Losing their three leading scorers and dropping down to 3A due to less male enrollment this fall, the Sacred Heart Saints Boys basketball for the 2012/13 season looked like it could be a long one. However head coach Garrett Karcha and a group of returning senior players dug deep and after the Christmas break rattled off some impressive victories and close games against tough opponents and eventually winning their Conference beating the Fort Qu'Appelle Lakers giving them the seven seed heading into 3A Regionals. That seed would see the Saints draw Watrous in the first round and a likely final with the hosts and provincial title hopefuls Shaunovan in the second round.
Missing promising rookie post player David Ojo with Brenden Walkington's knee bruise from Conferences forcing him out of practice, the Saints did not know what kind off support Carter MacKay would be getting down low as the Saints were potentially without their two tallest and most talented pivots at the worst possible time of year. However, Walkington soldiered on Friday night and helped lead his team in his potential last weekend of basketball for the Saints. Backed by Walkington and some hot outside shooting from Grade Eleven Carter Ruff the Saints handled Watrous 67-52 to advance to the final. Shaunovan beat Maple Creek in a 92-59 route to face Sacred in the final where they would hold home court advantage as well as a win over the Saints in the regular season, making Sacred the underdogs in the final.
Shaunavon opened the game on a 7-2 run, making a statement early on that they were ready for whatever the Saints were going to throw at them, hitting a three pointer at the end of the quarter to end the first 19-9. The Saints would continue to fight throughout the rest of the game after, constantly threatening to make a run but could never make up for the scoring the Voll brothers gave the Shadows eventually losing by 14 in a 75-61 final to end their season. Walkington and Ruff once again had strong games during crunch time, with Ruff having the best game of his Saints career scoring 20 points and giving head coach Garrett Karcha something to look forward to for next season, where the Saints will also be expecting to return the aforementioned Ojo, whose presence was missed after a strong performance during Conferences.
"Not having David was a killer for us this weekend with how great he came along to close out the year, but Walkington played hurt for us and while he wasn't 100 per cent he still produced at the level we usually get out of him which helped us beat Watrous to get to the final" said head coach Karcha. Karcha also looked forward to next year saying, "We will return some grade tens who will grow into their roles like Carter Ruff did in his grade eleven year while our grade elevens grow another year and we will see where we are at come next winter as we are losing two very talented post players in Walkington and MacKay as well as guards Colin Shewchuk and Jacob Okeny."
The Saints don't know where they will be seeded categorically next season as Karcha says they may be being bumped back up to being 4A's smallest school with more male enrollment projected for next year, but says it doesn't matter to him where his Saints play next year. "I want to win wherever I go and my players also want to do the same, but if we are in 3A great, if we are in 4A, great as well" said Karcha.
The rebuilding process continues at the SHHS as the Saints scrapped hard all season, getting the same result they reached last year when they lost in the 4A Regionals to eventual champs North Battleford, something a team that very easily could have quit and gave up should hang their heads on after the end of a season that can be deemed as a success.
