‘Better than nothing:’ Players react to shortened basketball provincials

The final buzzer sounded Wednesday on the chance for a full Hoopla 2024.

With Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation sanctions not being lifted for Thursday and Friday, the three-day Saskatchewan High Schools Athletic Association provincial basketball championships have been reduced to a single-day affair with teams playing one game based on their seedings.

That event is set to take place Saturday in Moose Jaw.

Holy Cross Crusaders senior guard Jack Gray admitted it’s better than nothing, but it doesn’t give his team – which was seeded third – a chance to show what it can do.

“I believe we would have been able to fight for a chance in the provincial final, so having that taken away and having the other two games taken away isn’t the best,” Gray said. “It’s better than nothing, but I still think it’s not what is right.

“I think what we deserve is a full tournament as that is what we get by getting to this point in the season.”

Sophia Larsen, a Grade 12 point guard with the Walter Murray Marauders, shared that disappointment. She and her team are also seeded third at the tournament.

“(We’re) just grateful we get any time at all. For lots of us, this is the last time we will ever play high school basketball,” Larsen said. “(We’re) thankful that they could put something together for us to play, but also just disappointed the government couldn’t go back to the table and let the event happen in a full capacity.”

The SHSAA had said Monday it was setting a deadline of Wednesday at 3 p.m., for the government and the teachers’ union to come to an agreement that would cause the sanctions to be lifted.

Larsen said there’s a lot of frustration among members of the team because of where they are placed.

“We didn’t get the best spot in the rankings as we could have,” Larsen said. “Just the opportunity to not earn our spot in the championship game and be confined to third place but grateful to even be there, it’s just a bit of frustration and confusion.

“A lot of the girls don’t even understand what’s going on or how it works. It’s a complicated topic.”

Norquay School’s Alexis Lindgren is another player who feels her team won’t get a fair shot at reaching its potential.

“We had a shot at the first-place medal; now we only get a shot at the third-place medal,” she said. “It’s not as exciting. It’s still Hoopla and we (could) get a medal, but it’s not the same experience that we would have had before. As well, Grade 12 students who had a chance at a gold medal will never have that chance again.”

Jake Soltys, a Grade 11 student at Sturgis School, is angry at the decision. Sturgis co-ops with Norquay for athletics.

“Our basketball teams have obviously worked hard to get where they have,” Soltys said.

In order to have events, Soltys said they started up a league with neighbouring towns.

“We were supposed to have playoffs. We were going to play for a golden basketball as a trophy. That got stripped away from us because we ran out of time to play. The teachers’ strikes took away that time, so we didn’t get to finish our season,” Soltys said.

Lindgren said the girls team had five games cancelled and missed multiple practices this season due to the teachers’ sanctions.

“Our goal was get to Hoopla and then we’re there. Now that’s gone and all our work this season is for nothing. We were looking forward to this weekend since the very first day of practice,” Lindgren said.

Tammy Pantiuk’s daughter, Lexi Proust, is a Grade 10 member of the Preeceville Panthers senior girls team.

“We’re so happy our voices were heard,” Pantiuk said. “I just want to give a huge shoutout to the SHSAA, the City of Moose Jaw, the many organizers and volunteers who worked many hours to make this one-day tournament happen.

“Hoopla is not going to look the same like it has in other years. We are still happy our athletes get the chance to play out their dreams and represent their schools.”

Preeceville will play for gold in the 2A girls division while the boys will play for bronze.

“This is the first time ever we have had our senior girls and senior boys make it to Hoopla. I played back in the ’80s, I’m a local girl here and we never made it,” Pantiuk said. “This has always been a dream of mine and now to live it through my daughter – fantastic.”

On Monday and Tuesday, students across the province held rallies to show their frustration around the possibility of Hoopla being cancelled.

Larsen was proud of how many students showed up.

“I think we did everything in our power to encourage and support the teachers but also stand up for our rights as student-athletes,” Larsen said. “It was incredible to see – especially the Murray-Cross rivalry, working with Jack Gray and some of the other students and making sure we were all out there showing support and banding together to try and make as much of a commotion as possible.

“I think we did everything we could to get to this point but also just a huge thank you to the SHSAA board and teachers for everything they have done for us.”

But for Larsen and many other seniors, Saturday will mark an unexpected end to their high school basketball careers.

“It would have been nice to play three more games as a Grade 12 student,” Gray said. “And now only getting one and not in the provincial final – which I believe we would have been able to make – but not even getting the chance to prove we can make it and getting put in the third-place game automatically after I believe we had the second-best record in all of Saskatchewan throughout the year … I don’t think it’s very fair. It’s getting taken away from me and it’s my last chance I could ever do it.”

Moose Jaw faces financial hit

The loss of the three-day tournament for Moose Jaw could hit pocketbooks in the city in a big way.

“If you go to the restaurants, they probably bought a bunch of food and now they’re going to have to be having specials,” said Rob Clark, the CEO of the Moose Jaw & District Chamber of Commerce. “It really upsets the hospitality, of course, and I think most of the hotels are filled up.”

The basketball tournament typically brings together over 700 students from across the province and hundreds more family members to the community where the event is held.

Clark couldn’t put his finger on how much money Moose Jaw could stand to lose as a result of the cancellation of the tournament. But he did say the cancellation will hurt people in the community.

“I’m very sad for the students,” he said. “It’s too bad something couldn’t happen earlier. I look back (and) if I was a student that age going into Grade 12 and playing in Hoopla in my hometown, (its cancellation) would be hurtful.”

Clark hopes the city will be able to host again.

“We’re of course supportive on the economics for our hotels and businesses within the city. We totally support anything that happens in Moose Jaw,” he said. “I’m not sure how far down the road Hoopla is for hosting, but I think we should have an opportunity as soon as possible to host again.”

— With files from 980 CJME’s Gillian Massie and 650 CKOM’s Shane Clausing