The Brandon Sun Spartan Invitational took place in Brandon, MB this past weekend and the Yorkton Regional High School senior boys’ basketball team was one of the 32 teams to attend. The 32 teams were split into two divisions of 16.
It was a successful weekend for the Raiders, who won their way to the division final against Neelin. They left with silver medals after a close game ending 77-75.
The first game the Raiders played, held on Thursday, was against St. John’s Ravencourt. The Raiders took the win 69-51. The top scorer for YRHS was Ben Koroluk with 20 points.
On Friday, their first game was against Stonewall. Again, the Raiders took the win. The final score was 62-46. Yorkton’s top scorer of the game was Brandt Scott with 11 points.
The Raiders’ second game on Friday was against Beaver Brae, and Yorkton kept their winning streak going. The final score was 76-60, with Matthew Mandziuk taking the top scoring spot of the game with 20 points.
On Saturday the games continued. First up, YRHS faced Vincent Massey in a close match up. But the Raiders were able to pull off another win. The final score was 78-73. Grade ten player Jordin Rusnack scored 23 points for the Raiders.
The fifth game was the division final against Neelin. The close game ended 77-75 for Neelin. Matthew Mandziuk, again, took the top scoring spot for Yorkton with 18 points.
YRHS had two players recognized as Tri Star Division All Stars. Matthew Mandziuk and Jordin Rusnack carried their impressive football season performances over to the basketball court and were two of only five players in the sixteen team division recognized.
Jason Payne, head coach of the YRHS Raiders, said his guys are doing a good job at keeping up the tempo of their play.
“We’ve had a really good start to the season,” he said. “We’re 9-2, which is a good mark going into Christmas.”
Payne said the team doesn’t have one dominant player. Instead he’s been seeing a variety of guys bringing impressive play to the court.
In terms of comparing to last year’s team, Payne said the results so far in the season have been better.
“It’s hard to judge though. Every team graduates players, so it’s hard to compare the teams,” he said.
