Boasting a new lineup filled with fresh faces going into their first weekend of Sr. Basketball, the Yorkton Regional High School Raiders didn't know what to expect heading into a weekend that always presents some challenges to teams coming out of the gate. With the quick turnaround from volleyball season to basketball practice time is short and coaches don't know entirely what to expect from their teams. After three wins on their way to the Melville Comprehensive School Tournament title, Raiders head coach Jason Payne was positive after his young Raiders battled through adversity on Saturday to be crowned champs.
"We had a tough semifinal against a good 4A team in Estevan that played us really tough and led most of the way before playing through fatigue without a handful of our older players who were attending the YRHS football banquet on Saturday night so overall I was impressed with the way our team faced some adversity this weekend," says Payne who also mentioned the tight game against Estevan was a good way to introduce the young team to the next level. "Playing in a close game on the opening weekend forced guys to step up and players like Ryan Krochak, Caleb Bymak, and Alex Popoff stepped up for us to take a late lead and hold onto a win."
After the tough 58-54 win over the Elecs the Raiders dealt with missing players against their city rivals in the Sacred Heart Saints in the first Gladstone Battle clash between the friendly rivals in the Raiders and Saints. With two teams tired after playing two games in the weekend with conditioning still being developed, a sloppy game saw the Raiders take a 53-31 win in a game that Payne said was unexpected for both teams. "We really expected the Saints to give us a challenge and we knew a lot of their players have improved over the summer including their center David Ojo and even though we had problems getting buckets our defence kept his size from being a factor."
That size may have to be counted on to get buckets this weekend as the Raiders will be facing their first major test of the season on Friday afternoon in Saskatoon, taking on 5A hosts Centennial in their annual trip to the Chargers Charity Classic. Coach Payne considers the tournament to be a measuring stick and says he is interested to see how his young team deals with a hostile environment. "We use this tournament to see what we need to work on heading into Christmas and it is our first look at some of the best schools in Saskatchewan so it will be interesting to see where things shake up in a tournament we have managed to win on Fridays a couple of times since making it a regular trip."
