Royal Falcons Take A Big Step Towards Hoopla Dreams
With the provincial high school basketball championships - Hoopla - being held in Moose Jaw in 2024 the combined 3A boys team (from Cornerstone Christian School and Riverview Collegiate) Royal Falcons took a big step towards appearing in it.
Two victories had them winning the conferences at home.
On Saturday the second seeded Royal Falcons defeated the first seeded Maple Creek Rebels 83 - 38.
In the previous game the Royal Falcons defeated Assiniboia Rockets 82 - 45.
Royal Falcons versus Assiniboia Rockets photos
“We won our two games and we played really well,” South Hill Royal Falcons head Kalen Senecal said.
“It was probably our two best games all year.”
“I’m absolutely happy. The ball was flying around because we were moving it inside and out. The shots were falling that’s all you can ask for as a coach,” Senecal said.
Although the Riverview Collegiate Gymnasium wasn’t full playing at home helped push the team’s performance up, he said.
“It was really nice to have conferences at home this year. We had fans that came out and wanted to see us play well. It really led to our success.”
“Being comfortable. Being ready to go. Being ready to play,” Senecal said.
The Riverview Collegiate gym has larger out bounds areas which - so long as you don’t touch the floor - extend the inbounds area on three sides a full meter.
It’s an area of play the Royal Falcons regularly make use of.
“It’s a little bit different than it is going down to Gravelbourg. We have more space here. Both are nice gyms but both have different dynamics.”
The home gym aspect figured into Senecal’s pre-game speech to the team.
“It’s our gym. We know what it’s like to play in here. We wanted to put on our best performance and we did.”
One big thing about the next round of play is it may be played once again at Riverview. It all depends on the (seedlings) rankings to be released on Monday.
If the South Hill team is a top four seed they could possibly host a tournament next weekend.
That competition should be improving each step closer to the Hoopla or provincial finals berth.
“As we advance into regionals teams will get better. We need to ensure we play hard games and not get fed up. We need to play at our own pace and really it will come down to who can hit the shots on Friday and Saturday,” he said.
Senecal said they are hoping to be seeded as one of the top eight teams and play from that point.
Although it wasn’t necessary to defeat the top-seeded Maple Creek Rebels - because the two top teams advance -when asked about their victory Senecal said it was an important one.
“I think that it will show we are ready to play at the highest level. I think that sometimes it’s hard to know until you get into a bracket how tough a team is. If you win and keep on moving, you survive and advance. That’s what we hope to keep on doing.”
Like the Gravelbourg Hawks the Royal Falcons had no idea about the strengths and weaknesses of the Maple Creek Rebels.
“We came in blind against Maple Creek. We didn’t know what they were going to be doing. What set they had. What players they were going to be shooting well for them. I was really happy the boys were able to adapt,” Senecal said.
Asked about Assiniboia’s string play on the weekend he said he was expecting it.
“ I think Assiniboia is a good team and I have always known that. They always play a tight game. This year they have struggled because of injuries along the way. I know we have a good league and or a strong rule league for a reason. I’m not surprised we had good competition from a team in our league.”
When a pass gets tipped just at the last second by a defender
Royal Falcons Versus the Maple Creek Rebels Photos
EDITOR’S NOTE - apologies for so many photos and taking extra time to put this out. But given the fact it may be the last time we see the South Hill Royal Falcons this season we wanted to get out as many pictures as we could.