Lady Raiders exit 2020 on a down note

It is not unusual for the Lady Raiders to play surrounding school two or three times in a basketball season. Well, to make an effort to eliminate a little of that, L-N accepted an invitation to a Holiday Tournament out west, at Hershey.

The only problem with that was the fact the other three teams at the tournament were two Class C-1 schools and a Class B school.

L-N played the two Class C-1 schools which is quite a jump for a Class D-2 school. And . . . the outcome was not good as in winning and losing. However, the experience of playing such teams may pay off down the road.

The girls were outmanned in most every way and came home with two losses to add to their season record which is now 3-5.

The game summaries:

L-N – HERSHEY: 20-62: The beginning of the game indicated the type of game the girls would experience. Hershey made five of their first eight shots for a flashy start. Emily Miller put L-N on the scoreboard as she scored four of her team high eight points early in the period. Hershey made four of their last five shots in the period also and three of those shots were from the 3-pt. line as they built a first quarter lead of 25-5.

Hershey also had a big rebounding advantage 41-20 that contributed to their 41 percent field goal shooting record.

L-N scored five points in each period for the game. Emily scored eight points and had six rebounds for L-N. Emma Epley had six points and three rebounds.

(Scoring, rebounds, assists): Tori Miller 0, 0, 0; Emily Miller 8, 6, 0; Aleah Heikkinen 2, 4, 1; Avery Mazour 0, 1, 0; McKenzie Ostdiek 1, 0, 0; Elsa Jorgensen 3, 2, 0: Emma Epley 6, 3, 2; Katelyn Mazour 0, 2, 0; Alex Miller 0, 1, 0; L-N: 20, 20, 3; Hershey 62, 41, 13.

Three points shots: L-N 0-5; Hershey 5-17.

Free throws: L-N 4-13: Emily 0-2, Aleah 2-2, McKenzie 1-2, Elsa 1-2, Emma 0-5; Hershey 5-13.

Fouls: L-N 12; Hershey 11.

L-N – GOTHENBURG: 9 – 64: That trip out west to play basketball over the holidays . . . sort of like jumping from the frying pan into the fire. Going from game one to game two.

Gothenburg, another Class C-1 team, was the opponent for the second game of the trip. The results of the game were not different. However, if you are a free throw aficionado you would have loved this game. (More later)

Gothenburg has a good record to date (not outstanding, but good). However, they were a quick team with an instinct for the ball. They featured a full court pressing defense that caused the Raiders a lot of problems all night. Emily Miller scored the first three points of the game for L-N and McKenzie Ostdiek added a field goal in the first period. Emily had two free throws just before half time and Aleah Heikkinen had two free throws in the final period and that was it for Raider scoring. Five points in the first period and four during the rest of the game.

That pressing defense caused 37 Raider turnovers while Gothenburg gave up only seven turnovers.

The interesting thing about the game were the free throws. L-N made 71 percent (5-7) at the line and Gothenburg made 15-18 free throws (83 percent). Together 20 of 25 or 80 percent in the game. For high school basketball that is something you don't see every night, in fact you rarely see it.

The two losses give the Lady Raiders a record of 3-5 going into the New Year and last two-thirds of the season.

(Scoring, rebounds, assists): Tori Miller 0, 2, 0; Jessica Sole 0, 1, 0; Emily Miller 5, 5, 0; Aleah Heikkinen 2, 2, 0; Avery Mazour 0, 3, 0; McKenzie Ostdiek 2, 0, 0; Elsa Jorgensen 0, 2, 0; Emma Epley 0, 4, 1; Katelyn Mazour 0, 0, 0; Alex Miller 0, 2, 0; Sydney Biltoft 0, 2, 0. L-N: 9, 23, 1; Gothenburg: 64, ?, ?.

Three points shots: L/N 0-2; Gothenburg 6-14.

Free throws: L-N 5-7; Emily 3-3; Aleah 2-2; Avery 0-2. Gothenburg: 15-18.

Fouls: L-N 14; Gothenburg 9.

With school resuming this week, so does the full schedule of games. McCool Junction visited Nelson on Tuesday night; On Thursday, Jan. 7 there will be a trip to Giltner. Next Tuesday the Raiders will travel to Rock Hills.