The Porter Creek Rams basketball team made the best of a tough situation.

Like their counterparts at Vanier Catholic Secondary School, the Rams have been holding practice and doing intrasquad scrimmages to keep their skills sharp.

Because of COVID-19, there have been no high school sports played – no Superhoops, Jamie Shaw Memorial Tournament, or Yukon Championships.

Porter Creek Rams head coach Paul MacDonald said the team got to work in the gym on Nov. 9.

“Monday we practiced in groups of three and Thursdays the boys scrimmaged in their teams,” said MacDonald. “We had 23 boys and four coaches helping. It meant a lot to everybody to be in the gym together.”

Last Thursday, the Rams split into two teams for one final game before the gym undergoes maintenance.

“It was the third game like this and the first two were really competitive,” said MacDonald. “This time we put on the uniforms and had referees, it meant a lot to the seniors.

“The game was 10/10 for expectations. They played as hard as March 12 last year (Yukon Championships title game). It was 94-90 for the red team, that’s a big score for high school basketball.”

MacDonald isn’t being anecdotal when he says the games were competitive.

“They treated it like the Yukon Championships,” said MacDonald. “They boys played hard and played each other hard.”

All the work the team put in behind closed doors was on display on the court Thursday. The passes to teammates were crisp and in the right spots and the jumpers of many players found the bottom of the net.

When they drove to the basket, they attacked with purpose and went up strong to the hoop. On defence, they were locked into their rotations, every basket was earned. There was even some friendly trash-talk happening.

Throughout the season, MacDonald said he was especially proud of the seniors.

“The boys really supported each other,” said MacDonald. “There was lots of camaraderie and the seniors really took on the role model, leadership role.”

MacDonald said a large focus on the season was mental health and making the gym a place to come and grow on and off the court.

“There is more resiliency in the kids than they get credit for,” said MacDonald. “They were choked up at first but they came to terms with it. They do really think big picture, they are global citizens.

“They realized how fortunate we were to be able to do what we did. I still can’t believe how much the older kids helped the others.”

MacDonald said once the work is done on the gym, he may look to get the team back and playing again. One thing is for sure, when they can play other schools again, they will be ready.