The Warman Wolverines won both games Saturday to claim the 4A Girls' Conference 3 playoff held at North Battleford Comprehensive High School.
The Wolverines started the day with a dominating win in the morning against the John Paul II Collegiate Crusaders. Warman jumped out to a 12-2 lead in the first quarter and did not look back. The final score was 92-31 for the Wolvervines. JPII had a difficult time with Warman's Janaya Brown, who was the tallest player on the court.
The second of the two opening games saw the NBCHS Vikings beat the Meadow Lake Spartans 40-38. The Vikings led 16-4 after the first quarter due to the Spartans having trouble hitting their shots. By the end of the third quarter, Meadow Lake was trailing by five points after their shots started to fall. They also picked up their defence and caused the Vikings to turn the ball over.
In the fourth, the Vikings built the lead back up to 11 points before the Spartans made a run near the end of the game. Meadow Lake had possession trailing by one point with under a minute to play. However, the Vikings played tough defence on the final possession and the Spartans were unable to get a shot off. NBCHS iced the game with a late free throw.
Warman and NBCHS met later Saturday afternoon in the conference final. It was a tight game between the two teams in the first half. The Vikings and Wolverines were tied at 16 after the first quarter. NBCHS moved into the lead before half time, taking a three-point lead into the break. In the second half, the Wolverines took the lead and pulled away to win 74-55.
With the win, the Wolverines qualified for the regional tournament next weekend as conference champion. The Vikings also qualified for regionals by reaching the final of the tournament.
Draws for regionals will be announced later this week as the Road to HOOPLA in Regina continues.
