weekend will be the Prince Albert Carlton Crusaders, Moose Jaw Peacock Tornadoes, and North Battleford Comprehensive (NBCHS) Vikings. The Mohawks will face North Battleford in their opening game on Friday at 2:30 p.m., at the SIAST gymnasium. The winner moves on the championship final. Archibald hopes to see some HCI supporters in the crowd, noting the Humboldt community has been very supportive of her team all year.
As for the competition, Archibald noted North Battleford isn't the biggest or deepest team, but they're certainly not to be taken for granted.
"They have a short bench, but they rarely get into foul trouble, and they use their timeouts really wisely to buy themselves time to rest," she said.
She said she's not familiar with the Tornadoes, as the Mohawks and Tornadoes haven't played each other all year. On the other hand, she's all too familiar with P.A. Carlton, and their greatest weapon, 6' 5" centre Dallyce Emmerson.
"We have to worry about North Battleford first," Archibald stressed. "But if we do play P.A. again, we'll need to use our running game to try to neutralize that (Emmerson's) height.
"I think our sheer athletic ability is one of our strengths," she added. "We need to work on our half-court play a bit more, and work on executing our offence. And we need to make sure we're mentally prepared.
"Other than that, we just need to stick to our game plan."
