Sacred Heart and Yorkton Regional co-hosted a basketball tournament for the second time this school season as eight teams came to Yorkton Friday and Saturday.
After falling by three points in their opening game against Moose Jaw, Sacred Heart coach Garrett Karcha was not the least bit happy.
His team got a little complacent come the second half. Veteran forward Mark Kuemper said even he could feel the game slipping away with every Moose Jaw possession of the basketball."We got (too) overconfident in the first half."
"They started sinking their shots," added coach Karcha. "We were getting tired (too).We were complacent. We wanted the 'A'."
Instead of dwelling on all that went wrong, his boys got their act together and managed to do it in pretty good timing. It wouldn't be stretching to say that they pretty much slaughtered three other teams, including a 40-point victory over Prince Albert which resulted in Sacred Heart winning the 'B' side."I am (happy) that we came back to win three straight games...but we could have played better."
He said it was hard to get everybody motivated after a loss which occurred when they gave up close to a 20-point lead against Moose Jaw.
After that game, it was a 66-37 win over Balgonie's Greenall. Then it was a 72-55 win over Regina's Martin, then followed by a cakewalk over Prince Albert, 80-43.
"The team is happy because we won in such convincing fashion," states Karcha after the Prince Albert victory. "We are becoming better at in-game situations, battling through adversity.
Kuemper who took home player-of-the-game honours, said the tough loss vs. Moose Jaw was just a matter of not getting cocky when up, and that there is plenty to learn for each of them.
"Never give up. Balgonie was pretty physical, but it was really nice to see us win by that much."
Kuemper also had over 50 points scored over the course of the 1st Annual York City Classic senior boys' basketball tournament.
Against Central (MJ), he had 19, 12 in the first win against Greenall, before adding another 22 in against Carleton in the 'B' final.
Other top scorers included Preston Liebrecht, (28-17-12), Justin Genaille (18 vs Greenall), Logan Coutts (27 against Regina) and Dalen Brueckner (18 in the 'B' final).
