Glenboro-Baldur celebrates hoops crown

The Glenboro-Baldur Panthers endured one hoops heartbreak after another.

They were growing sick of silver.

So on Saturday in Ste. Rose, they left nothing up to chance, completing an absolutely dominant run to the A varsity boys’ basketball provincial title.

The Panthers defeated the Wanipigow Stingers 72-47, snapping a string of three straight provincial final defeats.

“You’re always worried nerves are going to take over because it might be too much, that was one of my fears,” said Panthers head coach Ryan Diehl.

“Is there too much buildup to this, the final chance at it?”

The final may not have started how Diehl hoped, but his four-year varsity star, Tucker Forbes, simply decided it’d be his day.

The tournament MVP finished with 35 points and 14 rebounds, including 17 points in the third quarter to seal the win.

“It was the best quarter I’ve ever seen him play, and in such a big moment,” Diehl said.

“He’s not a rah-rah guy, but he’s a solid leader and all those guys look up to him. I was so thrilled for him.

“He played varsity since Grade 9. He lost three straight provincial finals. When you lose, you appreciate winning that much more and know it’s going to take that extra effort. These guys, they’re tight friends and I think that really matters at the end of the day.”

The past three seasons, Glenboro-Baldur ran into the Frontier Mosakahiken Grizzlies in each final, losing 78-55, 98-70 and 86-81.

With the Grizzlies’ core finally gone, the Panthers were the clear No. 1 seed and showed it in their first two games. Glenboro-Baldur dominated Chief Sam Cook 109-30, and the host Ste. Rose Celtics 95-36 en route to the final.

For Diehl, the lopsided victories came with pros and cons. On one hand, he was able to go deeper into his bench and keep his key players fresh for the final.

But they also didn’t have to handle any nervy moments or play from behind at all.

The Panthers went up 8-2 early, but struggled to score for a few minutes as the Stingers hit a few layups, opening up their shooters for a few deep balls to tie it 17-17 by the end of the first quarter.

Their offensive struggles continued into the second quarter, trailing 23-21 with less than two minutes to go before halftime.

But they closed the quarter on another 8-2 run thanks to a pair of Forbes corner threes.

“They made a really nice adjustment to our game plan and showed us multiple defences throughout the game. At times, it threw us off, especially in the first half,” Diehl said.

“We talk all year about how we keep running. We’re going to get ours, maybe not in the first quarter but in the second half, we’re going to get some easy buckets. That was a factor, that we had more legs in the second half than Wanipigow did.”

Glenboro led 29-25 at the break, then started the second half on an 11-0 run as Forbes put his team on his back.

He knocked down two more triples and a three-point play in quick succession, outscoring Wanipigow 17-6 and helping his team take a 58-31 lead into the final frame.

Both teams could sense it was over at that point as the clock wound down to zero and the Stingers suffered just their second loss of the season.

The Panthers had big contributions from the whole team, with Owen McLean and Austin Dubyts earning player-of-the-game awards in the first two rounds, while Evan Griffin and Max Janz made the tournament all-star squad.

For a handful of the players, it was their second provincial gold of the season after MVP Griffin led Glenboro to the A boys’ volleyball title.

Ten of the 13 players on the team also helped the Glenboro-Carberry-Baldur Wildcats to a fifth-place finish in the Westman High School Hockey League.

“I’m so proud of how these kids are multi-sport athletes,” Diehl said.

“I’m really proud that they play everything, don’t specialize early and are being rewarded with a lot of success in multiple sports. It’s really important to me.”

» tfriesen@brandonsun.com