The Yorkton Regional High School Raiders senior boys’ basketball team won the season opening tournament held by the Carlton Crusaders in Prince Albert this past weekend.
The Raiders opened with a 65-42 win over the two-time defending 4A provincial champions, the Melfort Comets. This put the Raiders in the semi-final against the host Carlton Crusaders.
The Raiders led wire-to-wire and cruised to an easy 68-43 victory, putting them in the final against the Weyburn Eagles. The game was a hard fought contest and the Eagles tied the game on a layup with only six seconds left, setting the stage for late game heroics as U’sinne Langford hit a three with 0.4 seconds left to lead the Raiders to the victory.
Coach Jason Payne said the Raiders saw solid play all weekend from point guard Matthew Balysky and great rebounding by their big men Brandt Scott and Dylan Sharpe, and great effort from the bench. The keys to victory were a solid team effort and great use of the transition game.
