With the Lady Saints having the Raiders number as of late a Saturday afternoon clash at the YRHS' four team round robin tournament had a little extra intensity as the Gladstone Battle featured a Lady Raiders team hungry for a win over the in-city rivals.
With both teams making quick work of the other two teams in the tournament in Norquay and Fort Qu'Appelle, this game was to be the highlight of the weekend and the Raiders were ready from the get go. The Saints beat Fort Qu'Appelle 65-26 and Norquay 56-37 heading into Saturday afternoon's game while the Raiders beat Norquay 52-35 and scored a lopsided win over Fort Qu'Appelle in which they held them to just five points.
An intense atmosphere was at the gym from the opening tip as you could get the sense that both teams wanted the win over their rivals, with the Raiders really working hard on defense trying to impose their will on the Saints with a team effort.
Employing a half court trap and crashing the boards, the Raiders jumped out to an early lead and never looked back, eventually holding on to a 58-45 win in a game that was never in doubt for the majority of the second half as the motivated Raiders played a sound defensive game and willed themselves to a win over the Saints after a loss just the week before.
Saints player Shayla Merriam said the game was "The highlight of the weekend and both teams played really hard in what was a great game, even though we lost" and thanked the refs and parents and fans for coming out and supporting the game. The Lady Saints coaching staff after the game stated "We just got ourselves in a hole early and it was too much to climb out of at the end"
Raiders head coach Tony Hayden mentioned the key to the Raiders win came on the defensive end of the floor. "We decided to employ a halfcourt trap to really work the Saints guards and create turnovers as well as take time off the shotclock and it really worked out well for us in getting an early lead and than holding onto it by getting stops throughout the game."
Hayden said the win was satisfying with the Raiders losing just the week before at the MCS tournament to Melville and thought the biggest turnaround was momentum from getting the stops they needed and the turnovers they created in the halfcourt where the Raiders had the distinct advantage.
Both teams will be sure to see each other before the end of the year and if their last two meetings tell anything, it will truly be another Gladstone Battle.
