ST. PAUL - Junior high basketball teams from across the St. Paul Athletics Association (SPAA) region gathered in St. Paul on Friday and Saturday to take part in this year's junior SPAA championship.
As the finals games wrapped up on Saturday, it would be Racette Jr. High School and Glen Avon School playing for both the boys' and girls' banners.
On the boys' end, a tight game gave fans plenty to cheer about, and ultimately it was the Racette Raiders who took gold and this year's Jr. SPAA banner, while the Glen Avon boys finished with silver.
On the girls' side, the Glen Avon girls battled through and won the banner and gold medals, while the Racette girls grabbed the silver medals.
"For the girls, Glen Avon came home with the banner beating Racette 91-12. As for the boys, it has been a battle between Racette and Glen Avon this entire season, but Racette ended up taking home the banner, beating Glen Avon 55-50," according to Glen Avon coach Robyn Randall.
For the Glen Avon girls, this marked the fourth year in a row winning the junior SPAA basketball banner.
The Glen Avon girls' team went nearly undefeated this season, according to Randall, only losing one game in a Camrose tournament.
"With that being said, I had a strong group of girls and they improved a tonne over the course of the season. There was a lot of hard work and dedication put in by the players and the coaches. I also had a huge support group from my family, with both [of my] kids coming with me to all the practice and all the games, and I wouldn’t want it any other way."
The SPAA championship wraps up this year's basketball season for local junior high teams.
*This story was updated at 5:30 p.m. on March 6
