Unfortunately for the Yorkton Regional High School Senior Ladies Basketball team, close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades. The Raiders only mustered one win at their home four-team tournament this past weekend, coming up short in their other two matches.
The Raiders' biggest heartbreak was in their first game of the tournament against Balgonie, losing 36-39 in a nail bitter.
Yorkton head coach Tony Hayden felt his club's trouble in the turnover department was their Achilles' heel.
"I think we should have won our first game against Balgonie," says Hayden. "I think we lost because of our turnovers and low shooting percentage. We had 39 turnovers. That is way too many."
The Raiders redeemed themselves in their following game against L.P. Miller of Nipawin, pulling off a 25-14 win.
"We had a good game," says Hayden. "I was happy that we were able to make it hard for them to finish plays."
Their final match against Melville, who went undefeated in the tourney, was much closer than the final 42-31 score alludes to. The Raiders were only down by four points with roughly two minutes left in the game. But Melville found their grove at the three-point line, netting two baskets to give them a 10-point lead. Melville added insult to injury by netting another three-point shot in the last 30 seconds to wrap up the game.
The play of Brandey Blahut and Rebecca McLaren was a bright note for the Raiders. Both athletes made several key takeaways, pinpoint passes, and crucial baskets.
"They played very well for us," says Hayden. "They were key players defensively and offensively.
