The Yorkton Regional High School senior boys Raiders basketball team had a strong showing in a Prince Albert tournament this past weekend, but it was short of taking the cake. They finished the tourney in third place with a 2-1 record.

“It was nice to get two wins, but we could have done better,” says Raiders head coach Jason Payne. “We lacked consistency and sometimes effort over the weekend.”

Payne was disappointed his squad didn’t get a rematch with St. Mary after they lost to them by 40 in the York City Classic the weekend before.

“I was really hoping to make it to the final and play St. Mary again,” he says. “They beat us pretty bad in Yorkton and I was hoping we could show them we are better than our last game against them.”

The Raiders kicked off their tourney with a 59-49 win over North Battleford.

“We knew we had to get the win against North Battleford and we got it done,” says Payne. “Some of our guys stepped up and finished some key plays.”

In their second contest, the Regional fell 58-49 to Swift Current.

“It was a disappointing loss,” says Payne. “We beat them before and I knew we could have beaten them again. I wasn’t happy with our effort.”

The Raiders ended the tourney on a bright note, beating Vanier Collegiate 80-68.

“I was happy with how we played that game,” adds Payne. “We came out hard that game and had a good game.”