The Yorkton Regional High School (YRHS) Senior Raider boys participated in Hoopla, the provincial basketball championship tournament in Moose Jaw over the weekend. Head coach Jason Payne says the boys lost their opening game to Moose Jaw Central by 25 points Friday evening which dropped them to the third place game.
While admittedly disappointed, the Senior Raiders rebounded from the loss to defeat Meadow Lake 63-52 to claim the provincial bronze medal.
In the bronze medal game, Payne says the team stuck to basic defensive strategy which served them well all year, knocking down a few more shots than they did Friday.
All year the team was led by a strong core group of Grade 12 players. "All seven of those kids have played a lot of basketball, showed a lot of leadership and solid team play," says Payne. The graduating players who lead the team were Nick Hotsko, Colby Melnechenko, Kostas Kara-chalios, Tyler Boychuk, Raegan McLelland, Stephen Hutton and Tanner Kardynal.
The Raiders will see five veterans returning including the team's two leading scorers, Payne reports. He also sees some strong players moving up from the junior ranks. "Hopefully we won't miss a beat," he suggests.
Hoopla wrapped up the Senior Raider very busy season, Payne states. With the tournament in Nova Scotia, the Senior Raiders travelled over 10,000 km this year, he points out. "That's a long way to go in one high school season," Payne suggests.
While the medal isn't the preferred color, it is certainly well deserved by the team which worked very hard to win it, Paynes closes.
