While March Madness is taking over south of the border, our very own March madness is starting to kick in as the road to Hoopla continues here in Saskatchewan with the SHSAA basketball regionals. Teams from across the province open play in the tournaments this weekend, hoping to earn berths at Hoopla in Regina next weekend. 

The Weyburn area is being well represented in two divisions: 1A and 5A. 

In the Boys 1A Division, a number of games are being played in several communities. Coronach is the host of one bracket that starts Friday evening. The first game will see Fillmore taking on Vanguard. The winner of that game will then face Coronach Saturday afternoon with a berth at Hoopla on the line. 

In Stoughton, site of the other bracket, Ogema will play Yellow Grass at 6:00 p.m., and then Stoughton plays Maryfield at 8:00 p.m. The winners of those two games will play Saturday afternoon, with the winner taking on the winner from the Coronach game in the provincial semi-finals. 

The Girls 1A Division will see three teams from the area travelling to Gladmar for games that start at 6:00 p.m. Friday. The first match-up has Stoughton playing Fillmore, with Gladmar playing Nakoda Oyade in the second game. The winners will then meet Saturday afternoon, with the losers from the Friday games playing Saturday morning. 

The Weyburn Comprehensive School Eagles will be represented in the 5A tournaments on both the boys’ and girls’ sides. The boys will be travelling to Prince Albert, while the girls take the trek to Swift Current. 

In Prince Albert, the fourth-seeded boys will open the tournament against Swift Current at 2:45 p.m. Friday afternoon. The winner will move on to the next round, playing Saturday morning. The loser plays a consolation game Saturday afternoon. 

The girls will open their quest for a provincial title Friday morning at 11:15 a.m. when they take on Lloydminster. The winner of the game will then play the top seeded Swift Current squad Friday evening. 

From the regional tournaments, teams will advance to Hoopla, which is set to go in Regina next weekend.