The Peacock Toilers and Central Cyclones might have been familiar foes heading into the 4A high school girls basketball regional final, but that didn’t mean the game was going to be any less intense.
Heck, there was even a buzzer-beater half-court shot. That put Peacock up by 20 at half.
The Toilers were able to make that lead stick and then some, as they went on to 71-40 victory to earn a spot in the Hoopla provincial championship tournament next weekend in Saskatoon.
More on that in a moment. But first, THAT shot.
“I just threw it up there and it happened to go in, I thought it had just hit the net,” said Toilers guard Piper Ingalls, who heaved the shot from just over half as the halftime buzzer went off. Ingalls would go on to score 23 points to lead all scorers.
In the end, it was a long three-pointer, albeit one that brought the crowd to its feet and even had Central fans applauding. But when it came to the final score, those points weren’t all that crucial to the final result – and the Toilers would go on to comfortably book their spot in Hoopla.
“It’s pretty cool, we went to Hoopla these past three years and for some of the girls four years,” Ingalls said. “It’s going to be a really good experience and I think we’re going to do well.”
Emily Mackenzie added 11 points for the Toilers; Lindsay Detubio scored eight points for Central while Katie Coulson added seven.
The third-seed Toilers will take on the second-seed Melfort Comets to open their appearance at Hoopla on Friday.
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The Toilers were one of three teams to advance to Hoopla on Saturday, with the other two as unsurprising as can be.
The top-seeded Central Cyclones picked up right where they left off the previous night, putting together another impressive performance on offence while simultaneously shutting down their opponents in their way to a 120-51 win over Saskatoon Bedford Road.
Central will face fifth-seed North Battleford John Paul II in their Hoopla opener.
It was much the same in the 3A girls regional final, as the first-seed Caronport Cougars rolled to a 96-61 win over Yorkton Sacred Heart. They’ll do battle with Melville in their first game Saturday.
