WINNIPEG — In the River City covering the Manitoba provincial high school championship but still keeping track of the men’s nationals in Ottawa.

So a few quick notes: First, Larks picked the “upset” of the first round with Western knocking off Saint Mary’s to advance to Saturday’s semifinal.

Friday’s second semifinal — with Larks’ alma mater Brock taking on the “can we just please win one” UBC Thunderbirds — is currently underway. There’s a few different ways of following the action from Scotiabank Place, so I’m likely not telling you anything that you don’t already know.

I like this as a first-round game, by the way. And it, along with the Western win, goes to show that this year’s top seeds (save for Carleton) are far from untouchable. Not like they ever are, really, but I don’t think you’re looking at any of the first-round games and thinking you’d be shocked to see the quote-unquote underdog coming out with a win.

But that certainly holds true for Brock. The Badgers, on one hand, are told they’re going to be playing the No. 2 team in the tournament but also that that team is one that hasn’t won a game at nationals this century. No way Brock comes into this feeling like its up against the world.

And same for Western. The Mustangs caught a hot streak after the Christmas break but have really hit a stride in the post-season and obviously are playing confident ball. Western spread out its offence on Friday with five players scoring in double figures and shook off a poor shooting performance (27-for-71/38 per cent) to advance to tomorrow’s semifinal.

I wasn’t a fan of Saint Mary’s being in the No. 3 spot and I’m not the least bit stunned that the Huskies are gone. I fully understand the balance the selection committee attempts to maintain, but no one mistook the Huskies for a top-three team. SMU got hot, won a few nailbiter games and vaulted into the top of the seedings. It’s not their fault they didn’t belong there. (Again, I’m going to have to put an embargo on any “they won the games that mattered” talk right now. I’m aware. Because they won their tournament didn’t suddenly make them one of the nation’s elite.)

Currently in the Brock-UBC semifinal, the Badgers have slipped into a 2-3 zone, which I’d think would be the right call. UBC has never played in this arena, and the spacious confines (much more spacious than the Halifax Metro Centre) obviously is going to play with team’s depth perception. I wouldn’t stay locked in that zone — that may lead to complacency on defence — but giving UBC the perimeter isn’t a bad idea. The T-Birds don’t have a ton of guys who are going to kill you from back there anyway, but especially when adapting to this big, new environment it’s wise to say “OK, prove you can hit it first.”

* * *

Just a quick note from the provincials in Winnipeg. Anyone that follows women’s basketball in the CIS should be keeping a few names in their heads for next season and beyond.

Sisler’s Debbie Yeboah will graduate this year and become an immediate impact player at the next level. Her brother Kevin played briefly with the Winnipeg Wesmen. Debbie, meanwhile, has what many call — fairly or not — “a guy’s game.” I’m not usually one to make that kind of comment, but it’s fun to watch her play. She’s got a tremendous hesitation, her first-step quickness is beyond anyone else in this province and she can pull up and knock down shots too.

Everyone in Brandon who follows basketball is familiar with the name DeGagne and more and more people should be starting to hear Crocus Plains’ Danielle DeGagne’s name in the next year-plus. A Grade 11 point guard with good size, DeGagne is the daughter of longtime CIS referee Rick DeGagne but don’t hold that against her (that’s a joke, relax). Anyway, Danielle is eye-popping and more than one coach at Thursday’s semifinal had an ooh-ahh reaction to some of the things she does. Her vision is exceptional and that’s maybe the last thing you notice on her. I commented to someone at Thursday’s game that it really said a lot about her that, when the team needed steadying, you would look to a Grade 11 to get the ball to just because you know it’s safe there. DeGagne has tremendous athletic ability — she could probably go post-secondary in three sports — and her numbers are gross: She averaged a triple-double over the course of three games at a tournament earlier this season and averaged 17.8 points, 10 rebounds and six assists per game for the year. The one knock is her outside game but, still with a year of high school left, she’s got time to add that. She’ll have to be able to shoot the ball at the next level, but no one is doubting her ability to become a force in university. Now, if we can just figure out where she’s going to go.

And finally, also from Brandon Crocus Plains, is Grade 9 forward Tia Coulter — also the daughter of a ref (Grant Coulter) — who is getting a ton of attention mostly because of her youth and the fact she’s in the starting lineup of the province’s No. 1-ranked team. I’m not going to knock a 14-year-old, and there’s very little not to like here. She’s got size, athleticism and three years left of high school after this. She went for 18 points and 15 rebounds in the semifinal and, while not every game is that gaudy for her, everyone is taking notice. You have to remind yourself frequently that she’s only in Grade 9. Pops has been said to be one of the best, if not the best, all-around athletes ever in Brandon and you can see the pedigree in Tia.

One brief note on the boys’ side because a couple of months ago I already dealt with some of the best players in the province the only name I’ll add in the mix is Justin Roper, the Oak Park point guard. Justin is joining his brother Ryan in heading to the Cape Breton Capers next season. Justin has a pretty solid all-around game and, at this level, can get to the hoop regularly. He won’t dominate at the next level, at least right away, but he’s got the style of game that could make him one of those “watch him in his third year” kind of guys. Ryan, who took a year off after his three years at Winnipeg, verballed to Cape and Justin soon followed. It will be interesting to see how they fit in with Jim Charters‘ crew on the coast.