Despite being without some of their key starters, the Sacred Heart Lady Saints senior basketball team slammed their opponents with a 3-0 record in their home tournament on Saturday, January 19.
"This was a good tournament for the girls as we were missing a couple of our starters, but the rest of the team pulled together very well with some excellent passing and strong defence," said Sacred Heart head coach Chris Hansen. "The young girls such as Taylour Ringdal, Kaitlyn Kitzan, Hailey Vitkauskas, and Bryn Hawkins all played strong roles for the team."
The four-team tourney included Porcupine Plain, Moosomin, Yorkton Regional High School Junior Varsity Raiders, and of course, Sacred Heart.
The Junior Varsity Raiders joined the tourney because they were itching to get some action and a senior team backed out of the tournament last minute on Sacred Heart.
"We cancelled our home tourney the weekend before because of the poor weather and we were looking to get in some games, so I told Sacred Heart we would gladly join the tournament," said Raiders head coach Chad McDowell.
The Saints first matchup was against Porcupine Plain. The contest was a nail bitter with Sacred Heart edging out a 33-31 victory. Diane Liao and Hillary Black led the Saints on the score sheet.
Sacred Heart really started to catch steam in their second contest against Yorkton Regional. They thumped the Junior Varsity Raiders 46-26 with Black posting an outstanding 20-rebound game.
The Saints capped off their tourney against Moosomin. They grabbed an early lead in the match, going onto take it 58-31. The Saints had a handful of players standout in the game such as Taneisha Roussin, Diane Liao, Morgan Shymanski , Kaitlin Inglis, Connor Rosluk and Hillary Black.
Although the Junior Varsity Raiders didn't manage to muster a win, they gained valuable experience against players a couple years older than them.
"It was a great experience for the girls," said McDowell. "They played really well against the older girls. I was really proud that they only allowed one girl that wasn't a grade 12 student to score more than five points on us."
The Raiders kicked off their tourney against Moosomin, falling 45-19.
After their 46-26 loss to the Saints, Yorkton Regional finished their showing against Porcupine Plain. It was a clear mismatch as the Raiders lost 46-15 to their older, more experienced opponents.
Not being in the win column was new to the Raiders. They went into the tournament with an undefeated record.
"We were winning big at our level against grade 9-10 teams," said McDowell. "We were 3-0 before the tourney and won our games by quite a bit. The girls weren't use to losing. But they handled it really well. They play hard and gave it their best shot."
