It might just be the biggest basketball game ever played between the Winnipeg Wesmen and Manitoba Bisons.
The crosstown rivals meet Saturday night at Investors Group Athletic Centre in the semifinals of the Canada West playoffs, their second post-season meeting since the two programs joined the conference in 2000.
To the winner goes a trip to the conference championship game, a berth in the USports Final 8 National Championship, and endless bragging rights as most of the players on both teams grew up playing with and against one another in Winnipeg.
“It’s really exciting to see how much local talent there is on both teams. It’s nice to be on the same level as some of the other provinces with both of us in the final four,” said Wesmen sophomore Donald Stewart.
“Simon Hildebrandt on their team is one of my best friends; I’ve known him since I was three years old. I played against guys like Mason Kraus, I played with Jackson Tachinski. It’s pretty exciting to see some familiar faces out there even though we’re trying to get a win.”
After a program-record 15 regular season wins, the Wesmen are into the conference semifinals for the first time in a decade and are searching for their first trip to nationals since 1994. They reached the final four thanks to a wild triple-overtime win over Brandon, capped off by a buzzer-beating three-pointer from Stewart, the former Vincent Massey Trojan who has watched the replay of the moment quite a bit.
“We’re definitely into the double-digits for sure with people sending it to me,” Stewart said with a smile. “It’s been pretty cool the last few days, people reaching out about the shot. That’s been pretty fun.”
The Bisons are also coming off an incredible regular season in which they won a program-record 18 games. They’re into the semifinals for the first time since 2017, which was also the last time they made nationals as they continue their search for their first national title since 1976.
“It’s really great to see that someone from the city of Winnipeg is going to nationals. We hope it’s us,” said Kirby Schepp, in his 14th season as head coach of the Bisons.
“I think it’s great for basketball in general in our city. It certainly adds an element of pressure, an element of excitement to it.
“We’re expecting a packed house here on Saturday to witness some history.”
The Bisons were also tested in the quarterfinal round, holding off a late charge from the Calgary Dinos to win 75-72, thanks in part to a double-double from fifth-year forward Isaac Miller-Jose.
“It’s nice but anyone of our teammates can get that sort of performance as well, so it was just my turn on the Calgary game,” said the big man from New Zealand. “It’s definitely a confidence booster, for sure.”
The teams split their regular season meetings, with Winnipeg winning at the U of M 89-80 in early February before the Bisons knocked off the Wesmen on the road the next day 71-61.
“I think we have a good handle on their size, their length and their physicality,” said Mike Raimbault, into his 13th season as head coach of the Wesmen.
“We know how important it is for us to battle and to match the toughness in terms of rebounding and have an idea of what to expect in terms of the pace of the game. We’re expecting it to be a lot of fun.”
Winnipeg won their lone previous Canada West postseason battle back in 2019, a 92-77 victory in the play-in round.
The action at IGAC begins at 7 p.m. Saturday. Top-seed Victoria hosts UBC in the other semifinal and will host the Canada West Championship if they win. If UBC pulls off the upset, they will head to Winnipeg to face the Bisons or Wesmen next weekend.
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