It鈥檚 not often that a Yorkton high school sports team gets the opportunity to compete in a different province, but when they do it鈥檚 usually Alberta or Manitoba that they鈥檙e travelling to.
This time, however, the competition didn鈥檛 call for a visit to one of Saskatchewan鈥檚 neighbouring provinces.
Instead, it consisted of travelling to Regina and boarding a plane destined for Canada鈥檚 east coast, as both the YRHS boys鈥� and girls鈥� senior basketball teams made the nearly 4.5 hour flight from Regina to Nova Scotia to take part in the New Waterford Coal Bowl Classic. 鈥淚t was a great experience for our players,鈥� said YRHS senior boys鈥� head coach Jason Payne upon the Raiders鈥� return to Yorkton. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a pretty amazing opportunity that the community there has put together.鈥�
Payne said that, in addition to the weeklong basketball tournament, the community of New Waterford went above and beyond in accommodating the Raiders. 鈥淏asically they feed you, they put you up, you make a phone call and tell them what you want to see and they have a bus there ready for you when you want to leave.
鈥淲e went to the Nova Scotia Coal Miners Museum, we went down and explored a lighthouse and some coastal areas which was fantastic.鈥�
Lady Raider head coach Jessica Kyle agreed with Payne, adding that the opportunity to travel and visit another part of the country was one that the Raider student-athletes will cherish for the rest of their lives. 鈥淏asketball was only a small part of what we took away from our week long trip,鈥� mentioned Kyle, continuing,
鈥淥ur girls formed new friendships with their billets whom we played two strong games against, they were able to immerse themselves in a community and economy that is very different than ours and see a beautiful piece of our country.鈥�
The tournament
As for the tournament 鈥� the Raiders鈥� main reason for travelling the over three-thousand kilometre journey 鈥� both the Raiders and Lady Raiders had respectable outings with the boys going 2-2 and the girls going 1-2.
The boys opened the competition up with a game against the host Breton Education Centre Bears and battled not only the Bears, but also the 12-hundred fans all cheering for the host school.
A combination of the atmosphere at the game and poor shooting resulted in a 61-41 Raider loss to the host and eventual champion Bears. 鈥淭he game against the hosts was actually a really good game,鈥� said Payne. 鈥淲e may have lost by 20, but it was actually close for most of the way.
鈥淒ealing with the atmosphere, there were 12-hundred people in the gym cheering very passionately for their school so, that was very hard and we just couldn鈥檛 get shots to drop.鈥�
Ben Koroluk led all Raiders in scoring with nine points while Dylan Sharpe scored eight and Tyson Black tallied seven.
The second game of the tournament saw the Raiders take on Quebec鈥檚 Polyvalente de L鈥橝ncienne-Lorette. A strong first half had the Raiders ahead 36-26, but a lacklustre final two quarters saw the Quebec squad roar back to hand the Raiders their second loss of the tournament, 57-48.
Black was the leading scorer for the Raiders with 13, closely followed by Caleb Bymak with 11.
One day later the Raiders were back on the court, this time taking on Elwood Regional High School from Deer Lake, Newfoundland.
A pair of strong performances from grade 10 guards Matthew Mandziuk (12 points) and Matthew Balysky (13 points) propelled the Raiders to a 50-47 win.
The final game of the tournament for the Raider boys had them take on Ontario鈥檚 St. Francis Xavier Catholic High School.
Twenty points in the first quarter 鈥� ten from Balysky 鈥� took St. FX out of the game early on and a 15-point second quarter highlighted by seven points from Black proved to be the nail in the St. FX coffin as the Raiders cruised to their second win of the Coal Bowl, 66-33.
Balysky led the Regional with a Raider tournament high 16 points while Black scored 13 and Sharpe had eight.
On the girl鈥檚 side of things the Lady Raiders opened the tournament up with a 46-42 loss to the host Breton Education Centre Bears. Olivia Tomcala led the Lady Raiders with eight points while Hunter Frankfurt and Amber Tilcox chipped in with seven each.
Game Two for the Lady Raiders pitted the orange-clad girls against Glace Bay High School. A pair of strong performances by Tomcala (13 points) and Tilcox (12 points) proved to be not enough however, as the Lady Raiders fell 73-45.
The third and final game of the competition for the Lady Raiders was a rematch of their first game of the week.
This time the Lady Raiders gained their revenge on the host Bears, taking a 30-23 lead into halftime before erupting for 22 points in the third quarter while limiting the Bears to just five of their own.
A 15-11 fourth quarter in favour of the hosts made the final score slightly more respectable at 63-43.
For the third straight game Tomcala led the Lady Raiders in scoring, this time netting a team high 18 points while Deanna Kitzul chipped in with seven and Tilcox had six.
Up next
Up next the Raider boys will be in Swift Current this weekend for a six team tournament while the Lady Raiders have the next couple of weekends off with their next action taking place February 26-27 at their home tournament.
