Both the YRHS Raiders senior boys鈥� and girls鈥� basketball teams travelled to Edmonton, Alberta, this past week/weekend to take part in the Eastglen Blue Devil Classic basketball tournament.
The senior boys found some success at the tournament going 2-2, winning their first two games before losing by two points to the host Eastglen Blue Devils in the semi-finals.
The boys then simply ran out of gas in the third place game, falling to PWA 74-62 to finish fourth out of 12 teams.
The Raiders opened the tournament with a Thursday afternoon game against a team from Morinville, Alberta; a game that head coach Jason Payne felt could have started off better. 鈥淲e got off to a slow start,鈥� suggested Payne. 鈥淲e didn鈥檛 shoot very well the whole game and we were actually trailing at one point by 13 in the third quarter, at which point we decided we were going to play some defence, and it got us back into the game.鈥�
The defence was quickly followed by a burst of offence as grade 12 veteran Alex Popoff hit a couple of shots in rapid succession to bring the Raiders back into the game.
Grade 11 offensive dynamo Nick Payne followed that up with a couple of three pointers and a pair of free throws to give the Raiders the lead; a lead they would not relinquish in a 56-52 come-from-behind victory to open the tournament.
Payne led all Raiders with 15 points in the game. He also pulled down five rebounds and collected three assists. Popoff had 13 points and six rebounds while Caleb Bymak picked up a double-double off the bench, netting 10 points and hauling down 15 of the Raiders鈥� 45 boards (the YRHS out-rebounded Morinville 45-26 and forced 25 turnovers in the win).
The victory propelled the Raiders into the quarter-final round where they met the well-rested Holy Trinity Northern Knights, who were given a first-round bye into the quarterfinals.
The bye did not prove to be effective for the Northern Knights however, as the Raiders came out firing on all cylinders resulting in a 30 point lead at half.
The boys from Fort McMurray were able to cut the lead down to 12 before the Raiders once again began to pull away, resulting in a lopsided 83-67 final score. Four Raiders hit double digits in points as Payne once again led the way, scoring 25 points and hauling in seven rebounds.
Alex Popoff and Peter Kozushka both picked up their first double doubles of the tournament with Popoff scoring 19 points and adding 12 rebounds, while the hulking Kozushka chipped in with 13 points and 11 boards.
Heart and soul Raider player Earl Langan also impressed off the bench in Game Two. Langan scored 15 points while picking up three rebounds in a game that the Raiders once again dominated, outrebounding Holy Trinity 57-36 while forcing a total of 29 turnovers in the 16 point win.
The win moved the Raiders into the semi-final against the host Eastglen Blue Devils; a team that has been strong all season long.
The host Blue Devils continued their strong season, taking the lead early and increasing it until, with less than two minutes remaining in the game, they led by 12.
However the Raiders, led by their frustrating and aggressive defence, managed to claw back into the game late, taking advantage of several Eastglen errors to make it a five point game with less than 10 seconds left. 鈥淲e were down 12 with less than two minutes to go and went on a run,鈥� mentioned Payne via a phone interview Monday afternoon. 鈥淚t was kind of the perfect storm of their mistakes and our hitting shots at the right time.鈥�
The Raiders continued to hit their shots at the right time as they nailed a three pointer with one second left cut the Eastglen lead to two at 75-73 before the Blue Devils turned the ball over on the inbound, giving the Raiders one last chance to win the game.
However the victory was not to be as Nick Payne鈥檚 shot was just off the mark. 鈥淣ick got a really good look at three and missed it by millimetres,鈥� offered coach Payne on the final shot of the game. 鈥淚t was back iron, it was just nearly perfect, just a little bit off.鈥�
Nick Payne led the way with a monstrous 33 points, 18 of which came from beyond the arc while Popoff picked up the first triple double of the Raiders鈥� season, scoring 23 points while hauling down 10 rebounds and forcing 10 steals.
The loss dropped the Raiders to the third place game where they took on Peace Wapiti Academy (PWA).
Lady Raiders
The YRHS Lady Raiders senior girls鈥� basketball team also took part in the 2015 Blue Devil Classic.
The Lady Raiders, just like their male counterparts, did battle with Morinville in the opening round of the tournament.
But unlike the boys, the girls were not victorious, falling to Morinville 54-35 to move to the Consolation bracket where they took on Bellerose.
The Lady Raiders battled valiantly against Bellerose but in the end tasted their second defeat of the tournament, this time 59-44 to drop them to the 11th place game against PWA where they finally picked up their first win of the tournament in convincing fashion, dropping PWA 54-33.
Next action
The next action for the YRHS Raiders senior boys鈥� basketball team will be March 6-7 when they travel to Melfort for the Miller Memorial Invitational Tournament.
The Lady Raiders, meanwhile, will be in action this upcoming weekend as they welcome seven other schools to the YRHS for their home tournament.
Schools attending will be Regina Johnson, Regina O鈥橬eill, Balgonie Greenall, Kamsack, Sacred Heart, Melville and Moose Jaw Vanier.
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