L-N Raiders win two games last week

The L-N boys' basketball team played D-1 McCool Junction and D-2 Giltner last week. At the end of the week, they added two more victories to their record which now stands at 6-4. Interestingly, L-N won their first three games of the season and now the last three with the four losses in the middle.

The Raiders are an improved team since the beginning of December. Any number of players are used in any game and they all contribute in many ways. The rest of the season promises to be interesting. Last week game summaries.

L-N –McCOOL JUNCTION: 45-26: Midweek games are not as common as they once were, but the Raiders traveled to McCool Junction (McJ) last Tuesday evening for a game. They came home after a rugged game with a victory in their baggage to make the trip home more enjoyable.

Score by quarter:

L-N 10 11 12 12 - 45

McJ. 8 5 10 3 - 26

The outcome was much in question in the first period as the Raiders had a number of turnovers early on in the game. However, they were able to overcome those mistakes and used a strong defense and good rebounding to stay on the positive side of the score board.

Krayton Kucera and Keaton Mazour provided the early scoring until Nolan Ostdiek scored late in the first period.

Logan Menke and Clay Williams scored all the 2nd period points for L-N while the team defensive effort forced McJ to turn the ball over six times and make only 2-12 field goals.

The 2nd half of play saw McJ slap on a full court press and for a little while it looked like the Raiders might slip into foul trouble. However, the Raiders solved the problem and then in the 4th period made 5-9 from the field and the scoring came from six different players.

The victory was never a sure thing but L-N showed a maturity in ball handling when it was rough going. It also was a "team" victory as Coach Brown used quite a number of players at different times in the game.

Unofficially Logan Menke led Raider scorers with 12 points and Clay Williams had 9. Logan also had 8 rebounds, 1 block and 4 steals; Clay added 5 rebounds. Other stats: Krayton Kucera 7 pts. 5 rebounds and 2 assists; Connor Janda 2 pts.; Keaton Mazour 3 pts.; Nolan Ostdiek 9 pts.; Erik Wheeland 4 pts.

L-N – GILTNER: 55-33: A Thursday evening game returned the Raiders home again playing a Class D-2 game. Giltner came to visit and L-N picked up their 3rd win in a row with a 55-33 victory.

The victory margin was established in the first period when Tyson Kotinek started the Raiders' scoring. Logan Menke and Krayton Kucera added points before Giltner managed any points on the board. That first period set the tone for the game. L-N forced six turnovers while giving up only 1. L-N made more than 60 percent from the field.

Score by quarter:

L-N 21 14 9 11 - 55

Giltner 7 16 5 5 - 33

Giltner still had a little fight left in them, however. They hit a number of 3-pt. shots and cut their deficit to single digit numbers. The Raider defense forced 7 turnover with 4 of them coming from steals.

The pace of the game slowed somewhat in the 2nd half of play. L-N played a total of 13 players throughout the night and nine players scored sometime during the game.

Unofficial scoring figures show Krayton returned to double digit scoring with 14 points and also had 3 rebounds; Logan scored 13 points and 6 rebounds; Tyson Kotinek 6 points and 4 steals; Clay Williams 7 pts.; Nolan Ostdiek 2 pts.; Bayln Bargen 7 pts. And 2 steals; Devyn Zikmund 2 pts.; Conner Janda 2 pts.; Wyatt Brockman 2 pts.

Again, unofficially, the shooting figures are interesting. Both teams shot 46 field goals and while L-N made 22, Giltner made only 11. At the Free Throw line, L-N was 6-13 and Giltner 7-19.

The boys are busy this week with a home game against Rock Hills on Tuesday, traveling to Kenesaw on Friday and entertaining Axtell on Saturday.