The NBCHS senior girls basketball team took home their first HOOPLA championship in school history over the weekend. Making it to the prestigious tournament for the ninth time in the last 10 seasons, Head Coach Bryan Cottini called the victory an emotional one for not only the players who won, but former players who followed the team’s journey to the championship. (Martin Martinson/battlefordsNOW Staff)

By Martin Martinson

NBCHS HOOPLA champs

NBCHS senior girls clinch school’s first-ever HOOPLA Championship

Mar 26, 2019 | 4:21 PM

The North Battleford Comprehensive High School (NBCHS) senior girls basketball team clinched the school’s first-ever HOOPLA Championship over the weekend.

The Vikings’ senior girls began their tournament Friday with a game against number four-ranked Notre Dame, a school the Vikings were not all too familiar with heading in, as Notre Dame had played most of their season out of province.

The game proved to be a tight matchup right down to the wire, as the score would indicate, with NBCHS ultimately coming away with a 60-55 win in the process.

The Vikings worked their way out to a 17-point lead at one point in the contest, before Notre Dame made a run in the fourth quarter to give the Vikings a bit of a scare, closing in on their lead considerably. The Comp, however, stood strong when the chips were down to pull out the win.

Missing person

Battlefords RCMP seeking help in locating missing teen

May 18, 2024

World Championships

Power, Cozens lead Canada to 5-3 win over Finland at hockey worlds

May 18, 2024

Starbucks Coming

Starbucks is coming to North Battleford

May 17, 2024

Bryan Cottini, head coach of the senior girls, said his team’s gutsy effort and ability to stand tall in the face of adversity was something the group had found an ability to do all season long.

“We didn’t lose a lot of games this year, and we were in some close games,” he said. “It seemed like more times than not, in those close games we ended up on the right end of the score. Definitely our season helped us build to that situation.”

Following Friday’s victory, the NBCHS girls then moved on to the finals against a far more familiar foe, in Melfort.

Having gone 2-1 against Melfort through their three-game season series, the Vikings came out strong right off the hop and never looked back, carrying the lead all game long, en route to a 71-51 final, to clinch their title as HOOPLA champions.

Cottini said while the skill of the team is certainly evident, it was the players’ ability to come together as a group and work coherently as a unit that really put them over the top, and led to their success as champs this season.

“We have lots and lots of good players, but I think the identity is all about teamwork,” Cottini said. “Lots of ball movement and passing, [and] on any given night anybody could be our leading scorer; it was just a total group effort.”

As far as what effect NBCHS’ first senior girls’ HOOPLA championship will hold on young girls looking to join the school’s basketball program in the future. Cottini said he’s confident the results of the last several years — making it to HOOPLA nine of the last 10 seasons, and winning the tournament this year — speak loud and clear to young basketball players.

“[Students] know that they’re coming into a winning tradition here,” he said. “Every year we’re battling with the top teams to go and try to put a banner on the wall, so yeah, it’s been great for our program.”

Following this season’s 4A championship, next year the Comp’s senior girls will return to the 5A division where they played last season.

Competing against big city-centres such as Regina and Saskatoon, Cottini’s team looks more than ready to make a run again next season, as with not a single senior on the roster, the entire group from this season’s championship team is eligible to return for the fall of 2019.

–

Martin.Martinson@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: MartyMartyPxP1