Comets defeat Medicine Hat to earn Sugar Bowl championship

By Garrett Simmons
Westwind Weekly News

The Raymond Comets senior boys basketball team took first place in dramatic fashion in the annual Sugar Bowl tournament.

In the championship final last Tuesday against Medicine Hat, the final came down to a decisive final few minutes.

Medicine Hat led 74-72 late in the contest, but after a huge defensive stop, Raymond ran the floor and drained a jump shot with 3:33 left to tie the game.

Raymond took the lead with just over 2:30 left after a floater found the back of the net to wrap up an offensive possession that included a number of offensive rebounds.

The Comets made a single free throw with 52.5 left on the clock to make it 77-74, and then played lock-down defence the rest of the way to secure the title.

Medicine Hat’s last gasp came with 7.2 seconds left, as the city squad inbounded the ball after a timeout but eventually missed a three-point attempt.

Magrath ended up in the third-place game against Strathcona and earned a 74-68 victory.

The Comets also came up against Strathcona in the tournament semifinal, as Raymond emerged with a 103-85 win.

Raymond’s tournament also featured an 88-61 win over Cochrane.

With the holidays now behind us, the focus will turn to the regular season, as the Magrath Zeniths will be back on the court Jan. 11 for a league game against Cardston. This will be a senior varsity game only.

On Jan. 17, the Comets will kick off 2024’s regular season slate with a game against Catholic Central.

On the girls side, Cardston will visit Raymond on Jan. 9 and Magrath will visit Cardston on Jan. 11. Again, this will be senior varsity only.

Magrath and Raymond will battle on Jan. 13 in Magrath.

Stirling will commence the 2024 portion of its schedule on Jan. 11, as the girls team will be in Lethbridge to face Winston Churchill High School and the boys will host Chinook High School.

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