(Dawson Thompson/paNOW Staff)

By Becky Zimmer

Basketball action

Successful basketball weekend for St. Mary, teams ready to get back on court

Feb 13, 2022 | 1:58 PM

Teams from across Saskatchewan gathered in Prince Albert this weekend to compete in the St. Mary High School boys basketball tournament on the weekend.

Due to certain restrictions, the draw was a bit different than what people are used to, St. Mary coach, David Seto, told paNOW. Twelve teams each got three games throughout the Thursday to Saturday tournament.

Seto said his boys finished the tournament with two wins against Estevan Comprehensive and Warman High School and a loss against Aden Bowman by 20 points. Seto is still feeling good about the way his boys played.

“Aden Bowman was one of the top teams in the province. So it was certainly a good game, a good challenge for us.”

While wins and losses will count towards provincial basketball rankings, Seto said many teams were just happy to be out competing since so many tournaments were canceled due to COVID-19. He measured the tournament’s success in just the fact that the event went forward, he said.

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“I don’t think anybody went to a tournament (in January) so I think a lot of the comments from people were they were just happy to be playing. So I think beginning of February maybe hopefully things are going back to normal.”

With teams being either a 4A or 5A ranking, Seto said he also heard a lot of compliments on the high level of competition.

“All the games were close… we had many of the top seeds from the province, so that was good.”

Seto was also happy with the way the planning committee, which included teacher and student volunteers, ran the tournament, which made his job being the hosting team that much easier.

Two sponsors also added to the tournament with the City of Prince Albert contributing to the marketing and Source for Source providing shirts for all the visiting teams.

Other teams who competed in the tournament included fellow Prince Albert rivals from Carlton Comprehensive, Bedford Road and Walter Murray from Saskatoon, John Paul II Collegiate and North Battleford Comprehensive from North Battleford, Lloydminster Comprehensive, Swift Current Comprehensive, Carpenter High School from Meadow Lake and Moose Jaw’s Central Collegiate.

Carlton will be hosting the 5A rural conference, which is set for March 11–12 according to the Saskatchewan High School Athletics Association, so many teams will be making the trip back to Prince Albert.

Seto said there will be some driving involved during playoff season which is to be expected when your conference includes all the small cities in the province, including places like Estevan which is six hours away.

Provincials are set for March 25–26.

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becky.zimmer@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @bex_zim