The YRHS Raiders senior boys鈥� basketball team had their season come to an end on March 21 after a pair of losses to two Regina teams in the SHSAA 5A Boys 麻豆传媒AV Regional Championships in the Queen City this past weekend.
Game One saw the Raiders take on the third ranked Balfour Redmen with the winner moving on to HOOPLA in Saskatoon March 27 and 28.
The Raiders came out flying against the host Redmen, scoring the game鈥檚 first seven points to cause Balfour to call a timeout in order to regroup. 鈥淚 think we caught them thinking that they were going to destroy us,鈥� mentioned YRHS head coach Jason Payne following the game. 鈥淚nstead we caught them a little bit by surprise and had a really competitive first half.鈥�
The competitive first half was quickly followed by a second half that saw Balfour pull away from the Raiders in what ended up as a 74-46 YRHS loss. 鈥淚n the second half they made shots and we didn鈥檛 and they pulled away, but that was certainly an effort that we think represented us when we鈥檙e at our best,鈥� offered Payne, adding that the big difference in the game was the fact that Balfour managed to haul down 21 offensive rebounds when compared to the Raiders鈥� 11.
Grade 12 dynamo Alex Popoff led the Raiders in the game with 14 points and 13 rebounds for yet another double-double while Caleb Bymak had 12 points and seven rebounds for Payne鈥檚 Raiders..
The loss officially eliminated the Raiders from HOOPLA contention and sent them to the consolation side where they met up with the Miller Marauders, who fell to the Moose Jaw Peacock Toilers 100-93 earlier on Friday.
If Friday鈥檚 game was an example of the Raiders鈥� abilities when they are at their best then Saturday鈥檚 game was the complete opposite as Miller jumped on the Raiders early and smothered the YRHS attack all game long in an 81-42 YRHS loss in a game that coach Payne described as meaningless. 鈥淎ny time you have a game that doesn鈥檛 mean a whole lot something like that can happen and we really struggled to get up for this one,鈥� said Payne, continuing, 鈥淲e had a good game last night and that was much more of a positive experience for us.
鈥淓verybody was just kind of ready for things to be done today and sometimes you have those games.鈥�
But while the final game of the season wasn鈥檛 one that Payne was particularly proud of, the season in its entirety was. 鈥淭he season as a whole was pretty good. We finished up 18-12, we had six one-point losses so if some of those go the other way then our record looks even better,鈥� offered the Raiders bench boss, although he doesn鈥檛 feel the record is a good indicator of success. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not about the record it鈥檚 about the process and we improved a great deal. We saw a lot of progress in our skill and our shooting and things like that that was tantamount to the amount of work that these kids have put in to get to where they are.
鈥淚t was a great group of kids to work with and that鈥檚 really ultimately what is the most important part. We won鈥檛 remember the wins and losses; we鈥檒l remember the experiences that we had along the way.鈥�
Payne then said that the Raiders will see six players graduate from the program this year including leading scorer and rebounder Alex Popoff, as well as heart and soul player Earl Langan. 鈥淎lex Popoff is a guy who played three years and is going to be at the very top of our program,鈥� mentioned Payne. 鈥淧eople will be able to see his legacy in terms of how many points he scored and how many rebounds he had which are certainly remarkable feats.
鈥淭hen you look at kids like Earl Langan who maybe didn鈥檛 score as much or didn鈥檛 play as important a role as leaders but were guys that definitely helped keep the room together.鈥�
Four other players, grade 12鈥檚 Peter Kozushka, Jesse McDowell, Adam Wyonzek and Clyde Mariano are also leaving the team due to graduation; something Payne says is always hard to see. 鈥淭hey all play a role and they鈥檒l all be missed; all of them,鈥� offered Payne. 鈥淭hey brought commitment, the brought hard work and dedication and they came to work every day. That鈥檚 really all you could ever ask of them and they gave it their all and it was a great group of kids to work with.
鈥淭his is year 14 for me and I miss all the kids that have graduated.鈥�
The Raiders will now finish up their 2014/15 campaign with their annual awards night. A time and date have not yet been set.
