Junior teams knocked out
A busy week in high school basketball playoffs got started Monday with a rough night on the road for Hat High’s junior teams.
Both the junior varsity Mohawks and Kwahommies lost firstround games in the Southern Alberta High School Basketball League. The Mohawks fell 106-52 at Cardston while the Kwahommies dropped a 67-52 decision to Magrath.
That leaves their varsity counterparts, who begin the 4A South Zone draw Wednesday.
Saannah Lee had 21 points for Hat High’s junior girls, while Crystal Langot and Abi Weber had 10 apiece. Natasha McGraw had 10 rebounds before a sprained ankle in the third quarter turned the momentum the way of the hosts.
As for the boys, Jaxon May had nine of his team-high 16 points in the first quarter but topseeded Cardston kept pouring it on, led by 23 from Bryn Nelson.
Only one Hat High team will get a home playoff game in their brilliant new gym, that being the fourth-seeded Kwahommies who host Catholic Central starting at 7 p.m. Wednesday. The winner gets top seed LCI Thursday in Lethbridge, where the remainder of the tournament takes place.
The good news is that four of the six teams will advance to provincials.
As for the Mohawks varsity boys, they’re the sixth seed in the eight-team zone bracket and are at LCI Wednesday. The winner gets either No. 2 Raymond or No. 7 Winston Churchill Thursday in Lethbridge. Again, four teams will go to provincials so as long as Hat High can get two wins before it suffers two losses, they’ll advance
Closer to home is the 3A boys and girls zone tournaments which are at Monsignor McCoy.
McCoy, which also hosts provincials, has a first-round bye in the girls draw and will meet the winner of Thursday’s 7 p.m. game between Magrath and Winston Churchill at Crescent Heights. Eagle Butte is at Crescent Heights at 5 p.m. Thursday for the other quarter-final, with the winner meeting top seed WR Myers Friday at McCoy. If McCoy makes Saturday’s final a third-place game will decide the third spot at provincials.
McCoy’s boys play Eagle Butte Friday, while Myers faces Crescent Heights in the other zone semifinal. McCoy and one other team will advance to provincials.