After their first conference title in 3A was won at the Halo Dome over the weekend the Saints are back in a familiar place heading into SHSAA Regionals, on the road and looking for an upset. Given the seventh seed in the sixteen team Regional bracket, the Saints will look to earn a win in the 7-10 first round game against Watrous before potentially taking on #2 seed Shaunovan in what will be a difficult path for the rebuilding Saints who despite winning the conference title might be missing their leading scorer and rebounder in Brenden Walkington.
Despite the bad timing of the injury, Saints head coach Garrett Karcha is happy with the way his team has been playing heading into the season's most important weekend. "We have been playing our best basketball in March and after getting two wins last weekend we should have some confidence going into Regional playoffs and hopefully can make the final then take it from there" said Karcha. The Saints earned a lopsided victory over the Fort Qu'Appelle Lakers in the conference final in a game that saw the Saints match the Lakers run and gun style, something this year's Saints have not been known to do. Karcha thought that playing an up and down type of game was important for the Saints going into this weekend as it will help them with finding confidence in their transition game and hopefully lead to an increase in fast break points.
After nearly beating 4A champs North Battleford in the Regional final last season, the Saints have more than enough experience in being the underdog, but with an injury to their best player weakening their strong post unit they will be hard pressed against the #2 Shaunavon. "Obviously every year in high school basketball is different, but the experience coaching lower seeds in these one off tournaments will help as well as the returning players experience, but we just want to play our best game in the playoffs."
The Saints have experience against this Shaunavon team, but on the road in a winner take all setting anything can happen, the Saints just hope that the magic of March will be in their favor.
