With a district championship on the line this weekend, it was the girls and boys teams from Dr. Brosseau School coming through for their school and taking home the championships.
After making it to districts and losing last season, players from both the girls and boys teams said they were thrilled to make it back and be crowned district champions this season.
The girls had the most dramatic route to the championship.
The Bobcats started out the tournament early Saturday morning by defeating Nelson Heights School.
The tournament was a first-to-two-wins-takes-it format, so the Bobcats had a chance to win it all with a victory over Lac La Biche, a team that defeated the Bobcats earlier this season.
The Bobcats were playing well, but could not seem to pull away on the scoreboard. With just a minute to go the Bobcats were ahead 24-22.
A foul sent Lac La Biche to the line for two free throws, but they only managed to sink one.
So, with only 13 seconds to go and the score at 24-23, the Bobcats took a time out.
“We had to calm down,” said Bobcats team captain Lauren Popowich.
But the Bobcats were not able to calm down in the final seconds. A critical turnover by Popowich gave Lac La Biche the ball with just seconds to go.
However, it was Popowich coming out of nowhere in the dying seconds, this time causing Lac La Biche to turn it over, sealing the victory for the Bobcats.
“It was so exciting,” said Popowich, following the Bobcats' celebration.
“We're happy for the Grade 6 students that just started and for the Grade 9s that are moving on to high school.”
Popowich said this year was very satisfying for the Bobcats after they barely made it to districts last year and lost out early.
“We struggled a bit, but we pulled it all together in the end.”
Dr. Brosseau's boys team took a slightly different and less dramatic path to becoming district champions.
The Bobcats had a bit of trouble with first round opponent Cold Lake
Middle School, but were able to rally for the win, putting themselves in the position to win it all against Plamondon in the second game.
“We had some flaws in our first game,” said Bobcats co-captain Austin Ozaruk. But he said the team had a good pep talk and formed a solid game plan for Plamondon.
“We just tried to come out firing and start hard,” explained the Bobcats' other co-captain Devin Sabatier.
The Bobcats did just that, having no trouble defeating Plamondon.
As the final buzzer sounded, the Bobcats rushed on to the court, hugging and congratulating each other.
The Bobcats had made it to districts the past few seasons but could not make it all the way. However, this year was different. The team came together at the right time to win the elusive district championship.
Sabatier said, “It felt right to win this one.”
“Great way to finish the season,” added Ozaruk.
