The Valley Christian Academy Lions were strong in all aspects of their game and came away with their first provincial 3A Boys Basketball title last weekend.
It was even more special as they were able to win it in front of a large home crowd on Saturday, March 26.
After two years of having to cancel Hoopla, the provincial basketball championships tournament was reinstated under a new format for 2022 where nine separate communities hosted championships.
VCA was selected to host the 3A Boys, which also included the Regina Christian School, Unity Composite High School and Bert Fox Community High School from Fort Qu’Appelle.
The plan is to hopefully return to the typical 48 team tournament in 2023 when Prince Albert hosts; so this year provided an unique opportunity for the Lions.
On Friday, March 25 they squared off against the powerhouse Regina Christian School Grizzlies. Regina had won five of the last seven 3A Boys championships, including beating VCA 85-82 in the 2015 gold medal game.
This tournament the Lions wrote a different script using great defence, solid rebounding and great shooting to come away with a 90-62 win.
One of VCA’s strengths was illustrated in the scoring as Jackson Bueckert , Silas Klassen and Ethan Hamm had 16 points each, while Moe Norton had 13 points. Davis Laskowki chipped in with nine points. The team drained 10 three pointers. No matter how or who the Grizzlies tried to defend, the Lions had an answer and easily advanced to the championship game.
They faced Unity in the finals. The Warriors had advanced with an exciting 60-59 win over the Bert Fox Bisons.
This set up another interesting storyline. In November VCA had won their first provincial volleyball title when they had defeated the Unity Warriors in the tournament hosted by Unity.
A number of players from each school played on both the volleyball and basketball teams.
Unity was looking to repay the favour by beating the Lions at VCA’s gym.
But the home squad had other plans.
After one quarter the Lions were up 21-16 and increased the lead to 39-28 at half time. The home squad got hot late in the second half and pulled away to a 71-48 win.
Tanner Bueckert led the team in scoring with 22 points, including seven from three-point land. Three other players hit double digits in scoring. Silas Klassen with 17 points, Ethan Hamm 12 points and Jackson Bueckert 11 points.
Ethan Hamm and Silas Klassen dominated the boards.
“Our big guys got almost every rebound,” said VCA coach Wes Peters.
The team employed the same defence as the previous night to keep the Warriors from getting good shots.
“Our game plan was to box out and run,” said VCA coach Tyler Golding.
“The defence established themselves and kept a very high scoring team to 60 points,” added Golding. “We continued that today. We have the offence. We have lots of guys that can shoot.”
Initially some of the shots from outside were ringing the rim but not falling in. The team was encouraged to keep taking the three point shots when they were open and it paid off.
“With seven minutes left we started hitting some shots’,” Golding added with a smile.
VCA Lions captain, Davis Laskowski, was the only grade 12 student on the team. His senior year will have special meaning to him as he was a double gold medal winner, by virtue of being a key member of the school’s volleyball provincial championship team.
For the rest of the team they will go into next year as the reigning champions.
CHAMPIONSHIP
RESULTS
The results of other Saskatchewan High Schools Athletic Association basketball championship tournaments are as follows:
1A Boys: Legacy Christian Academy
2A Boys: St. Brieux
4A Boys: Moose Jaw Central
5A Boys: Harvest City
1A Girls: Lake Lenore
2A Girls: Wynyard
3A Girls: St. Walburg
4A Girls: Harvest City
5A Girls: Regina Campbell