Local players fall short in quest for high school provincial badminton berths

South Central competitors see handful of close calls at regional playdowns but miss opportunity to play for provincial medals

South Central competitors made things interesting at the Saskatchewan High School Athletic Association regional badminton playoffs in Regina over the weekend, but ended up falling short of qualifying for provincials.

There were some successes on the weekend, though, with both singles competitors and the girls doubles team bringing home bronze medals from the event.

Cornerstone Christian School girls singles city champion Kiana Hrechka posted a 2-1 record in the round robin to finish second in her pool but would be unable to keep the roll going, falling 21-7, 21-13 to Regina Campbell’s Sophie O’Neill in the regional semifinal.

She rebounded nicely in the thirdplace game, though, emerging with the bronze medal from an absolute battle with Maple Creek’s Tealyn Whitefish and tak-

Randy

Palmer - Moose Jaw Express ing a 19-21, 21-18, 24-22 victory.

Vanier’s Feona Tolentino went 0-3 in her round-robin pool.

The situation was much the same for Briercrest Christian Academy’s Ike Wong, as after also going 2-1 in the round robin, he’d fall in two straight in the semifinal, dropping a 21-14, 21-11 decision to Regina Balfour’s Junhao Yuen.

Wong would then go to three sets in his bronze medal match before prevailing 21-15, 18-21, 21-10 over Fox Valley’s Kesler Hellman.

Central’s Nigel Fang was 1-2 and failed to advance out of his pool.

The Gravelbourg girls doubles team of Miyah Tucker-Bellaire and Sophie Simonson followed the same pattern as the singles competitors, going 2-1 in the round robin, falling in the semifinal and winning bronze.

They lost 21-18, 21-19 to Maple Creek’s Khali and Kahlen Delorme to drop to the third-place game, where the duo would win 21-16, 21-8 over Rosetown’s Hannah Weber and Ceanna Fischer.

Central Butte’s Fanny Beinecke and

Eszter Szalacsi-Toth were 0-3.

The boys doubles division saw Briercrest Christian’s Cayden Tsoi and Bosco Yiu reach the semifinal before falling 21-19, 21-12 to Regina Campbell’s Daniel Xu and Jackson Lai. They then lost 21-10, 21-19 to Swift Current’s Hasit Desai and Harit Desai in the bronze medal game. Lafleche’s Easton Lee and Jack Starke went winless in the same division.

The Rouleau mixed doubles team of Chase Faris and Cara Faris reached the semifinal and lost 21-16, 21-15 to Regina O’Neill’s Duane Sicat and Althea Pesquera before falling 21-19, 21-10 to Fox Valley’s Lexi Schneider and Domic Ehnisz. Kincaid’s Matthew Thibault and Ava Sayers posted an 0-3 record.

Be sure to check out www.shsaa.ca for all the scores from the regional badminton championship.

Mustangs drop pair in Prince Albert in Prairie Gold Lacrosse League action

Moose Jaw drops 21-8 and 15-4 decisions to Predators, fall to 0-5 on season

The Moose Jaw Junior Mustangs got off to the start they wanted to open their Prairie Gold Lacrosse League doubleheader with the Prince Albert Predators on Saturday afternoon.

Unfortunately for the local squad, that was the last good news on the day.

After Moose Jaw’s Braxton Mac Angus opened scoring only 1:27 into the proceedings, the Predators would score six straight goals, taking a 7-3 lead out of the opening frame, and go on to a 21-8 victory in the opening contest.

The rematch was just as tough for the Mustangs, with Prince Albert rolling to a 15-4 win.

Moose Jaw is now 0-5 on the season while the Predators improved to 5-1.

As the score would indicate, Prince Albert didn’t let up as the opening game progressed, building a 16-7 lead through two periods and tacking on another five in the final frame.

Mac Angus finished the game with seven goals, while Jacob Gyman put up a goal and three points. Lucas Saikin added three assists.

Brayden Rieger led Prince Albert with five goals and 13 points, Matthew Cudmore had six goals and 10 points.

Bryden Kerr was exceptionally busy in goal, facing 67 shots, while the Mustangs had 30 at the other end of the floor.

Things were far closer in the early going of the rematch, as Prince Albert took a 5-2 lead out of the first and led 8-3 through two.

Mac Angus had a hat trick to finish with 10 goals over the two games. Ty Farnsworth had their other marker. Gyman, Salkin and Ryder Farnsworth all had two assists each.

Cudmore led Prince Albert with six goals and eight points.

Kerr had 24 stops in the Moose Jaw goal, the Mustangs had 24 shots of their own.

The Mustangs are now off until Saturday, May 27 when they travel to Swift Current for the first of a home-and-home. The return match goes Sunday, May 28 at the Kinsmen Arena, with action getting underway at 7 p.m.