It was, without doubt, the most exciting game of the week as the Yorkton Regional High School (YRHS) Senior Raiders and the North Battleford Vikings took to the floor in the final at the York City Classic Senior boys' Basketball Tournament.
The Vikings took an early lead building up to 12 point margin at one point.
The equally determined Raiders kept chipping away at North Battleford's lead until just under nine minutes into the fourth quarter, the Raiders went ahead by one point. The momentum swung to the energized Senior Raiders who continued to widen their lead. It looked like they would win the game and the tournament title.
The Vikings picked up the pace driving hard and slowly erasing the deficit until they managed to tie the game just before the final buzzer to send the game into overtime.
North Battleford dominated the five minute overtime to claim the win 91-87, leaving the YRHS Senior Raiders as tournament runners-up.
YRHS head coach and tournament co-coordinator Jason Payne says the 12 team event featured the top 4A teams in the province, including the YRHS Senior Raiders, Moose Jaw A.E. Peacock Toilers, Regina Martin Monarchs, North Battleford Vikings, Sacred Heart High School (SHHS) Senior Saints, Wey-burn Eagles, Prince Albert (P.A.) St. Mary Marauders, Swift Curent Colts, Estevan Elecs, Moose Jaw Central Cyclones, P.A. Carleton Crusaders, and Melville Cobras.
Payne says the highly competitive tournament offered some excellent basketball and ran very smoothly.
In a post script, Payne reports that the YRHS Senior Raiders have been invited to play in the 57th annual Coal Bowl in New Waterford, Nova Scotia. The team left Sunday to attend the 12 team tournament which will have two teams from B.C., a team from Quebec, a team from Newfoundland, one from Prince Edward Island, and seven from Nova Scotia, he lists.
The tournament will provide a real opportunity both in basketball and culturally for the Yorkton athletes.
The participants will be looked after by the host team which will provide food and accommodation as well as arranging tours in the area, Payne says. "Their whole community gets involved so it's going to be a pretty awesome experience," he suggests.
Several local students have never been on an airplane. Most have never been to Nova Scotia so it'll be an awesome experience for the team, Payne predicts.
SHHS Senior Saints coach Garrett Karcha says the joint effort permits the two local high schools to attract top provincial teams and shares the workload of organizing and conducting a major, top quality basketball tournament such as the York City Classic.
Karcha also says he enjoys working with his opposite number, Payne, and appreciates Payne's commitment to the sport.
Karcha says the Senior Saints played very well Friday against the eventual tournament champions, the North Battleford Vikings. "It was a very close game. It was our best game," he suggests.
Saturday the Saints seemed a little deflated and very tired and didn't really perform as well as he would have liked. There were some bright moments, however, offering some things to look forward to when playoffs begin, Karcha states.
In the round robin, SHHS defeated the Weyburn Eagles in theri opening game. Preston Liebrecht led the way with 36 points, six rebounds, and three steals, while Logan Coutts was good for 11 points, 12 rebounds, and three steals.
The Senior Saints fell to the North Battleford Vikings in what Karcha says was the Saints best game of the tournament. Both Liebrecht and Coutts scored 19 points apiece in the game. Nathan Ruff added 17 points.
Sacred Heart fell to the P.A. Carlton Crusaders. Coutts led the scoring with 12 points and eight rebounds. Ruff added 10 points.
The Senior Saints fell to the Moose Jaw Peacock Toilers in their last game. Coutts scored 18 points and pulled in six rebounds in the game while Ruff added 14 points.
Karcha also points out that both Yorkton teams wore pink shirts as warm-up shirts in recognition of breast cancer awareness. Both teams agreed to donate tournament admission to the Canadian Cancer Society for breast cancer research, he reports.
