The high school boys and girls basketball league semifinals are set to take centre stage on Tuesday evening after the Vanier Spirits took a 64-44 win over the Assiniboia Rockets in quarter-final action earlier this week.
Feona Tolentino led Vanier with 29 points as they built a 28-15 lead by halftime and never looked back on their way to the comfortable win.
Jewellyn McDonald added nine points for the Spirits, who came into the contest as the fourth seed after putting together a 3-5 record. Assiniboia – who was led by Maura Belles with 19 points in the quarter-final – were winless at 0-7.
Things aren’t about to get any easier for the Spirits, as they take on the first place and unbeaten 7-0 Peacock Toilers in their semifinal contest at Peacock. The other semi will feature third-place Briercrest Christian Academy (3-5) taking on the second-place Central Cyclones (6-2), with both games starting at 6:20 p.m. at Peacock and Central respectively.
Peacock defeated Vanier in both regular season match-ups, 69-36 on Jan. 14 and 75-49 on Feb. 11. Things were closer between Central and Briercrest, but the Cyclones emerged with a 64-34 win on Dec. 10 and a 68-58 victory on Feb. 13.
In boys semifinal action, the defending provincial champion Central Cyclones (8-0) will host the winless Assiniboia Rockets (0-8), while the second-place Peacock Toilers (5-3) will host the third-place Vanier Vikings (3-5).
The Cyclones won both games in commanding fashion over Assiniboia, 75-34 on Dec. 17 and 117-37 on Feb. 11. Peacock, meanwhile, defeated Vanier three times, including 80-61 on Jan.14, followed by an 84-55 win on Feb. 11 and 87-76 battle in their final regular season game on Feb. 25.
The city finals will take place at Sask Polytech on Tuesday, Mar. 10, with the girls’ gold medal game at 6:20 p.m. and boys final at 8 p.m.
