Hoops playoffs rolling on, for now

The Regina Intercollegiate Basketball League playoffs are slated to continue Wednesday despite looming job action by the Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation which threatens future games.

The Regina High Schools Athletic Association is holding its White Division senior basketball city finals on Wednesday at Thom Collegiate. The Harvest City Reapers meet the Regina Christian Grizzlies in boys action (6 p.m.) while Harvest City faces the Sheldon-williams Spartans in girls play (8 p.m.).

In the 5A girls Blue Division, the Campbell Tartans and O’neill Titans meet Wednesday (6 p.m. at Campbell) in a third-place game to decide the final berth into the provincial championship tournament, known as Hoopla.

The 5A boys third-place game features the Tartans and Balfour Bears (8 p.m., Campbell).

Starting Thursday, teachers are slated to withhold their participation in extracurricular activities unless there’s a breakthrough in negotiations with the provincial government.

As a result, Friday’s 5A city championship games featuring the Leboldus Golden Suns-riffel Royals (girls) and Golden Suns-winston Knoll Wolverines ( boys) are in limbo. The same goes for the junior divisions, which held their semifinals on Tuesday night.

Hoopla (March 19-21 in Regina) is also in jeopardy, along with the RHSAA hockey playoffs, which begin Wednesday and run through March 19.

The Regina Bandits (under-19 AA) and Regina Stingers (U16 AA) will represent Saskatchewan at the national ringette championships, April 5-11 in Ottawa.

The Bandits and Stingers recently won provincial titles, along with the Buffalo Plains Rush (U14 AA), Regina Chaos (open A), Regina RIPT (U19 A), and Regina Roar (U16 A).

The Buffalo Plains Grit (open A) won silver.

The Grit, RIPT, Roar and Rush are scheduled to represent Saskatchewan at the Western Canadian ringette championships, March 2528 in Prince George, B.C.

Medal winners from the B-level provincial championships on the weekend were: Regina Ravens U14 (silver), Regina Lightning U16 (bronze), Regina Vipers U16 (silver), Regina Elite U19 (bronze) and Regina Rebels U19 (gold).

Melissa Peacock of Mettle Performance Training Centre in Regina finished atop the podium in her event at the Arnold Sports Festival in Columbus, Ohio, on the weekend.

Peacock won the women’s middleweight division in the amateur strongwoman competition.

The Arnold Sports Festival is an annual multi-sport strength and fitness event in Ohio, hosted by Arnold Schwarzenegger.