By Sean Rooney on March 6, 2018.
Medicine Hat News High school basketball playoffs have begun and Medicine Hat will have a big stage for them over the next couple weeks. With 3A zone championships this weekend and 4A provincials the next, hometown teams will look to finish strong. On Monday, Hat High’s junior varsity girls beat WR Myers 71-60, advancing to a semifinal against top seed LCI tonight in Lethbridge. Jordyn Knight dropped 20 in the win for the Kwahommies, while Emma Wintoniak had 12 and Kyler Varga 11. Anika Steed’s 20 led Taber but it was Hat High’s depth that shone through, as all but one player scored. Hat High’s other teams all are on the road for this week’s playoffs. The junior varsity boys were in Lethbridge against LCI in a late quarter-final matchup, though no score was available by press time. The senior varsity girls open the 4A zones at Cardston Wednesday, then play the rest of their tournament at the University of Lethbridge. The varsity boys are at LCI Wednesday. Both the Mohawks and Kwahommies host provincials, so they’re just looking for a zone title with no need to worry about getting a provincial spot per se. Three additional 4A teams in each of boys and girls will join the hosts March 15-17 at provincials. As for the final set of Alberta rankings which were unveiled last Thursday, the Kwahommies made it as an honourable mention. The Mohawks didn’t register. As for the 3A level, Southeast Basketball Conference finals took place last week. Though no results were posted on the league website, the McCoy girls and Brooks boys picked up championship banners. McCoy hosts both boys and girls 3A zones starting Friday. The Colts’ boys — who got an honourable mention in the final Alberta rankings — play Crescent Heights at 2 p.m., with the other semifinal between WR Myers and Eagle Butte tipping off at 8 p.m. McCoy’s girls —ranked third in the province — play Eagle Butte at 4 p.m. followed by Myers (Alberta No. 5) and Crescent Heights at 6 p.m. Both girls semifinal winners go to provincials, whereas on the boys side only the Saturday champion will go through. 11