The Highland Grade 9 boys basketball Raiders have been improving steadily and playing very well as a team these past few weeks.

The boys were in action at the GP Vanier tournament two weekends ago and got the opportunity to play against some lower Island teams.

鈥淲e played Brentwood College Friday afternoon and it was a beauty game,鈥� said coach Brian Stevens. 鈥淏oth strong teams who competed well for the game鈥檚 entirety.鈥�

Highland鈥檚 intense defence and balanced offence were too much for the Brentwood team with Highland winning by 14 points.

Next game was the last game Friday night against Oak Bay. This was a battle from start to finish with several lead changes. In the end, Highland lost 64-59 in competitive game.

Saturday morning Highland played against the home team, Vanier, in a solid game against cross-town rivals. The boys from Highland led from start to finish. This put Highland in the final game against Oak Bay. The Highland boys were excited and ready for a rematch from the night before.

鈥淲e came out focused and prepared to play our best ball鈥� which we executed very well,鈥� said Stevens.

At halftime Highland was up by 16, but Oak Bay cut the lead to six heading into the fourth quarter.

鈥淲e really needed to re-set and contain their point guard,鈥� said Stevens.

His squad responded with one of its strongest quarters this season and ended up beating Oak Bay 68-58 to win the tournament.

Zone championships

Most recently, Highland was at the zone championships hosted by Lake Trail. The boys beat Vanier Saturday morning with strong offensive contributions by the team.

鈥淲e met Timberline in the final where we just lost to them on Thursday in the final league match of the season,鈥� said Stevens. 鈥淭he team was ready and pumped to play them again. From beginning to end the boys played strong and beat Timberline 62-46 winning the Grade 9 boys basketball zone championships. The boys will go into the North Island championships ranked first from the north zone.鈥�