OXBOW - The Oxbow Prairie Horizons School Black Knights senior boys' basketball team is proud of the bronze medal they earned at the 3A provincial Hoopla basketball tournament in Saskatoon.
According to one of the team’s coaches Ian Cushon, the Black Knights did not bring their A-game against their opponents from Clavet in the first game March 20. Oxbow was the fourth-seeded team; Clavet was ranked first. The stands seemed to be filled with Clavet fans who travelled less than a half hour to be at the game.
Most of the noise was for Clavet, making the Black Knights feel like the away team. That, along with the pressure of having to win the game to advance to the final, seemed to be a factor in the team’s play. Their outside shooting, which is a big part of their game plan, was off and Oxbow lost 75-50, despite Khalifa Elshein’s 15 points, Dorian Sifton’s 12 and 10 from Mason Beriault.
That set the stage for the bronze medal game to be played the next morning.
This time, the team did not leave their A-game in the hotel room. They shot and defended well, and the scoring was balanced. It seemed like the Black Knights clicked as a team, defeating their opponents from Waldheim 89-55.
Beriault led the scorers with 18 points. Jhafet Julian added 17 points of his own, including four three pointers, and made a pass behind his back on a fast break to teammate Khalifa Elshein who completed the play with a basket. Sifton contributed 16 points of his own.
With the win, Oxbow won bronze at Hoopla for the first time.
