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UNITY ‑ In a fast-paced back-and-forth game against Fort Qu’Appelle in their semifinal at Hoopla, the Unity Composite High School Warriors boys’ basketball team managed to squeak out a 60-59 victory, March 25.

The win guaranteed them silver medals which they brought home March 26, not quite being able to defeat number one ranked Osler Valley Christian Academy in the gold medal game.

The Unity boys took an early lead in the semifinal, ending the first quarter at 16-10. The Fort Qu’Appelle team fought back however, outscoring UHCS 14-6 in the second quarter and leading 24-22 at one point. At half-time, the score was as close as it gets without being tied, 26-25 for Unity.

In the third quarter, despite being behind 34-29 at one point, UCHS did outscore Fort Qu’Applle 19-13, so they were able to start the fourth quarter with a seven-point lead, 45-38.

A determined Fort Qu’Appelle team battled hard in the fourth quarter, outscoring the Warriors 21-15 but that was one point shy, leaving Unity the victors at 60-59.

There were some tense moments for both players and fans in the last minute of the game. The score was 59-56 for Unity when Fort Qu’Appelle’s Jon Paul Almodiel was awarded two foul shots. He wasn’t able to sink them and the ball went back down the court where Unity’s Jesse Deck drew a foul. He made the shot, scoring Unity’s final point of the game.

A basket for Fort Q made the score 60-58 for Unity. A foul in the dying seconds gave Fort Q a chance to tie the game but they were only able to score one point out of the possible two and the buzzer sounded two seconds later, giving Unity the win.

Denim O’Donnell scored 17 points in the game, with Ethan Stifter putting up 11. Later, Denim said he thought the game was “one of the most exciting sports games I’ve ever played in,” adding “the energy in the gym was unbelievable.”

In the gold medal match against Valley Christian Academy, the Osler boys took an early lead and never looked back. End of quarter scores were 21-15, 39-28, 54-30 and the final of 71-48. The Warriors did come within one point of Osler early in the second quarter, but VCA clearly was in control of the game.

Denim was again Unity’s top scorer, putting up 17 points, while Thomas Snell scored 15.

The Hoopla silver medals are the second in a row for Unity boys’ basketball – with the pandemic having paused the season in 2020 and cancelled it altogether in 2021.

Denim was one of the players who was on the 2019-20 teams expected to make it to the provincial level. When the combination of teachers working to rule and then the pandemic ended that opportunity, he thought that would be it. There was no season in 2020-21 and he admitted that, at the beginning of the 2021-22 season, he didn’t think “in all honesty” the team was good enough to make it to Hoopla.

Hard work throughout the season brought them to the regional win. Denim was thrilled to go to Hoopla and, as already stated, especially thrilled with their semifinal win. As for losing the final, he said VCA was a “better team” and as a result it wasn’t “too hard” to lose to them.

Graduating players are Denim, Quinn Krpan, Ralf Virtudez, Braedon Coons, Xander Tiffin, Jesse Deck and JP Aguinaldo, leaving Grade 11s Thomas Snell, Layne Parker and Logan Middleton to lead the team next year.

Braedon thought the team played “really good defence” on the weekend, but acknowledged it can be tough to win when you get to the level of playing the best in the province.

As graduating players, Braedon will miss the chemistry he had with his teammates and hanging out with them at suppers and hotel rooms, while Denim thinks he will miss “competing with your buddies” the most.

Congratulations, Coaches Wagner and Maze and the 2021-22 UCHS boys’ basketball team.