The York City Classic is a local institution, as Yorkton Regional High School and Sacred Heart High School join forces to bring together 12 Senior Boys Basketball teams to play against each other.
This year鈥檚 winner was the YRHS Raiders. The team started the tournament against Prince Albert Carleton, winning 79-61. They went on to play Meadow Lake, winning 76-55, leading them to the final. There, they took out Weyburn 98-74 in the final to win the tournament.聽
Jason Payne, coach of the Raiders, says the weekend was the result of three good games against three good teams. The defensive play was good, Payne says, and the result was that the team was able to defend their title.
鈥淲e are happy with the job we did as a team to defend and allow us to create offense from our defense.鈥�
Winning the York City Classic is a priority for the team, Payne explains.
鈥淥bviously, your home tournament is a focal point for the kids, so it鈥檚 nice to come out on top. It鈥檚 a big tournament, one of the biggest ones we go to all year with 12 teams, so it鈥檚 a big one. It鈥檚 certainly a goal that we set at the start of the year and it鈥檚 nice to reach it.鈥�
Next action for the Raiders is in Winnipeg this weekend. Payne says their goal is to work on their shooting and improve their defense, though the defense was strong over the weekend Payne believes they can be even better.
The SHHS Saints won the B-side. The tournament didn鈥檛 start how the team wanted, as they lost their first game against Melfort with a score of 73-58. That put them in the B-Side consolation round, where they won their remaining games. The team beat Melville 68-59, which put them in the B-Side final against Lumsden, which they won 77-70.
Coach Garrett Karcha says they wanted to win the first game against Melfort, which later had to pull out of the tournament due to an emergency back home, but the weekend ended okay for the team.
The team got better over the weekend, and Karcha said that the highlight was their defensive play, something that the team has been focusing on. In the final game they also began to shoot the ball more.
Next action for Sacred Heart will be in Lumsden this weekend. Karcha says they plan on working on conditioning, in order to stay sharp for the entire game.
The tournament is co-hosted by the two local high schools, and both coaches enjoy working with each other to put on a quality event for the city.聽
