Any time the Moose Jaw High Schools Athletic Association begins a new senior basketball season, there’s always a hard eye to the end of March and the biggest games of the season.
That’ll be especially true this time around, as the massive high school provincial championship tournament known as Hoopla will be right here in Canada’s Most Notorious City.
There will be many a game played between now and then, though, and it all begins on Wednesday night.
The boys league has the additional bonus of seeing five teams taking the floor this year after only three played in the Moose Jaw league last season. The defending 4A champion Central Cyclones, Peacock Toilers and Vanier Vikings will be joined by the Lumsden Devils and -- for the first time in league history -- the Swift Current Colts.
The girls side will see the 4A provincial champion Vanier Spirits joined by Central, Peacock, Lumsden, Assiniboia Rockets and Swift Current Ardens.
“It’ll be really nice to have some different faces and I know the Moose Jaw High School Athletic Association has had many discussions about the health of our basketball leagues,” said league commissioner Stephane Gauvin. “One of those concerns last year was having only three teams and getting it up to five is a real plus for us and we hope it will help the overall health of the league, that was the main idea.”
The first slate of games in girls play Wednesday sees Vanier at Peacock (6:20 p.m.), Central at Assiniboia (5:50 p.m.) and Lumsden at Swift Current (5:45 p.m.). Boys action sees Lumsden at Swift Current (4 p.m.) and Vanier at Peacock (8 p.m.)
The boys league will play an eight-game season and girls a 10-game season, with both wrapping up on Feb. 27. The semifinals will take place on Mar. 5, followed by the championship game game on Mar. 7 at Sask Polytech.
Regionals take place during the Mar. 15 weekend, followed by Hoopla Mar. 21-23.
“Hoopla is always a real exciting time,” Gauvin said of the tournament, which was last hosted by Moose Jaw in limited fashion in 2022. “It brings a lot of positive energy to the city and we really see Moose Jaw come out and support the event with all of our fans, but also with all of our volunteers. It’s nice to see all the schools pitching in and it’s always a great event.”
If things go like they did last year, there will be no shortage of local teams to cheer for, either.
In addition to Central and Vanier as defending champions, almost the entire girls 4A draw was made up of Moose Jaw teams last season, with the Spirits joined by Central and Lumsden in the 4A tournament. Peacock also saw action in the 5A boys bracket.
Teams are back in action on Tuesday, Dec. 5, with girls league play seeing Central at Vanier (7:30 p.m.), Peacock at Lumsden (5:30 p.m.) and Assiniboia at Swift Current 6 p.m. Central is at Lumsden (7:10 p.m.) and Swift Current is at Vanier (5:50 p.m.) in boys action.
