Moose Jaw is guaranteed at least two medals in the 4A boys division at Hoopla this weekend in Prince Albert.

A sign of the strength of Moose Jaw's senior boys league this year, three of the final four schools standing in the province are from the Friendly City with Central, Peacock and Vanier all securing spots at provincials.

The Vanier Vikings are hoping that they're bringing back the gold medal as they prepare to square off with the Weyburn Eagles in the provincial semifinal on Friday. The other semifinal will be an all-Moose Jaw affair with the Cyclones battling the rival Toilers.

“I’m pumped, this was the goal all season to make it to Hoopla, so we're all ecstatic,” said Vanier senior Ryan Stefanovic. 

The Vikings advanced to Hoopla with a two-point win over Meadow Lake last weekend in the regional final. That put sixth ranked Vanier into the provincial semifinal over the third ranked Spartans.

Vanier posted a 5-3 record in league play and lost out to Peacock in the league semifinal at the start of the month.

Since then, the Vikings have focused on getting redemption at Hoopla.

“At the start of the year, we weren't really good because we weren't working hard in practice, but near the end of the season, we started working hard in practice, so that's changed us,” said Vikings leading scorer Ronald Nyekowat, who led the team with 26.6 points per game.

He added that team work is going to be the biggest key for them against the Eagles, “We need to work together as a team, move the ball around and just play as hard as we can,” said Nyekowat.

The Vikings' most dangerous attribute is their shooting ability as they can run away with games when they're shooting is on. Stefanovic said they added a defensive aspect to their game last weekend at regionals that he feels could help them going into Hoopla.

“Last weekend was the best defence that we've played all year, we held Meadow Lake to around 50 points, which is unreal, and we were just playing really good team defence, hustling all over the floor,” he said.

Vanier and Weyburn have met twice during the season with each side picking up a win. Vikings junior post Riley Follensbee said they're confident that they can get the job done against the Eagles.

“We lost a really bad game to them, but we're going in really confident, feeling good and doing some really good things in practice,” said Follensbee.

After the Eagles, Vanier would get a date with one of the two other Moose Jaw teams in the provincial final, which is something they're looking forward to.

“Having three teams from Moose Jaw is unreal,” said Stefanovic. “Everyone from our city played club basketball and all improved throughout the offseason… It's competitive, you don't want to fall behind the other two teams, so we've all pushed each other to be better.”

The Vikings and Eagles tip-off at 2:30 p.m. and then the Toilers and Cyclones duke it out at 6 p.m. Their championship final will be held on Saturday at 5 p.m. and the bronze medal game goes at 11 a.m. Saturday.

In the 4A girls bracket, the Peacock Toilers will square off with Estevan in the provincial semifinal at 4:15 p.m. and Central takes on Melfort in the other semifinal at 7:45 p.m. The provincial final is at 7 p.m. Saturday, while the bronze medal game goes at 1 p.m.

Caronport's boys will meet up with Saskatoon Legacy Christian at 11 a.m. Friday morning in the 2A boys provincial semifinal, while the Cougar girls go up against Lumsden at 12:45 p.m. in the 3A girls semifinal.

Click here for the full Hoopla schedule and results.