The NWT Power Corporation Junior Cager had been kind to the Grade 7 boys squad at Princess Alexandra School. 

After all, the Predators had won back-to-back banners in that division and returned to Yellowknife this past weekend looking for the three-peat.

Unfortunately, it wasn't meant to be.

The boys got as far as the semifinal this year as they were beat at the final four stage by Weledeh Catholic School from the capital on Saturday and it was a game where the boys saw what playing against experienced players was like.

"You could see that they were developed and a lot of those (Weledeh) boys play high performance," said coach Jason Morrissey. "It's good to get to play against teams like that because it gives us motivation to have that sort of focus."

During the round-robin, the boys beat William McDonald School in a close affair before losing their first encounter with Weledeh. Their first playoff game was a lopsided win for the Predators and that gave Morrissey a chance to give the whole bench some playing time.

"We got out Grade 6 players and our beginners some good minutes for that game," he said. 

In the semifinal, Morrissey said the game plan was to try and stop Weledeh on the fast break.

"That's how they got a lot of their points against us the first time," he said. "We wanted to keep at least two players back and try to force them to take either a long shot or get a stop on defence."

The Grade 7 girls, meanwhile, also got to the semifinals and had perhaps a more heartbreaking result. They ended up on the wrong end of a 19-18 decision as William McDonald School from Yellowknife scored on their last possession of the game.

Coach Tara Boudreau said it was a tough way to finish what was a great weekend.

"I didn't think we would get that far," she said. "The girls were so tired by the end of it because we only had seven players, but they all played so well and they kept it close."

The girls were in the lead for almost the entire semifinal before William McDonald started to press in the game's last couple of minutes. Tournament rules state that teams are allowed a full-court press in the last two minutes and William McDonald took full advantage.

It still didn't ruin what was a great weekend for the girls, said Boudreau.

"The girls all played hard and never got blown out in any of their games," she said. "There was some emotion after the (semifinal) loss, but not a lot."

"I'm really proud of all the players," added Morrissey. "They all worked hard at practice and they were wonderful representatives for their community."