Raiders end with a win

The Raiders ended with a win last Thursday at Bridgeport to finish the 2012-13 season with a 7-13 record.

The Raiders had been eliminated from postseason play Tuesday with a loss to Oroville.

This was the first losing season since 2005-06 and the first time a Raider team failed to make it to districts since the 1998-99 season.

At the Senior Night game against Oroville, Eldon Wilson was honored for all his services before the game as part of the Senior Night activities.

Wearing throwback jerseys and warm ups, the Raiders jumped to an early 16-5 lead started by Jacob Palmer’s steal and layin in the first quarter. The Hornets went on a 18-0 run to take the lead 23-16 in the second quarter. The Raiders answered with an 8-0 run of their own to retake the lead 24-23. From there, both sides would score short runs, going back and forth for a halftime score of Oroville 35, LR 32.

In the third quarter, a Palmer basket on an errant pass from the Hornet guards gave the Raiders a three-point lead. Raiders’ rebounding and better defensive play allowed LR to build a seven-point lead going into the fourth quarter 48-41.

Oroville fought back in the fourth. With only a minute left in the game, the Hornets held a one-point advantage, 60-59. Oroville ran down the clock, shooting and missing. The Raiders fouled to save some time and get the ball back, but the Hornets made the free throws.

The Raiders got the ball back with only 14 seconds left, and Justus DeWinkler drove the ball, trying to make the basket, but missed. The final score was Oroville 64- LR 59.

DeWinkler put together a double-double scoring 17 points and 14 assists in the loss. Chance Garvin scored 13 points and Palmer scored 10.

With nothing to lose, the Raiders travelled to Bridgeport to take on the second-seeded Mustangs without Drew Saxon.

The Raiders started slow until Palmer hit a three pointer that flipped a Raider intensity switch. The score at the end of the first quarter was Bridgeport 15, LR 12. In the second quarter, the Mustangs exploded on offense and the Raiders began to commit silly fouls and miss shots at the free throw line. Bridgeport pulled ahead by halftime, 33-24.

LR came back to tie the game in the third quarter, finally retaking the lead 39-38. The game in the fourth was tit for tat with both sides scoring a lot of points down the stretch. Bridgeport’s coach made two great outbursts against the referees and was close to receiving a technical.

With 49 seconds left, the Raiders had a four-point lead when the Bridgeport coach began to call timeouts. Both sides traded fouls and went to the free throw line several times to close out the game.

The moral victory closed out the Raiders’ rollercoaster season with a 62-54 win.

Kendall Piccolo scored a season high of 17 points, matched by Chance Garvin. DeWinkler had 13 on the night.

vs Oroville

Nault 3, Rosenbaum 0, Garvin 13, Picard 3, DeWinkler 17, Piccolo 4, Nicolson 9, Palmer 9, Saxon 0

vs Bridgeport

Black 0, Nault 3, Rosenbaum 0, Garvin 17, Picard 6, DeWinker 13, Piccolo 17, Nicholson 0, Palmer 3