The small school of LeRoy played some big-time basketball and secured their first ever League Championship.

The Senior Boys from LeRoy coached by custodian Geranimo Valdessimo captured the school's first-ever league basketball pennant on March 5th in a nailbiting 55-54 win over Watrous.

LeRoy was the second place team going up against undefeated Watrous in the finals. They were tied with 24 seconds remaining and drew a foul to head to the free throw line. LeRoy was able to convert 1 of 2 free throws to take a single point lead. The defence was all that mattered after that, and the seniors from LeRoy were able to shut down the high-powered Watrous in the dying seconds to win the league championships.

"At the start of the game, I told the boys and motivated them to play hard. It didn't matter if we were down, just continue playing, its a four-quarter game. It was a see-saw battle all the way until the finish. We made the single free throw to take the lead and then the boys had to play some honest defence, which they did, and we won the title," said Valdessimo.

Valdessimo has been the custodian for three years at the small school of LeRoy that only has 103 kids, 15-20 of which would be Senior Boys. The first two years he was the assistant coach, taking over as the head coach for the first time this year. 

It was a hard-fought win for the small-town school. They will now turn their focus onto the Conference Championship tournament taking place on March 8th and 9th in Foam Lake. Their first game is on March 8th against Kawakatoose. Win, and they advance to the playoffs on March 9th.

"Work hard and play till the end," is the message from coach Valdessimo.