Despite a valiant effort, the Canora Cougars senior boys basketball team did not advance from the 2A Regional Competition for which Canora played host on March 11 and 12.
Going into the regionals, the Cougars were ranked as the No. 4 team in the province, but that didn’t mean they had to earn every point.
The first game on Friday saw the Cougars matched up “the feisty No.12-ranked Porcupine Plain Bears,” said Coach Kim Eiteneier. “On paper, the Cougars should dominate but the Bears were a team of integrity, grit, and a never give-up attitude and would be a good test for the Cougars.”
The Cougars got off to a bit of a slow start but began to pull away in the last part of the first quarter and had a 29-11 lead. The second quarter was a chance for some Grade 10s to play and the Cougars managed to build a 28-point lead by the half.
The second half was much the same as the Grade 10s seen more action and the lead grew to 36 after three quarters. The final ended up being 86-40.
The top point getters for the Cougars were: Nathan Bucsis with 18 points and Scott Popoff with 17 points. Bryce McCormick also had 15 points.
In the second game, Regina Harvest City, which was ranked No. 5, took on Norquay, which was ranked at No.11. Regina came out fast and hard and built a 20-point advantage by the end of the first quarter and never looked back. Regina defeated Norquay 109 to 48. This set up the consolation game between Norquay and Porcupine Plain for Saturday morning. The final match up for who was going to Hoopla was to be last game played between the home town Cougars and Regina.
“The consolation game on Saturday was very entertaining,” said Eiteneier. “It was back and forth all game, with Porcupine Plain up by a few points at the half. It continued like that until the last three minutes of the game when Norquay started to gain momentum and take a 10-point advantage. They ended winning by 11.”
As Regina and Canora got ready to play in the Regional final, it promised to be a battle of two very evenly matched teams. The initial consensus was that Regina was the better team and that it was the prohibitive favourite but the hometown boys played their best game of the year and kept it close throughout the entire game, said Eiteneier.
“The first half was amazing basketball. It was fast, skillful, and entertaining to a large, loud, hometown crowd. The visiting team got out to a quick 4-0 lead but the Cougars fought back and had the lead by the halfway point of the first. They continued their good play and were up by one at the first break.
In the second quarter, the Cougars continued to defend well and held the high scoring Regina team to only 17 points and were now up by five at the half. The crowd was in disbelief and excited by the result of the first half and the boys were feeling the energy of the building and playing off that energy.”
However, the third quarter was the undoing of the Cougars, as they could not stop Jeve-Von Maranan (No. 10), who proceeded to go six for six from the three-point line and scored 20 of his team’s 34-point quarter to lead Regina to an 11-point advantage at the third quarter time.
“The Cougars would not quit and in the final quarter came out and scored quickly to drop the lead to eight,” said Eiteneier. “The boys battled hard and had pulled to within six with about three minutes left. There it stayed though for the rest of the game, as we could not get any closer and Regina ended up with an 89-81 victory.”
For the boys who battled so hard and to come so close, it was a bitter pill to swallow, but they gave their best and just ran out of gas in the last part of the fourth, said Eiteneier.
“We used all Grade 12’s and one Grade 10 in this game and as a result, we lost Scott Popoff in the last minute because he fouled out, and a few others through fatigue,” he said.
Canora’s top scorers were Kyle Strelioff with 32 points and Bryce McCormick with 21. For Regina, Jeve-Von Maranan had 34 points; 20 of which came in the third quarter.
Regina advanced to Hoopla on March 18-19 in Moose Jaw.
