After enduring a drought that lasted from 2005 to 2018, the Canora Cougars senior girls basketball team has advanced to the HOOPLA provincial finals for the second year in a row.
The Cougars qualified for HOOPLA with two decisive victories at regionals in Canora on March 15 and 16, said Curtis Baillie, coach.
Providing leadership for the Canora squad were Jill Gulka, Felicity Mydonick and Mackenzie Gulka, team captains and Grade 12 students playing in their final home games for the Cougars.
“A big thank you to everyone who showed up to cheer us on,” said Baillie. “The girls absolutely love playing for a packed house. The energy they receive from hearing the home town fans roar after a basket is awesome. We have the best supporters.”
In the semifinal game against Redvers, the Cougars bolted to a quick lead with the first eight points of the game, and built the advantage to 42 to 23 after the first half. Redvers continued to play hard, but in the end the Cougars prevailed by a final score of 75 to 54.
In the other semifinal, Rosthern Junior College defeated Foam Lake, the same team which the Cougars faced in the regional final in the two previous years, both held in Canora.
Unlike the 2018 final, where the Cougars trailed throughout, only to tie the game late and then win it in overtime, this year’s final was never really in doubt.
Canora started fast and dominated offensively, defensively, and in rebounding. The host team built up a 28 to 4 advantage on the scoreboard after the first quarter, continued to add to the lead throughout, and won by a final score of 81 to 43 to guarantee a spot at HOOPLA.
“We played well today, and moved the ball around especially well,” said Jill Gulka after the win.
“It seems surreal to be going to HOOPLA again,” said Mydonick. “We’ve been working for this all season and before that, since Grade 7 really, when most of us started playing junior basketball. It’s so good to be rewarded.”
“Last year didn’t end like we wanted when we lost at HOOPLA,” recalled Mackenzie Gulka. “But it was good motivation for us to win regionals again this year and get back there.”
With nine returning players, this year’s Canora team members have had the advantage of knowing each other extremely well all season long, said Jill.
“The whole team hangs out together a lot,” she explained. “We communicate really well both off and on the court. We know each other really well and know how we all play.”
As the only graduating players, all three captains agreed that they couldn’t have asked for a better way to end their final Cougars home game.
Baillie agreed and said it was a great feeling to be heading back to HOOPLA.
“The season starts with roughly 35 to 40 teams in the 2A division all trying to claim one of the four spots in the provincial tournament at HOOPLA,” he said.
“We learned a lot from last year’s experience there. It’s a whole new atmosphere with announcers calling the fouls, the time outs, and who scored. The music is playing throughout the game, and the bleachers are always full. The majority of our team got to witness that last year, so this year it won’t come as such a big surprise. We will be somewhat used to that stage. We are excited to be back. We have unfished business from last year, where we lost both games and didn’t medal. We are going to try and change that this year.”
Heading into HOOPLA, the Cougars had only suffered one loss all season. That was to the Wynyard Golden Bears, the team which was scheduled to face the Cougars in the first game at HOOPLA on March 22 in Saskatoon.
