After sitting in limbo for the first part of the week, one of the most highly anticipated Moose Jaw high school boys basketball showdowns of the season is now officially back on.
The top-seeded Central Cyclones and second-seed Peacock Toilers will play for SHSAA gold on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. as part of the one-day provincial championship tournament taking place at gyms throughout the city.
The contest -- which will also act as an unofficial city championship -- will take place at Sask Polytechnic, immediately prior to the 5A boys and girls games taking place at the same venue.
The SHSAA one-day tournament was announced Wednesday after the ongoing impasse between the Saskatchewan Teachers Federation and the Saskatchewan Government led to the cancellation of the main Hoopla 2024 tournament scheduled for Thursday through Saturday in Moose Jaw.
The format sees the top two seeds from each division playing for gold and the third and fourth seeds playing for bronze.
The news is just as good for the Vanier Spirits, who might be on the verge of the shortest SHSAA provincial high school basketball championship run in history.
After receiving a first-round bye and needing a single win to get through their 4A girls regional, the top-seed Spirits will now need a single win on Saturday to claim the provincial title when they take on second-seed Meadow Lake.
That contest tips off at 7 p.m. at Vanier.
Moose Jaw teams will also be involved in a pair of bronze medal contests, as the third-seed 4A girls Central Cyclones and fourth-seed Peacock Toilers will take the court at 1:45 p.m. at Sask Polytech. That contest will follow the match-up between the fifth-seed 3A girls Cornerstone Christian School Falcons and third-seed Osler VCA for bronze at 12 p.m. at Riverview.
All told, 48 teams from throughout the province will play 24 games throughout the day at Sask Polytech, Peacock, Vanier and Riverview. Game times throughout the day are 12 p.m., 1:45 p.m., 3:30 p.m. 5:15 p.m. and 7 p.m. at each venue.
Have a look at the full draw below and check back for much more in the coming days on moosejawtoday.com and sasktoday.com.
