NW High School Athletic Association

Paradise Hill School proudly hosted the Northwest District Boys Small School Basketball Championships on Saturday, February 11th.  Five teams competed in this year's field:  Glaslyn, Lashburn, Ile-a-la-Crosse, Island Lake and Paradise Hill. 

The tournament was played in the town's brand new community centre to a crowd of loud and proud fans. 

The first-round games, Lashburn defeated the Glaslyn Jets and the Huskies from Ile-a-la-Crosse downed the Island Lake Warriors in a game that was not decided until late. With the win, Ile-a-la-Crosse advanced to the gold medal game.

Following the preliminary matches, Glaslyn squared off against Island Lake in the consolation game with Island Lake coming out victorious.  In the semi-final, the host Panthers defeated the Lashburn Lobos 55-43 to claim the other spot in the final.

In the final game the hosts battled a very strong team from the north in Ile-a-la-Crosse.  Falling behind early by almost 20 points it looked like the Panthers would have to settle for another silver medal to go with last year's 2nd place finish.  However, by the third quarter, the lead was cut to single digits.  The Panthers’ full court press seemed to finally take a toll on the short bench of Ile-a-la-Crosse and in the end, it was a six point victory for the hosts.  Final score was 64-58.

It was a wonderful weekend of ferocious but friendly competition.  The refereeing was top notch and the fans many being first time basketball spectators thoroughly enjoyed the atmosphere.

The NWHSAA thanks all the volunteers who worked so hard to make this event a great success.