Bulldogs hand Raiders opening loss

On Thursday night in Okanogan the Bulldogs posted a season-opening win over the Raiders 85-28 Thursday night in Okanogan. The new Raiders had trouble contending in the paint against 6-6 Trevor Hathaway and 6-4 Justin VanderWeide of Okanogan, who scored 18 points together but pulled down twice that in rebounds.

The Raiders were led by the solid spirited play of Drew Saxon, who scored nine points and tried to get things moving in the second half with steals and trying to spark the offense. Austin Rosenbaum flew under the Bulldog radar to score eight points and draw shooting fouls.

Head Coach Jeff Brisbois is still feeling out his players to see who will best serve the team where. The Raiders look to gain more offensive rebounds to give them the second-chance opportunities to score. That was a problem in Okanogan as the Bulldogs grabbed rebound after rebound on offense and scored on second or third chances. Defensively, Coach Brisbois will look to find more consistent play as the Raiders take on the Tigers of Tonasket and Entiat.

In the first quarter against Okanogan, the defense started out stiff and caused the Bulldogs to adjust.

Coming off a 60-50 win over Liberty Bell, the Tonasket Tigers were scheduled to come to Coulee Dam last night for the Raiders’ home opener.

The Raiders will look to continue improving as they open North Central League action against the 1B Entiat Tigers at Gailord Nelson Gym Monday, starting at 7:30 p.m. Entiat went 4-15 last season with victories over Manson, Bridgeport, Waterville, and Soap Lake.

Lake Roosevelt- 28

Black 0, Rosenbaum 8, Nault 0, Picard 2, Saxon 9, Piccolo 2, Nicholson 0, Campobasso 2, Rivera 3, DeWinkler 2.

Okanogan- 85

Perez 4, Oliver 6, Rivas 24, Morris 6, Ashworth 8, Cate 4, Crowson 10, Townsend 5, Hathaway 12, Vanderweide 6.