It鈥檚 been a long time coming for the YRHS Lady Raiders senior basketball team, but finally they can call themselves champions of their home tournament.
The Lady Raiders 鈥� led all weekend long by grade 10 post Amber Tilcox 鈥� went undefeated, posting a 3-0 record en route to their first home tournament victory in four years and first under head coach Jessica Kyle. 鈥淚t feels great to finally win here at home,鈥� said Kyle after the conclusion of the final game of the tournament 鈥� a narrow 46-41 Raider win over the Melfort Comets. 鈥淲e came really close last year and fell just short in the final so it鈥檚 really exciting to not only win, but win a close game and learn how to do that and play under the pressure and do so with a group of nine seniors that have put three or four years into the program.鈥�
Tilcox, the team鈥檚 leading scorer in all three games, echoed her coach, adding that it was great that she could help the nine seniors end their home tournament on a positive note with a championship. 鈥淲e have nine grade 12鈥檚 on the team and this is their last home tournament and it鈥檚 awesome to be able to get them the win here,鈥� said Tilcox. 鈥淚鈥檓 glad to have helped them win a home tournament while they鈥檙e still here because they deserve it.鈥�
The Lady Raiders opened their tournament up with a first round game against their Gladstone Avenue rivals the Sacred Heart Saints.
A tough Saints side put up some strong competition early on, but the depth of the Raiders proved too much in the end as the Regional marched to a 64-50 victory.
Tilcox led the way with 10 points and 13 assists for the double/double while grade 12 star Hunter Frankfurt had nine points and three rebounds in the win.
The victory over Sacred Heart sent the Raiders to the 鈥楢鈥� side semi-finals where they met the Regina 鈥� O鈥橬eill Titans, who knocked off Swan Valley 70-53 in round one.
The Lady Raiders once again had little to no trouble controlling their opponents, increasing their lead throughout the entire game to finish 15 point victors, 65-50.
Tilcox was again the leading scorer for the Lady Raiders with 16 points while Grey Leask also put together a strong game with 11 points and six rebounds.
The 15-point victory propelled the Lady Raiders to their second straight home tournament final where they were looking to finish one place better following last year鈥檚 61-50 loss to the Vanier Vikings.
To do that, they had to beat the Melfort Comets 鈥� a team that they have had success against all season long, winning all three head-to-head meetings so far. 鈥淢elfort is a tricky team. We鈥檙e a team with some really great post players, but they鈥檙e a team with some really great speed,鈥� said coach Kyle, continuing, 鈥淭heir speed is their strength, but Amber Tilcox is one of our post players that can run the floor really well.
鈥淪o can Olivia Tomcala, but Olivia was hurt and couldn鈥檛 play so Amber really needed to be able to step up this game.鈥�
Step up she did, as Tilcox put together her best game of the tournament, scoring 17 points 鈥� two of which ended up being the game-winning basket - and hauling down a season best 17 rebounds to lead the Raiders to a 46-41 win over the Comets in a game that saw six different lead changes in the fourth quarter alone. 鈥淚t was an intense game,鈥� said grade 12 veteran Hunter Frankfurt. 鈥淭here was a lot of energy and it was really close so that made it more interesting.鈥�
Frankfurt added that the win felt extra special to her as it was her final opportunity to walk away victorious at home after a couple of failed attempts in the past two years. 鈥淲e鈥檝e worked so hard to make it to this spot in our home tournament. Our first couple of years were really rough so it was awesome to come out here and get a tournament win, especially at home and to play with these girls all my career, it鈥檚 really special to get an at home win with them.鈥�
The win also gives the Lady Raiders some much needed momentum heading into the 5A Small Cities playoff tournament in Prince Albert in a couple of weeks. 鈥淲e definitely have momentum going in and we can use this as a confidence builder, but we can鈥檛 look at this and say that because we got this that we鈥檙e definitely going to get that,鈥� said coach Kyle. 鈥淲e have some tough competition coming up in Prince Albert and so it will really come down to taking care of the ball and being smart with it and reducing those turnovers.
鈥淚f we can take care of the ball then we can compete with any team in the half court; we just need to be able to take care of the ball in the pressure situations.鈥�
