After securing their second straight conference championship at the YRHS last weekend, the Raiders will be looking to keep the deja vu going this Friday/Saturday as they host 4A Regionals for the second straight year as the four seed in the SHSAA's 4A division. Last year the Raiders rode a home seed in Regionals to a Hoopla berth and although the Raiders have had roster turnover this season, the Daniel Mandziuk and Ben Redl led team will be expecting to defend home court for the second straight year and earn wins over Humboldt and the winner of Weyburn/Melfort to get to Saskatchewan high school basketball's Final Four.
While the Raiders have never played Humboldt, they have been in 4A for awhile now and as the 13 seed will be looking to upset the Raiders, but coach Jason Payne says sometimes knowing nothing can be an advantage saying, "Sometimes as a coach not knowing your opponent can keep your team looser as we will prepare for them like any other opponent and just go out there and run our stuff and not worry about how they do things or what they are running until in game adjustments need to be made."
A win over Humboldt will likely set up a Regional Final with Weyburn, a team that always works hard at the defensive aspects of the game and now have a pair of twin brothers who give the Eagles some skill they have not had in recent years to add to their always solid defense and play on the boards. "Weyburn has had a very good season this year with a new coach and some talented players and if we do end up crossing paths with them it will likely be a very hard fought game as we work hard and they like to crash the glass and press on defense so we will have to match that effort" said Payne. Payne also keyed in on Mandziuk being integral for dealing with the Eagles full court pressure saying, "We have the best point guard in the province in my opinion and he will be able to control the tempo and break Weyburn's press"
As for other key players this weekend, Jason pointed out a large number of key role players including Tyrell Ulmer, Bryce Tomcala, and Alex Popoff, who all augment Redl and Mandziuk's efforts with hard work on defense and adding balanced scoring behind their two star players. "Sometimes it is easy to sit back when you have two players who have taken a huge role and ignore the hard work and efforts of the players around them, but every player on our team as of late has stepped up and provided something valuable for the team and we will need that going into March" said Payne.
The Raiders have earned the right to think they can be in the Hoopla discussion with a big win over Swift Current and tight tournament final with St. Mary's in North Battleford in the beginning of March, but none of that will matter come this weekend if the Raiders lose as it is win or go home and forty minutes of basketball will define the memories of the seniors on the floor as with a loss it is all over. March basketball is coming to Yorkton and this weekend is going to be filled with tense and competitive action you wont want to miss.
