The playoff run ended Monday night in Nanaimo for the Elphinstone senior boys.

The Cougars fell 93-59 to St. Michael’s in a wild-card playoff with the final provincial championship berth on the line.

Elphi head coach Mike Sopow said St. Michael’s broke out to an early lead and Elphi simply couldn’t recover.

“St. Michael’s is ranked number two in the province. They are a very tough team. We battled, but with such a big lead, it was too far to come back,” he said.

The Cougars beat Collingwood 57-51 last Thursday, setting up a winner-take-all second game against the Cavaliers on Friday night.

That game was a hard-fought contest with numerous lead changes with Collingwood winning 68-61 to claim the North Shore league championship.

Nate Haglund, TJ Turenne and Nolan Lewarne were named to the playoff tournament all-star team.

“For a Grade 11 squad, it’s good experience for the boys,” Sopow said. “If we had a little more experience, I think we could have beaten Collingwood. We had a few mental mistakes and those just add up, and in the end, it’s too much to overcome. We played six playoff games, including three elimination games and then the wild-card game. Those are all big games, and it will make them better for next year.”
Overall, Sopow said he was very happy with the season.

“We had our ups and downs, but we ended strong. We did want to make it to provincials, but fell slightly short of that goal. But looking back, I’m happy the way we ended,” he said.