The Yukon's two representing Arctic Winter Games junior basketball teams have a lot to be proud of these days, especially after competing in the recently held 2008 Harry Ainlay High School Tri-Prov Basketball Tournament.

Both teams used the Edmonton competition to make significant strides towards improving their overall development heading into the Games. The Arctic Winter Games (AWG) are less than one month away and will be held in Yellowknife.

The basketball tournament was highlighted by an impressive 80-74 victory for the girls' team in their third and final game, which was against Western Canada.

"It was very great," said the team's coach Diedra Davidson, regarding the victory. "I think it put us on a high for when we go into Arctic's, they played a very strong game. I was quite impressed with every single person on the team."

The Harry Ainlay High School Tri-Prov Basketball Tournament was held from Feb. 7-9. The competition featured 16 teams in total, eight in each of the girls' and boys' categories. Individual teams played a total of three games and the top two teams in both categories were given an automatic berth in the final.

The Yukon's girls' team finished with a record of 1-2 and placed seventh in their category.

The beginning of the tournament was an uphill battle for the AWG squad as they squared off against the number one ranked as well as tournament host Harry Ainlay.

Harry Ainlay ended up winning 88-38, despite a valiant effort given by the AWG team, who battled throughout the entire game. High scorers for the AWG team included Chantai Minet with 11 points, while Roslyn Tait scored 10.

The second contest for the AWG girls' team was against Mt. Baker.

While this game was closer than their contest against Harry Ainlay, the Yukon club was still not able to get the win, having trouble sinking shots in the 73-56 loss.

They did manage to improve from the previous game and the contest was highlighted by the strong defensive play of the Yukon team.

Another second-game highlight for the AWG squad came in the final quarter when the team went on a 24-10 run. High scorers for the AWG girls' team were Noria Deacon with 18 points and Minet with 13.

The final contest on Saturday proved to be the high point of the tournament, as the team was able to successfully build on the first two games and put forth their most complete contest of the competition.

The girls set the tempo early and finished the first half with a lead.

After surrendering this lead by the end of the third quarter, the AWG team managed to battle back in the fourth to secure the win. The team came back after being down by as many as 10 points in the final quarter.

It was an overall team victory for the girls, as every member on the squad scored at least one basket. The high scorers were Minet, with 20; Tait, with 17; and Deacon, with 16 points.

This was a learning tournament for the girls and the team goals heading into it centre around becoming more comfortable with playing together as well as getting a feel for a higher level of competition that they are sure to experience in Yellowknife.

The girls' team is currently working on improving its systems and will focus the majority of the attention in that specific area heading into the Games.

Davidson said she was impressed with how the team played throughout the Edmonton tournament.

"For me, this is the first time I have seen a lot of them play and I was really floored at how much they hustled and they kept their head in the game even though they were down by quite a bit, she said. "It was great to see, they never gave up at any point. They just worked hard the whole time, so I think that was the best thing that I saw of the team itself. They have a lot of guts, really to give it."

She said the team achieved all of its pre-tournament goals.

"I think they are starting to play well together and understand where to expect to find their teammates, so I think all-in-all the tournament was a great opportunity for us," she said. "They built some trust with each other. Especially with that last win I think their confidence is a bit high and hopefully they will ride that wave into the Arctic's and play as hard as they did in the tournament in Edmonton."

The girls' team hopes to play in the final at the AWG and Davidson said the team is more confident about being able to achieve that after competing in Edmonton.

The AWG boys' team also did well at the tournament, despite not finishing as strong as the girls'. The team went 0-3 in Edmonton, but Tim Brady, who filled in at the event for team coach Jamie Shaw, said he was pleased with how they did.

"I think we did very well," he said. "Our will to win and our competitiveness was great, so from that sense I was pleased. As always there are things you can improve upon and we came away with a better understanding on what those things were, both in an individual and team sense. Going to this tournament was sort of a pre-competitive tournament for the Arctic Winter Games and this allowed the players to get game experience."

The boys' team had three goals heading into the tournament. The first was to be competitive in every game, the second was for both players and the team as a whole to identify things they can improve upon and the third goal was to become more comfortable playing as a team.

Brady said the team achieved all three goals and added that both Yukon teams benefited from taking part in the Edmonton tournament.

"Both our men's and our women's teams will be better prepared having gone to the tournament and I know that both coaches have been working very hard with their teams and will continue to work hard,” he said. "We are expecting good results from both teams."