WheatKing Hockey - League Champions!

The Rosthern Midget Wheat Kings hockey team completed a successful season with a two game sweep of the Warman Midget Wildcats in the SVMHL league final.  Rosthern won the first game 6-4 in a hard fought contest.  The outcome of the game was up for grabs until late in the third period.  The Wheat Kings won the second game 6-3 in Warman.  Again the contest was close and competitive until the midway point in the third period when, with Rosthern leading 6-3, the victory for the Wheat Kings seemed inevitable.

The Wheat Kings finished the season with a 27 win, 2 loss and one tie record.  They won their second consecutive SVHML league and playoff championship and were undefeated during that two year stretch.  They also won the "B" side in the Melfot Mustang Midget "A" tournament.  They lost a close series in the SHA Provincial "A" playoffs to La Ronge who are currently playing Estevan in the provincial finals.

The team demonstrated good skill, competitiveness, discipline and sportsmanship.  Many opposing teams and referees commented on their abilities and their clean play.  "You've got a really nice team to play" was a comment often heard after a game.  Thanks to the players for their hard work and dedication to the team.  Thanks also to Ralph Epp and Jim Epp for the time invested in the group as coaches and thanks as well to John Ayres for the excellent organizational work he did as team manager.  Thanks to Matt Hildebrant who helped lead drills and skills practices, making them challenging and fun.

The following pictures highlight the contributions of all the RJC players on the Rosthern Midget Wheat Kings in their gold medal winning series.

League Champions!

GAME 1

Brendan

Josh

Jake

Jared

Jamieson

Michael

Nathan

Paul

Ryan

Tyler

GAME 2

Fans support was great all season!

Brendan

Jared

Jake

Jamieson

Michael

Nathan

Paul

Ryan

Travis

Tyler

Girls Bball Conference Playoffs

We had a tough battle against VCA to make it past conference play offs. We were toe to toe until the last three minutes. We worked hard and executed plays, but just couldn't quite tip the score board to our favour. This was our last game of the season and the girls left it all on the court. Way to go, RJC!

Steph and Nicole pressure VCA inside our key.

Emily is good for two points!

Jaye with a shot from outside the key

Jenna battles for position

Kyla steals the ball.

Lyndsey on a breakaway!

Nicole for two points

Steph with the rebound

The team watches anxiously as the clock ticks down.

Boys Bball Conference Playoffs

The RJC boys basketball team participated in the conference playoffs March 9-10 at Osler VCA.  Going in with the 3rd seed, the boys had to defeat Hanley in the first round to advance to the sweet 16 regional round in the 2A category. 

The boys got off to a very slow start, turning the ball over often against the Hanley defense.  RJC trailed by 5 points at the half, but began to settle into their game plan during the 3rd quarter.  By pounding it in the paint and taking care of the ball, the boys opened up a 10 point lead.   Things really starting clicking by the 4th, when the boys went on a huge run to put the game away, eventually winning by a score of 70-46.

In the conference semi-final against rival VCA, RJC continued the trend of slow starts and fell behind by 20 in the first quarter.  When the boys finally began to execute, they slowly clawed their way back into the game.  With 2 minutes to go, RJC scored a basket to get within 4.  However, VCA played with discipline until the final buzzer to take the game by a score of 63-56.  

In the third place game, Saskatoon Christian School turned the tables on the RJC boys, earning a hard fought victory by a score of 76-68,  after losing both regular season contests between the two squads.  

The top four finish by RJC was enough to get them through to Regionals, which will be played March 16-17 in Melfort.  The winner of the 4 team region will move onto Hoopla in Regina.

Liam pushes the ball on the break.

Jordan drives to the hoop.

Josh looks for the open man.

Liam finishes at the rim.

Luke D's up.

Mikey zones in on D.

Morgan surveys the court.

Nick gets deep post position.

Jordan displays his low post skills.

Luke ahead of the pack.

Nick blows by his man going left.

Robert plays smothering D

Tandy drives the gap in the zone D.

The bench watching the action.

WheatKings defeat Shellbrook in League Playoffs

The Rosthern Wheat Kings Midget hockey team won their SVMHL semi final playoff in two straight games, defeating a stubborn Shellbrook team 4-2 and 6-2.  The win advances the Wheat Kings to the league gold-medal championship series against Warman.  Game times are still being arranged.

Brendan continues to be a dominant shut down defenseman using his long stride and reach to make it almost impossible for opposing forwards to get around him.

Jared keeps his eye on the puck shot by Paul as he stations himself in front of the Shellbrook net hoping to tip the puck past the goaltender.

Jamieson's return to the team after recovering from a significant knee injury has added a lot of speed and hustle from his center position.

Michael sends the puck Brendan's way while the big defenceman gets ready to shoot.

Nathan takes control of the puck in his own zone and immediately looks to send a pass up the ice to a teammate.

Paul leads the defense on the Wheat Kings with his determined and hard nosed play.

Ryan beats the Shellbrook defender and cuts to the net, looking for a chance to score.

Travis safely covers the puck in front of his net, denying the Shellbrook forward any chance of a rebound and second shot on goal.

Michael provides the team great puck handling skill.  Here he carries the puck past the Shellbrook defender.

Tyler has come on strong in the second half of the season, showing both grit in his aggressive forechecking and skill with his puck handling ability.