The YRHS Lady Raiders senior girls鈥� basketball team welcomed three other teams 鈥� Notre Dame Hounds, Estevan Elecs and Weyburn Eagles - to Yorkton this past weekend for the 2015 SHSAA 麻豆传媒AV Conference tournament.
Much like the boys鈥� tournament, the girls鈥� one was not an elimination tournament. Instead, the final standings simply determined the ranking of the teams heading into Regional play next weekend.
The Lady Raiders opened their Conference tournament up with a game against the top ranked Notre Dame Hounds.
A tenacious Hounds defence combined with some timely Notre Dame offence resulted in a lopsided 73-36 loss for the Regional ladies despite a strong third quarter.
The loss meant the Lady Raiders took on the second seeded Estevan Elecs, who were upset by Weyburn in their opening round game 56-53.
Once again the very young Lady Raiders struggled offensively, turning the ball over far too often resulting in their second loss of the weekend, this time 69-44 to Estevan.
Following the tournament Lady Raider head coach Jessica Schmidt commented on how her team has struggled all season when it comes to holding onto the ball. 鈥淥ur biggest thing is taking care of the ball, not turning it over and not giving other teams those easy two points,鈥� offered Schmidt. 鈥淚t鈥檚 something that we鈥檝e struggled with and it鈥檚 something that the girls have definitely gotten better with over this past year, but we still need to do a better job.鈥�
Schmidt then mentioned that the team still gained some valuable experience hosting the Conference tournament and will continue to gain worthwhile experience at Regionals this coming weekend; something that should benefit the girls next season. 鈥淭he girls got a feel for it (competition),鈥� suggested Schmidt, continuing, 鈥淭hey鈥檒l be able to see what those 5A teams in Regina look like at Regionals.
鈥淣ext year when we come back and we鈥檙e more experienced, older, stronger, hopefully we鈥檒l be able to give it a good run.鈥�
The Lady Raiders will take on Regina City champion Campbell Tartan on Friday evening at Campbell Collegiate. Campbell knocked off Winston Knoll 63-52 in the RIBL 5A senior girls鈥� championship Monday night.
