The YRHS Raiders expected to be tested when they accepted their annual invitation to the Centennial Chargers Charity Classi, a tournament the Raiders finished in seventh last year despite finishing as the third best team in 4A basketball at the end of the 2012/13 season. Now with many of the faces from back to back bronze medallists in 4A Boys Basketball gone and a tough Friday afternoon draw with the host Chargers of Saskatoon's 5A Metro league that came with the loud student body and pep band during the mid-afternoon game with the hosts, the young Raiders got tests this weekend that coach Jason Payne left happy they experienced despite a sixth place finish with a 1-2 record in games against Centennial, North Battleford and Moose Jaw.
"This is a tournament where we historically lose a game or two and that is how things go early on in the season and I schedule this tournament to see where we stack up while finding out what we need to improve on," says Raiders head Coach Jason Payne. "I think we did a lot of positive things on the floor, but we also have to work on some things, particularly scoring to get better which I think we will be able to do so I am positive after this weekend."
One thing the Raiders did really well was keep their opponents from scoring st a high clip, holding teams to under 30% shooting, but at the same time their scoring wasn't there in losses to two top tier programs in the province in Centennial and Moose Jaw Central.
The Raiders found themselves in the B side on the heels of their loss to Centennial, a game that had the aforementioned hostile atmosphere of an away game and the noise that distracts shooting along with it as the Raiders were overmatched by the 5A hosts in a 60-31 loss to the Chargers where the Raiders held the favourites to a manageable score but could not find the baskets needed to keep the game close in just scoring 31 points.
"We have a lot of guys making the jump from the Junior level to playing Varsity basketball and one of the hardest things to do at the next level of any sport is score and we are seeing that difference from playing 14/15 year-olds show up in our field goal percentages early on," mentions Payne.
The Raiders would bounce back on Saturday morning to win 57-43 over North Battleford, a team that once had the Raiders number but has saw the tables turn in the rivalry after the Vikings dominated the 4A scene in the late/early 00's. "North Battleford might not be the top pick to win a provincial title in March, but I respect what their coach has done with them and the way our players responded in a Saturday morning game that had a lot less emotion with a handful of parents in the crowd compared to an entire student body," says Payne.
The Raiders weekend would end in the B Side final where Yorkton could not beat the defending silver medallists at Hoopla, losing to Moose Jaw Central 50-37 in a game where Payne said the Raiders fought hard but just couldn't outmuscle an older Cyclones team.
"Central has a lot of size and while we have good size as well a lot of our players are young and it is just a different compete level going from one level to the next which is something we have to figure out," says Payne.
The Raiders will play at Sacred Heart's round robin tournament, a weekend where Payne mentions the Raiders will work on their offense and getting players through the rotation.
"We have held teams to 30 per cent shooting through six games and our defense isn't going to get worse so the next step is finding scorers which we will be doing by rotating guys through and see which is our best combination of players to do so."
