Tuesday was a special night at Riverview Collegiate.

The small school on South Hill here in Moose Jaw unveiled their new basketball court in front of a packed crowd for the High School Senior Boys Basketball League game between the Riverview/Cornerstone Royals and the Assiniboia Rockets.

The home team didn’t disappoint in their first true home game of the season, batting back from a first quarter deficit to pick up a hard fought 66-57 win over the Rockets.

“They played with a lot of heart today, it was awesome,” said Riverview head coach Curt Lorge.

If the result would have went either way it wouldn’t have mattered in the grand scheme of things on Tuesday as the Royals celebrated their rebirth of the gym following flooding in the summer.

Six months of work set the stage for Tuesday’s game.

“I haven’t stopped smiling since Monday when we got our first practice in,” said Lorge. “It’s just so nice to see and I actually spent some time installing a bunch of the hardwood, so I know how much hard work is in this and how much love went into the floor.”

The court was designed by Riverview teacher Jeff Kitts and installed by a company out of Calgary. Lorge said he hammered in 70,000 nails while helping install a portion of the court.

The two-toned modern court is a major upgrade on the old court that had been in the Riverview gym for the better part of five decades. The look of the court hits you as soon as you turn the corner into the gym.

“It’s great for the school,” said Lorge. “In the back of my head, I was wondering why it was taking so long and whether they were even going to put a new floor in with Riverview being a small school and it being an over $100,000 job, so to have it done and know that this floor is going to be here for another 50-60 years, it’s just wonderful.

“We had great support from a bunch of people and when you walk in, you just get that ‘Wow’ feeling.”

Having their home court back should also help the Royals in game action as well as they now have a place to practice on a regular basis. Throughout the first half, the team was practicing when they could at Cornerstone, but had to share the court with six other teams, making practice time hard to come by.

“Knowing that we can go after school every day can elevate some of the pressure,” said Lorge. “It’s been a trail, but we’re turning the corner.”

Riverview's Reymond Tallud goes up for a shot in traffic against the Assiniboia Rockets on Tuesday night. (Photo: Marc Smith)

On the court, the Royals improved to 2-3 on the year with Tuesday’s win, while the Rockets dropped to 2-4.

Assiniboia jumped out to a 16-15 lead after the first quarter, but the Royals were able to close that gap during the second quarter and take a 33-27 lead into halftime. The Rockets provided plenty of push back in the second half and closed the gap to as little as one point at moments, but the Royals found the extra gear to seal the win.

“We started so scrambley, but the guys just gutted it out,” said Lorge. “A couple of guys really stepped out, Kaleb Seida was an off game and Austin Murray stepped up and got to the basket and that got us cooking.”

Seida led the Royals with 15 points in the win, while Murray and Riley Marshall picked up 13 points each.

The Rockets were led by Logan Fettes, who poured in a game-high 16 points in the loss.

“We couldn’t hit any shots, our energy level was way down and we didn’t work super hard,” said Assiniboia head coach Brent Chadwick. “We got it close in the second half, but just didn’t have it, we needed to kick it into the next gear and there was nothing there for us.”

Both schools are back on the court for league play on Jan. 31. The Royals host Caronport, while the Rockets welcome in the Central Cyclones.

In other Senior Boys Basketball action on Tuesday, the Peacock Toilers remained in first place, improving to 5-1, thanks to a 66-27 win over the Caronport Cougars (0-6). Jett Kowalchuk led the charge for Peacock with a game-high 21 points in the win.

The Central Cyclones earned an 85-56 win over the Vanier Vikings, led by 23 points from Cody Moore. Vanier received 11 points each from Ronald Nyekowat and Kody Morales.

The win improves Central to 4-1 on the year, keeping them two points back of Peacock, while Vanier sits at 4-2, tied with Central for second place.

In the pair of girls games, the Central Cyclones moved into a tie with the Vanier Spirits for second place with a hard fought 57-52 win. Central and Vanier both now sit at 3-2 on the year after the game.

Rae Whitehead scored 21 points to pace the attack for the Cyclones, while Alexis Jones had 16 points in the loss for Vanier.

The Peacock Toilers stayed perfect, pushing their record to 5-0, with an 87-43 win over the Caronport Cougars (0-5) on Tuesday. Piper Ingalls had 14 points for Peacock, while Talia Fawcett picked up 12 for Caronport.

The league is off next week and returns on Tuesday, Jan. 31.