CANORA - The first annual East Central Clash senior boys basketball tournament brought out the best of athletes from the local and surrounding areas in the region. The tournament was held Jan. 5 and 6 with 12 teams all vying for top spot. It was hosted by the Norquay and Preeceville School but had to be held at four different school gymnasiums due to the large number of teams and could not be accommodated by only one school.
The idea for a large-calibre tournament came from Heath Morin, coach for the Norquay senior boys basketball team. “It was to give players an opportunity to play more teams in a rural setting which only usually happens in the city,” said Morin. “Rural students often do not get to experience the opportunity of a bigger tournament. It was actually a dream of mine to host a tournament of this nature and right now we have some of the best basketball players in and around the division. The tournament went over very well with many positive comments from the teams entered. It is a hope of mine to continue this tournament and in the future make it into one of the best and largest ones that teams want to attend. It could not have happened without the staff, students, and community volunteers who helped to make this tournament such a success,” concluded Morin.
The top five teams were all from the Good Spirit School Division, including the eventual champions, the Cougars from Canora Composite School.
Teams who were divided into four pools and played at four different school gymnasiums were: Norquay, Rocanville and Esterhazy played in Pool A at Norquay School;, Preeceville, Hudson Bay and Watrous played in Pool B at the Preeceville School; Kamsack, Wynard and Indian Head played in Pool C at Kamsack Composite School and Canora, Stoughton and LCA out of Saskatoon played at the Sturgis Composite School.
The tournament came down to the finest athletes from rival schools Preeceville and Canora battling for the A-side championship and the trophy, which was made from Gatorade bottles. The battle was tense and scoring was back and forth but in the end it would be Canora who gained the lead and won with a final score of 54-37. The Panthers stayed neck and neck with the Cougars until halftime, however, they ran into foul trouble and ran out of gas to make any comeback.
Don't count on social media to deliver your local news to you. Keep your news a touch away by bookmarking Canora Courier's homepage at this link.
Bookmark SASKTODAY.ca, Saskatchewan's home page, at this link.
