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Three-day YESSA tournament highlights

The month of March is gone, but Yorkton celebrated its own version of the March Madness less then a week ago. Each and every March, the United States college basketball teams compete throughout the month for the right to be named basketball's best.


The month of March is gone, but Yorkton celebrated its own version of the March Madness less then a week ago.

Each and every March, the United States college basketball teams compete throughout the month for the right to be named basketball's best.

Last week in Yorkton, eight schools competed in mid April for the right to be called Yorkton's best.

Late on Wednesday night, the MC Knoll girls' basketball team won the right to be called the best. According to coach Benson McDowell, it was an awesome ending to an amazing season.

"We knew we'd be in tough against them. (The word) fun kind of summarizes the season," he commented.

With a team loaded with 20 girls who all wanted to win equally as badly as the next girl, the Knights knocked off St. Mary's 23-18 in their home gymnasium.

"It shows their dedication," suggests McDowell, "their entire effort."

McDowell added that when a group of players has been with each other for as long as some of his players have been, winning tends to result.

"Some of them have been playing (together) since Gr. 6. It's an exciting time of the year."

The team didn't just come together at the best time, they had all bought into the system and operated like a well-oiled machine all season long, he suggested.

"We put in a lot of time and effort all year long. I've said from the beginning, 'if we can play our game, nobody can stop us'."

McDowell added that it is a huge testament to his team to be able to hold the other team to fewer then 20 points.

That's a "huge accomplishment."

Members of the team include: Hunter Frankfurt, Robin Hamilton, Laney Hancock, Abbey Hollinger, Alison Landstad, Nikki Lim, Brett Lindsay (absent that day), Lacey Senchuk, Jessica Sorsdahl, Tamara Ulmer, Meagan Flunder (absent that day). Gr. 8 players are: Caleigh Grunert, Taylor Harris, Teghan Harvey, Sarah Keshane, Bailey Pelchat, Kirsten MacDonald, Morgan Sapara, Edie Schramm, Morgan Thorley.