On February 21 the Loyalist basketball team headed to St. Catharines to face off against the DSBN Academy Argonauts in a dogged scramble to claim a chance at the 2024 championship game.

Unlike their previous matchups, and for the first time, the Loyalists now have a sizeable bench that would provide for adequate substitutions and rotations to alleviate fatigue down the stretch. It would be a healthy first-quarter performance for both teams with a 11-10 score at the buzzer in favour of DSBN.

The second half took a different turn as two players for the Loyalists were slapped with two technical fouls. RLA called a quick time out and regrouped. In the huddle, the Loyalists focused on taking control of the basketball, boxing out on the rebounds, and staying active on the defensive end of the court.

The Loyalists rallied back from a deficit of 5 in the third quarter to take the lead all the way to the end of the final buzzer. Loyalists closed out the second half to defeat DSBN 45-41 to claim their spot in the 2024 HRHSAA Championship Basketball Playoff.

The Loyalists faced off with the Eastdale Eagles on Thursday, February 22 on Eagles’ homecourt to decide the season champions.  Like the previous match-up against the Eagles, the Loyalists were down 14-0, with the Eagles leading the charge for the prize-winning championship.

Some costly missed opportunities weighed heavily on the Loyalists. Fear of making mistakes, poor decision-making, and transition defense remained the Achillies heel throughout the entire game. By the end of the first half, however, the Loyalists had closed the gap to 21-18 for the Eagles.

In the third quarter an attempted pass resulted in an interception and a 3-on-1 fastbreak for the Eagles that ended with a slam dunk by the Eagles player. The Eagles’ gym went up in an uproar and the Loyalists struggled to overcome their opponents’ momentum.

With the help of Delva launching a much needed 3-point bomb from the top of the arch, the Loyalists started seeing some light at the end of the tunnel and managed to cut the Eagles’ lead to 5 points with less than five minutes left in the game.

Four turnovers that led to three unanswered Eagles’ baskets widened the gap once again. A steal for the Loyalists resulted in a foul and RLA sunk just one of the two shots and it wasn’t enough to close the gap as the final seconds of the game ticked down.

The Eastdale Eagles took the Championship title 41-29.