The Portage Collegiate Trojans and Saints basketball teams both made their 2022 debut at home last night and were victorious.

The Trojans started off the evening with a huge victory over the St. John's Tigers with the final score being 68-42. PCI built up a 20 point lead by halftime and didn't let go of it the rest of the way. Assistant coach Kaden Mirza describes the keys to the victory.

"We were very gritty. We've been practicing a lot on being more physical and running our offence," says Mirza. "We had some ups and downs but we were able to keep that grit, focus in on our gameplan, and pull out the win."

The victory gets PCI back in the win column as they fell 91-81 in their last outing against the Elmwood Giants. Mirza talks about what they'll be looking to improve upon going forward.

"I think the mental focus is something we've been lacking. We're there and then we're not, and we have ups and downs. It's not good when the downs are more frequent than the ups," Mirza explains. "If we can change that around and focus in closer to 100 per cent of the time, I think we'll have a great season."

The Saints also defeated the St. John's Tigers but this was a much closer affair. PCI won in a nail-biter 47-43 in a game that saw them trail entering the fourth quarter.

Danika Botterill scored the go-ahead bucket with 45 seconds left to play which put the Saints up by one. Kaylee Perry hit a sho a few seconds later to extend the lead to three and Botterill hit a free throw in the final seconds to seal the deal. Head coach Dave McLeod says he was extremely proud of his team's performance.

"We're coming a long way with very little practice. I don't know what team that was but that's not the same team that played in our last game," McLeod explains. "We're growing really fast and it'll be exciting to see what we can do once we actually get some practice time in."

Both the Trojans and Saints now have a record of 2-1 this season. The Saints won't be back in action until February 7 but the Trojans will return to their home court tomorrow as they welcome the Westwood Warriors at 5:00.