With March officially underway and provincial playoffs right around the corner, the Yorkton Regional High School Sr. Boys went to North Battleford in search of some valuable momentum heading into conference playoffs and the final round of sixteen regionals/hoopla the following weekend. With Swift Current and Prince Albert St. Mary's amongst the tournament participants, the Raiders had a valuable chance to improve their 4A ranking in their quest to host regionals as a top four seed.
Friday night saw the Raiders play the hosts in North Battleford as the rebuilding Vikings saw the tables reversed against the Regional who have struggled against the defending Hoopla champions in recent years. Despite playing the YRHS tough all game, the Vikings couldn't handle the Raiders skill as they cruised to a first round victory, setting up and important game against Swift Current in the semifinal.
The semifinal rubber match between the two teams after splitting their first two meetings of the season would likely be a deciding factor in the final SHSAA rankings after Conferences with Swift Current and the Raiders both looking to nap a top four seed. Swift Current had the edge going in winning the last meeting between the two teams, but the Raiders win at the York City Classic gave them the blueprint on beating the Colts. Play hard team defense and contest the three and success would be found.
Backed by the aforementioned hard work on defense the Raiders came out rolling against Swift Current. After a 25-4 first quarter the tone was set for the rest of the game and backed by Ben Redl's 42 points in one of his last weekend's in a Raider uniform, the YRHS took a huge 88-44 win over the Colts. Coach Jason Payne credited the lopsided scoreline to having more energy than the Colts saying, "We got out to a good run in the first quarter with the 25-4 scoreline and were very active while Swift Current came out flat and it was just one of those games where we had one of our best games of the season while the other team struggled." Payne also credited Redl's 42 points as a major key to victory as the senior nearly outscored the highly ranked Colts and fell just six points shy of tying the Raiders single game scoring record.
In the final the Raiders would get another crack at Prince Albert St. Mary's, the Raiders were blown out by P.A. in the semifinal of the York City Classic but had played them tighter in recent action and were looking to take the tournament title and cement their contender status going into the playoffs against St. Mary's. A slow start saw the Raiders fall behind all the way to double digits, but hard nosed play from Tyrell Ulmer setting the tone saw the Raiders claw their way back to a six point halftime lead off St. Mary's. The Raiders would hold onto their lead for much of the third quarter before the wheels fell off after Prince Albert recorded a basket and the foul for a three point play. That was followed by a Raiders turnover that led to a three pointer for St. Mary's that served as the turning point as St. Mary's took advantage of the swing in momentum to get another win over the Raiders heading into playoffs.
Despite the missed opportunity in the final, Payne was in high spirits in talking about his team's weekend. "We showed ourselves that we are where we want to be heading into the time of year where the games matter, and that is what you want as a coach, to be playing your best basketball in March and I feel that we are" said Payne. As for the difference from the Raiders blowout to St. Mary's and their recent close results Payne mentioned how the Raiders have matched P.A.'s toughness and it has showed. "We aren't playing afraid or getting pushed around like we allowed ourselves to be at the York City Classic, we are pushing back in the battles and getting to the point where St. Mary's who are always tough are getting afraid and rattled by a player like Tyrell Ulmer who has been playing tough hustle basketball for us against them" mentioned the coach.
The Regional will host Lumsden, Melville, and Balgonie at Conferences and should be the favorites for taking the Conference championship for the second straight year on Saturday. The Raiders will host Lumsden Saturday morning before awaiting the winner of Balgonie/Melville with the winners of the semifinal games moving on to Regionals, making a repeat victory of their opening game of the YCC against Lumsden a must. Payne made it clear that the first goal of the Raiders for March was to get past Lumsden saying, "We first need to get past Lumsden and into Regionals before we can look ahead at anything, but we expect to get the job done and make it into Regionals."
March Madness officially kicks off Saturday morning in high school gyms across Saskatchewan and the Raiders are playing their best basketball of the season, a reprise of last year's Hoopla run might just be in the cards for the Raiders after all.
