Four out of the five defenders take positions on the way to the basket for Emily Miller at the Shelton game. Emily pulls up for a jump shot from the free throw line. (Photo courtesy of Denise Mazour.)
Keith Miller scored in double figures against Shelton. He scored most of his points near the basket although he is shown here shooting from a little further out. (Photo courtesy of Denise Mazour)
Lawrence-Nelson senior, Peyton Mazour (with the ball) looks to pass the ball to Krayton Mazour (14). Peyton has missed much of his high school athletic activities because of injuries and surgeries of one kind or another. (Photo courtesy of Denise Mazour.)
Emma Epley drives to the basket against a strong Shelton defense. She concentrates on the path forward and ended up being the high point scorer for L-N with 9 points and also pulled down ten rebounds. (Photo courtesy of Denise Mazour.)
The L-N Raider boys and girls basketball teams ended their pre-Christmas games last week Tuesday with a trip to Shelton. The evening ended much like the year 2020 . . . not very nice. Both teams didn't have anywhere their best games of the young season and both Shelton teams have been successful in the early season.
The girl's game summary
L-N – SHELTON: 22-51: It is difficult to describe this game except to say it was a game that started out slow and 'out-of-sync' and never got any better for the girls.
Shelton, also, did not play well in the first half, but were able to remedy their game for a good second half of play.
1st half: Both team had an abundance of turnover. In fact L-N had five turnovers and Shelton had seven turnovers before either team scored their first field goal of the game. Shelton, however, connected on 4 – 7, 3 point shots in the first half while L-N had only 1 of 3. There were 5 _ minutes off the clock before a field goal was scored by either team. Still, in spite of the circumstances, L-N was only two points down as the first half near its end. That was until Shelton made a 3-pt. shot just before the half time buzzer. Still, being just five points down didn't look all that bad, considering everything. 17-22.
2nd half: To go 'from bad to worse' is an overused phrase, but helps describe the Raider's second half of play and a comparison between a couple of team stats helps explain it. Shooting: L-N 10 percent, Shelton 52 percent; Turnovers: L-N 13, Shelton 6.
The game was the first of the year with L-N not having at least one player scoring in double figures as Shelton clogged up the middle of the court and harassed the outside shooters as well. Emma Epley, however, was able to find room to lead the Raider scoring with nine points while pulling down ten rebounds.
Shelton is a Class D-1 team that came into the game with a 5-1 record, but the Lady Raiders played them almost even-up until half time. It is not hard to think of a Raider victory over Shelton when the cards go better.
(Scoring, rebounds, assists): Tori Miller 0, 1, 0; Emily Miller 5, 6, 1; Aleah Heikkinen 0, 5, 1; Avery Mazour 0, 1, 0; McKenzie Ostdiek 0, 2, 0: Elsa Jorgensen 5, 1, 0; Emma Epley 9, 10, 2; Katelyn Mazour 1, 2, 1; Alex Miller 2, 0, 0; L-N: 22, 28, 5; Franklin: 51, ?, ?.
Three points shots: L-N 1-11; Shelton 7-15.
Free throws: L-N 3-10; Shelton 5-12.
Fouls: L-N 16; Shelton 11.
The boy's game summary
L-N – SHELTON: 29-47: This writer suspects there must have been something in the air at Shelton as the boys (just like the girls) didn't have their best game of the season. Things just didn't go right . . . turnovers often gave Shelton quick, easy layups . . . the Raiders aggressiveness on offense was absent compared to earlier games . . . 3-pt. shooting was off . . . etc.
Shelton scored first not long after the tip-off, but Logan Menke quickly answered with the first two points for L-N. From there on in the first half, Shelton made almost 50 percent of their field goals attempts, while L-N made under 20 percent of their shots. Cole Troudt hit a 3-point shot early in the second period, but the Raiders had trouble prying that lid off the basket. Shelton did not have an outstanding game, but they were steady and kept up their scoring to settle in with a comfortable lead.
2nd half: In spite of all the bad luck in the first half, the Raiders made a comeback in the second half. This was fueled by 50 percent field goal shooting in the third period with Keith Miller scoring eight of his team high ten points in the 3rd period. Logan scored first in the 4th period cutting the Shelton lead to just eight points. However, that was a close as they came as the only other scoring came on a Trevor Biltoft free throw.
The lid on the Raider basket and an over-abundance of turn overs dealt the Raiders the loss. However, Keith's scoring and rebounding were much improved and Trevor and Cole also added a spark at times. Krayton had 8 points and Logan had 8 rebounds.
(Scoring, rebounds, assists): Trevor Biltoft 4, 5, 0; Cole Troudt 3, 2, 0; Peyton Mazour 0, 1, 0; Krayton Kucera 8, 1, 2; Logan Menke 4, 8, 6; Tyson Kotinek 0, 2, 0; Blake Wroughton 0, 2, 0; Keith Miller 10, 6, 0; Keaton Mazour 0, 1, 0; L-N 29, 28, 8; Shelton 47, ?, ?.
Three points shots: L-N 3-24; Shelton 0-8.
Free throws: L-N 2-4; Shelton 3-7.
Fouls: L-N 9; Shelton 8.
Weather permitting, the Raiders play in a holiday tournament in Hershey, Neb. It was scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday, but last notice before printing saw the game postponed until Wednesday and Thursday.
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