For the first time since winning a silver medal in 2012, the North Battleford Comprehensive High School Viking senior girls’ basketball team earned some hardware at the provincial high school basketball championships.
The Vikings finished off their season on a winning note at Hoopla, as they picked up the bronze medal in the 4A girls’ division with a 78-49 victory over the Weyburn Eagles at the University of Regina.
“It’s really exciting to get a medal, especially as this is my last year,” graduating Vikings player Nahoni Tootoosis said. “The girls played well this weekend and it’s pretty awesome to finish off my high school career with this.
“After a tough loss in the semifinal yesterday, I was really proud to see how the team stepped up and found a way to win a medal,” Vikings head coach Bryan Cottini added.
Holding on to a five-point lead at halftime, the Vikings were able to pull away from the Eagles in the third quarter as they outscored their opposition by a 25-5 margin.
“We didn’t deal with their full court press very well in the first half and we ended up turning the ball over quite a lot as a result,” Cottini said. “We started to calm down in the third quarter and we were able to break through their defence.
“Two of our girls really stepped up to help with that. Mia Cottini hit five three-pointers in the third quarter and Nahoni was just a beast down low to get some key baskets.”
Tootoosis was the leading scorer for the Vikings as she had 29 points in her final high school basketball game.
“Once we cleaned up our passes we were able to find a bit of an advantage in the paint,” Tootoosis said. “We were able to build off of that as the game went on and we were able to pull away.”
Hailey Neiszner had 14 points for the Eagles in the loss.
For the third year in a row, the Vikings were tripped up by the Peacock Toilers of Moose Jaw in the semifinal round, as they dropped a 68-49 affair Friday.
“Peacock came out really strong and they had built up so much of a lead that it was tough to come back,” Tootoosis said.
“When we beat them at their tournament earlier in the year, Peacock was still trying to find themselves a little bit as they have quite a young team,” Cottini said. “I didn’t think anyone could be more aggressive than us, but they certainly were in that game.”
Tootoosis led the Vikings in scoring with 13 points, while Katherine McDougall paced the Toilers on offence with 18 points.
The Toilers came up short in their quest for a fourth straight provincial title Saturday as they lost 64-42 to the Melfort Comets.
The championship triumph was the first ever for the Comets, who had lost seven 4A finals prior to Saturday.
Looking towards the future, the Vikings can return nearly everyone from this year’s roster come next season, as Tootoosis is the team’s only graduating player.
“We’re going to miss her a ton, but with the young players that we have coming up, things are looking really bright for us,” Cottini said.
