The Yukon Championships varsity basketball tournament saw a see-saw victory for both the boys and girls Thursday night.

A huge crowd trickled in – immediately following the end of the Canadian women's hockey team's gold medal game – to watch the Porter Creek Rams girls out score the F.H. Collins Warriors 82-74.

The girls started off with a close game, with the Rams leading by only one point for most of the first quarter.

When the Rams scored, the Warriors were soon to follow with a basket to catch up.

The score stalled at 20-20 in the second quarter, and the Warriors called a time out to regroup.

After the team huddle, the Rams came out blazing and scored six quick points to push them over the Warriors with five minutes left in the second.

The last five minutes saw a flurry of baskets scored for the Rams, and again F.H. Collins called a time out with four minutes left, as the score reached 30-23 for the Rams.

The re-group didn't work, as the Rams pulled further ahead on the strength of a two pointer, followed by a layup at 3:34, and another two point basket.

F.H. Collins player Dahria Beatty excelled at getting turnovers for her team for scoring chances but the Ram's exceptional passing proved difficult to beat.

The Warriors cruised closer to the Rams' climbing score in the last two minutes of the second with two two-pointers.

The final minutes saw the Rams' new defensive line score several breakaway scoring chances, and Porter Creek headed into half-time with a 37-28 lead over F.H. Collins.

The third saw big shots from the Rams from outside the key, pushing the Warriors down by 15 for a score of 64-49 by the end of the quarter.

At the beginning of the fourth, the Warriors started to make a comeback when Porter Creek missed several three-pointers.

Beatty again picked things up for her team making several baskets, but it wasn't enough for the Warriors.

With 6:49 left in the fourth the score was 68-55 for Porter Creek, and a time out was called.

The Warriors came out from the break with something to prove, and made the last five minutes a nerve-wracking event for Porter Creek fans as they made basket after basket to bring the score within seven points.

Porter Creek answered by bringing the difference to 11 with 4:19 left in the game.

Another time out was called at 3:27, as F.H. Collins prepared for the final minutes, with the score set at 77-63.

Porter Creek's Krista Mooney showed her skills with a series of great layups in the last few minutes of the game.

Mooney was also a big shooter for the Rams, scoring several three-pointers throughout the game.

In the final two minutes of the game, the fans gathered to watch were tense as the Warriors made up the deficit, to bring the score to 79-74 after two quick two-pointers.

Porter Creek's defence stepped things up and kept the ball out of their end for the final minutes to prevent an upset, and the Rams scored one last basket with seven seconds left and the final score climbed to 81-74.

Porter Creek Rams coach Trevor Hale said the game was a bit of a rollercoaster for him watching from the sidelines, as the score was always within reach for F.H. Collins.

"I've never had a heart attack, but I could kind of sense that's what istwould feel like,” he said of the final minutes of the game.

This was the varsity team's final tournament of the year, and for many of the grade 12 team members, it was their final game of high school basketball.

Hale said he tried his best to get those girls out on the court for the final minutes.

"I'm excited that tonight was their last game,” he said.

The girls can now leave on a high note, after defeating the Warriors.

Hale said he saw great plays from Mooney, who used her height to her advantage to score several three-pointers and tough layups past the F.H. Collins defence.

Jenna Blanchet was also a force on the team, scoring four baskets in a row.

"I think they came into this tournament knowing they could beat anyone in Whitehorse,” Hale said.

Hale was trying out a new defensive line for the final games of the season, and it seems the change-ups were a success.

"Sensational defence,” he said. "We knew that we could bring that defence in and stall their game.”

Porter Creek Ram Amanda Keleher was named as most valuable player for the game.

Tournament All Stars were chosen following the Rams' victory. Mooney, Shannon Thompson and Nesha Wright of Porter Creek, Beatty of F.H. Collins and Vanier's Shena Greenlaw were given the honour.

The Vanier Crusaders boys battled hard for their win following the girls, keeping the score 10 above for most of the game, while the Porter Creek Rams rallied to match it.

The final score for the Crusaders was 70-60.

"Vanier kind of pulled ahead and stayed ahead,” said Tim Brady, president of Basketball Yukon.

Vanier coach Sean McCarron said the game was tight for the entire four quarters.

"It was a close game pretty much the entire game,” he said.

McCarron said the Rams were able to stay competitive thanks to Logan Boemher.

"Logan was a big reason why they stayed in the game,” McCaron said.

The Crusaders were able to shut down all three big scorers from the Rams, except for Boehmer.

This season the Crusaders and the Rams shared a rivalry that saw the Crusaders win every match up – until Monday.

"They improved a lot throughout the course of the year,” McCarron said. "We never ever took them for granted.”

The Rams won their first game against the Crusaders at the start of the Yukon Championships Monday, to give the Crusaders a jolt.

"We had actually won every game this year,” McCarron said.

The coach says the team was shocked, but it may have been the kick they needed to push them to a win last night.

"It was quite a wake up call for us,” he said. "That loss for us was probably the best thing that could have happened to us.”

The Crusaders learned from their mistakes and stopped the plays that attributed to their Monday night loss.

"We didn't allow them to get down low like they did the other night,” McCarron said. "We put on a good show.”

The coach says he tries to keep his team focused on a victory headed into each tournament.

"I try to prepare my teams to win every game,” he said.

McCarron said it was a great way to send off the Grade 12 players.

"It's nice because a lot of these guys are graduating,” he said. "We played definitely good enough to win it.

"It wasn't the cleanest game for us. In the end we just kind of kept that five to 10 lead.”

Most valuable player of the game was Vanier's Gavin Clarke.

All Stars of the tournament were Porter Creek's Riley Smith and Boehmer, Vanier's Logan Gray and Arthur Maurow and Dylan Salvisberg of F.H. Collins.