The Porter Creek Rams junior boys have an extremely lopsided season record.
They won seven straight games to finish the season undefeated and capture the Yukon title.
Not bad for a school that tends to have more success in volleyball than basketball.
“We’re not known for having great basketball players at our school,” said Rams head coach Paul MacDonald. “We have great athletes and kids who work hard. Some of the kids who go to Vanier and F.H. (Collins), they live basketball. We don’t really. They live sports and play basketball because we’re here.
“They make a commitment, they don’t miss practice, they work their butt off.”
The Rams capped their unblemished season with a 52-45 win over the Vanier Crusaders in the Grade 9/10 boys final of the Yukon Basketball Championships at F.H. Collins Secondary School on Saturday.
The team will likely be hard to beat next season. Four of its five starting players are in Grade 9, including league MVP Wyatt Peterson and All-Stars Riel Scarff and Abdi Sayid.
“It feels really good. We worked hard all season and it feels good to have the win at the end of the season,” said Peterson.
“Everyone on the team is a hard worker and it’s just a strong team overall. Good defence too.”
The Rams took a 37-27 lead into the fourth quarter in Saturday’s final, but the Crusaders weren’t ready to give up. Vanier tied the game 43-43 on a pair of free throws from Sebastian Cuenza. The Rams pulled away again with baskets from Seth Carey and Scarff – both putting in their own rebounds – to make it 47-43.
Following a drive to the net by Chris Sabio for Vanier’s final basket, a fast break from Peterson to Carey gave the Rams all the breathing room they needed.
“The difference today is they played solid defence for three quarters,” said MacDonald. “They let them back in (in the fourth). Vanier has exceptional talent with ball handling and getting to the basket … I knew the push back was coming because they are a great team and coached well.”
Peterson led the game in scoring with 25 points and Scarff added 10. Sabio was the Crusaders’ top scorer with 14 while Cuenza was second on the team with eight.
“We got a little worried and frantic when they were catching up there, but we refocused and got back together,” added Peterson.
Vanier’s No. 2 team took the bronze for 9/10 boys.
All-Stars
Riel Scarff (Rams)
Daniel Kim (Crusaders)
Abdi Sayid (Rams)
Keto Bi (Crusaders)
Angus Clarke (Warriors)
MVP Wyatt Peterson (Rams)
Contact Tom Patrick at
tomp@yukon-news.com