When the 2023-24 basketball season started, there weren’t many in high school basketball circles who would have picked the Peacock Toilers to make the 4A girls Hoopla tournament.
With only two Grade 12s in their line-up and a ton of youth, getting to the final four in the province was going to take something special.
And wouldn’t you know it, something special has happened.
A season of steady improvement saw the Toilers post a pair of wins in their 4A girls regional playdown this weekend, with a 72-50 victory over the Humboldt Mohawks on Saturday afternoon sending Peacock to Hoopla in Moose Jaw this coming weekend.
“It’s been the same message throughout the season, it’s one game at a time and one quarter at a time and we’re just continuing through,” said Toilers coach Brendan Fedoski. “I’m incredibly proud of the athletes and how much they have improved to where they are now…
It was a goal of ours to get to Hoopla, especially since we’re hosting it, and we wanted to be part of it. I’m incredibly proud of them.”
Peacock didn’t get off to a great start, as Humboldt took a 16-15 lead out of the first quarter, but a 22-8 run in the second gave the Toilers the momentum they needed for the rest of the game.
“It was a good experience for us,” said Peacock senior Taylor Craik. “One of our main things this year is just grinding it out, working to the next play, getting over the things we make mistakes on and just getting to the next basket. I feel like we did a really great job of that this game, we really worked hard.”
Devlynn McClung led Peacock with 26 points, while Mattaya Coupland scored 17 and Kate Hansen added 10.
Peacock advanced to the final with a 77-41 win Friday.
Seeing their crew get to this point and having a chance to play this coming weekend is naturally a huge accomplishment in Grade 12 Klara Raaschou’s assessment.
“It’s awesome, I think we really developed as a team and worked together, we worked hard as a team as the season went on,” she said. “We’ve really pulled together as a team and it was nice to get this win.”
Things will definitely get more difficult in the games to come, with Peacock facing league-mates and top-seeded Vanier in their Hoopla opening game, while Central will take on Meadow Lake in the other 4A girls semifinal.
“Three of the four teams in the 4A category are from Moose Jaw? That just says how good the basketball is in town,” said Fedoski. “It’s awesome, it’s great to see and we’re really looking forward to it.”
The Hoopla schedule will be released early this week, be sure to check out www.shsaa.ca for updates.
