The Yorkton Regional High School's Senior Raiders boys' basketball team went undefeated in their home four-team round-robin tournament this past weekend, taking all three of their games by at least 30 points.
"I'm definitely happy with how the tournament played out," says Senior Raiders head coach Jason Payne. "This tourney was mainly to get the bugs out and to get back to game shape after Christmas break. It was nice to see our guys came back after the break ready to play. Going undefeated was kind of a bonus."
The Raiders weren't the only Yorkton-based basketball club at the tourney. The Sacred Heart High School Saints took part, as well as the Regional's grade 9-10 Raiders because of an opening spot with other senior basketball teams declining their invites.
"Our invites came out a bit too late for some teams, so we weren't able to fill that fourth spot with another senior team," says Payne. "We thought it would be a great opportunity for the grade 9-10 Raiders to get a taste of senior basketball and we needed a team to fill that fourth spot. It all worked out in the end."
"We were excited when we found out we were playing in the tournament," says Curtis Spelay, the Raiders 9-10 head coach. "It's nice for them to see what to expect in the next age group."
Melville rounded out the four senior teams.
The Senior Raiders opened the tourney with a huge 62-31 win over Melville on Friday.
"Our defence was our real strength against Melville," says Payne. "We worked really hard in our own end. We made a lot of good passes, too. Those two things really worked out for us."
The Saints kicked off their tournament against the grade 9-10 Raiders on Friday. The game was close, but Sacred Heart came out on top with a 57-46 victory.
"First game back from the break, you never know what's going to happen," says Saints head coach Garrett Karcha. "They have some good players and it was a close one. I thought we played okay, but we could have played better. We'll always take the win, though."
"I thought we started out really well," added Spelay. "We made some mistakes in the second and third quarter that made us have to play catch up in the fourth quarter. Overall, I thought it was a really great experience for our guys. They played really well and played right alongside those bigger, older guys from Sacred Heart."
The grade 9-10 Raiders squared off against Melville in Saturday's opening contest. The young squad outplayed their older opponents, edging out a 53-49 win.
"The boys had a great game," says Spelay. "I think we were down by 15 points at one time, but we battled back and kept on playing hard. We pressed them the whole game and just stuck to our game plan. I'm really happy we pulled off a win against a senior team. It was a confidence booster."
The Senior Raiders took on the Saints in Saturday's second match in a rival Gladstone battle. The heavily favoured Raiders dominated the contest, winning 63-30.
"Like in the Melville game, our defence played really strong," says Payne. "It was a strong team effort. A lot of our seniors were strong and our grade 11ers stepped up and played strong."
"We were close in the first quarter, but then it slipped away from us," added Karcha.
The Saints found redemption in their final game against Melville, coming away with a 63-48 victory.
"We went into the Melville game with the game plan to stop some of their key players and stop them from scoring three pointers," says Karcha. "We also wanted to work through the press break and keep pressure on them, especially their guards."
Sacred Heart showed character by not taking their 27-20 lead at half time for granted. They battled hard in the latter half, scoring 20 points in the third quarter.
"I gave them a great half-time speech," says Karcha with a joking smile on his face. "They just knew that they couldn't let up and that they had to stick to the game plan. They continued to play hard and finished some key plays."
The Senior Raiders closed out the tourney against the grade 9-10 Raiders. The game started out close, but the Senior Raiders ran away with it in the latter half, pulling off a commanding 66-33 win.
"We started out really well," says Spelay. "I think we were tied at 13 at one point. So I'm really happy with how we started. But then they started to take control of the game. It was still a lot of fun. It was fun to play against the older guys. It gave them a taste of what the next level is like."
The victory was bittersweet for Payne. He was happy to see his team win, but it came at the expense of his son's squad.
"It was different playing against my son (Nick Payne)," he said. "You always want your kid to win, but as a coach, you want your team to win, too. But it was all for fun anyways. It gave them a taste of what it takes to play on the senior team."
The grade 9-10 Raiders' strong performance not only put a smile on their coaches face, but it also made the Raiders senior coach happy knowing the future looks bright in the basketball program.
"It was nice to see them get a win over Melville," says Payne. "They're a good young team. It seems we have some promising players coming up the ranks. That's always good to see as a coach."
The Senior Raiders and Saints have now set their sights on their upcoming tournament in Moose Jaw next weekend.
"We want to show that we are one of the better teams in this province in Moose Jaw," says Payne. "It will be a good test for us."
"Having won two out of three here, we hope we can carry some of that momentum over into the Moose Jaw tourney," added Karcha.
Meanwhile, the grade 9-10 Raiders don't play their next tournament until later in the month when they head to The Queen City.
"We are trying to get an exhibition game this week or next week going," says Spelay. "After that we have a big tournament in Regina on the 25th and 26th."
Juniors
The junior Yorkton Regional Raiders, Sacred Heart Saints, Weyburn, and Canora also played in a four-team round-robin tournament at the Regional over the weekend.
The Raiders went 0-3 in the tourney, losing 66-37 to Weyburn, 31-28 to Sacred Heart, and 48-38 to Canora
The Saints dropped their other two contests, falling 52-48 to Weyburn and 58-45 to Canora.
