North Battleford Comprehensive High School and John Paul II co-hosted a senior girls basketball tournament on the weekend. One local team won the tournament while the other took third place in the C pool. It was great basketball action, which began Thursday and ended Saturday evening.
The NBCHS Vikings started the tournament with a game against Delisle and won handily. Next was a round robin game with Yorkton, and again the Vikings won easily advancing to the A playoff bracket.
The Vikings played Kinistino in the semi final and turned in another impressive performance winning 61-29.
In the final, the Vikings went up against the defending 4A champions from Prince Albert Carlton. It was close game the entire way with the Vikings staying just a few points ahead most of the game.
As P.A. Carlton made a run in the final minutes of the fourth quarter, Vikings' senior point guard, Tianna Balfour, put some distance between the Vikings and P.A., as she drained two of her total five three-pointers with nearly two minutes left.
The Vikings went on to win 49-40 and earned the gold medal at their home tournament.
It was the second time this season the Vikings beat P.A. Carlton, a team coach Bryan Cottini expects to be in the top four in the 4A division heading into provincials.
Across the city, the Crusaders were in a strong group to begin the tournament, as they played Meadow Lake and P.A. Carlton in their round robin action.
After two losses they fell to the C playoff bracket and there John Paul II went up against Estevan. The Crusaders lost 58-34 in the semi final match.
In the third place game of the C pool, the Crusaders battled to a 42-41 win over Yorkton.
Coach Jen Kohut credits her team's defence and rebounding as the reason they won the game.
Kohut said this season has been a building one for the Crusaders, but she has noticed great improvements from the beginning of the season and looks for that to continue.
Perhaps the most significant game was the second of the weekend, Kohut said. The Crusaders went up against P.A. Carlton and held their own despite losing to one of the top teams, and taller teams for that matter, in the province.
The other teams taking part in the weekend tournament in the Battlefords included: Swift Current Comprehensive, Weyburn, Prince Albert St. Mary and Holy Rosary.
The Crusaders now don't have anything scheduled until February when they will go to Prince Albert for a tournament.
The Vikings have a tournament in Kinistino this weekend, Outlook the next and Delisle Feb. 11 and 12.
Coach Cottini says these three tournaments will give him a chance to give his bench more playing time and rest some of the starters, as they look ahead to a tournament in Weyburn Feb. 18 and 19 and then the provincial run.
