Many local teams headed off to HOOPLA in Saskatoon last weekend and a couple came back with medals. The Three Lakes School 1A Girls' basketball team came home from the provincial tournament March 22-23 with a silver medal. "It was really good," said their coach Trevor Otsig. "The girls were pretty excited and positive about being there." He explained it was a longer journey to HOOPLA for the team than it has been in previous years, as they lost Conferences and then had to travel to Frontier for Regionals. "We beat Frontier 77-75 in a close game down there to advance to HOOPLA," said Otsig. "We went in as the fifth ranked team and we upset Regina who was number one - we beat them 78-74 which put us in the final against Kenaston." They knew the final would be tough, as they had faced Kenaston once before during the season. "We were having trouble scoring and we missed too many shots," Otsig said about the HOOPLA final. "I think it would have been a different story in that game had we made some of those inside shots... We just kept rimming them out and nothing seemed to be going our way." He could see improvements in his team during the final game. "Their shooting was pretty good from the outside, which it had not been previously," said Otsig. "They had a really good game and they are a good defensive team. For us to get as many hooks as we did inside, I was pretty happy." Otsig explained he had a younger team this year and they really held their own against older teams. "We will lose the one Grade 12 (player) and we are gaining a few younger ones next year," said Otsig. "We are a fairly young team and to come away with silver it was good. Hopefully next year, we are a little bit stronger and have a little more experience getting there again."In the last seven years, the Three Lakes Avengers have attended HOOPLA five times, winning four silver medals and one bronze. "Our goal next year is to maybe win that gold," said Otsig. "There are going to be other teams coming up that will be good so it is never a guarantee getting back there. It is going to be another season of hard work." Other teams from the region also attended HOOPLA on the weekend. The St. Brieux 1A Boys' won gold, the Lake Lenore 1A Girls' team came in fourth and the Three Lakes Avengers 1A Boys' team in fourth.
