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With time winding down in overtime, R.J. Siosan dribbled the ball at the foul line and tuned out the boisterous Porter Creek crowd.

The 15-year-old Vanier guard then pulled up, and buried the free throw.

The shot proved to be the difference for the Vanier Crusaders in a 55-54 gold medal win over the Porter Creek Rams Friday afternoon at Porter Creek Secondary School.

Neither team could convert in the dying moments, and Siosan was mobbed by his teammates when the buzzer sounded.

"I'm so proud of them,鈥� Siosan said. "I couldn't have done this without them. We put a lot of hard work in this year. We came out hard and we played aggressive.鈥�

The Grade 9 student piled up 32 points in the win, en route to being named MVP of the boys junior varsity basketball tournament.

On weekends, Siosan stars for Viernes Janitorial in the Yukon Pinoy Basketball League. He also plays for the Under-16 Yukon team.

Up 23-6, after the first quarter, the Crusaders allowed the Rams to work their way back into the game in the next three quarters. Regulation time ended with the score knotted at 50.

Rams forwards Pierre Lefebvre and Brayden Klassen scored 21 and 19 points, respectively.

"This is not the first time that that has happened,鈥� said coach Dave Thomson of the blown lead. "This is the pattern. They're just young, so they get excited.

"They came out calm in the overtime, and they were aggressive,鈥� he said. "For the kids, (this championship) is huge. They work hard to achieve a goal, and for anybody, once you do achieve a goal that you've been working towards for a period of time, that's an incredibly satisfying thing to have happen.鈥�

Crusaders guard Zach Giczi was named a tournament all-star.

Porter Creek head coach Logan Wedge said the matchups between the two finalists were close throughout the season.

"They're too good to give them that kind of lead,鈥� he said. "We spent a lot of energy coming back. I felt we had them there in the last quarter.

"I'm really happy with a lot of stuff we did. I just think one or two more bounces, that's (the difference). Up four points in overtime, there's not much more we can ask for, other than getting the result.鈥�

After taking a four-point lead in overtime on the strength of two Lefebvre baskets, the Rams lost all momentum when both Lefebvre and power forward Klassen fouled out.

"That's what hurt us,鈥� Wedge admitted. "The young guys we put in there, the Grade 9 guys, they're good players, but that extra year of maturity and experience makes a difference.鈥�

Lefebvre was the lone Porter Creek player named to the tournament all-麻豆社区team.

The significance of the Rams comeback wasn't lost on Wedge.

"Coming back from 17 to bring it to overtime 鈥� that's huge,鈥� he said. "In college, in NBA, in any basketball game, that's a big accomplishment. But one of the things where we kind of let ourselves down, is we talked about how we weren't going to start really slow, and unfortunately, that's what we did again.鈥�

Other members of the tournament all-麻豆社区team included Alex Therriault of J.V. Clark School in Mayo, Brett Skookum of Tantalus School in Carmacks, and Peter Jacob of F.H. Collins.

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In the Grade 8 boys tournament final, MVP Ian New led Vanier over F.H. Collins 46-31 to claim gold.

Tournament all-stars included Lorem Lumanog (Vanier), Ryan Hinson and Jarrett Peterson (Porter Creek), Skylar Bryant and Akshay Malhotra (F.H. Collins).