Lady Raiders move on to regionals

The Lady Raiders came away with third place at last week’s District 5-6 basketball tournament at Wenatchee High School.

Lake Roosevelt will move on to the regional tournament this Friday at Mt. Spokane High School when they will take on Northwest Christian starting at 6 p.m.

“It will be another tough game,” Head Coach Wallace Pleasants said.

If the Lady Raiders win, then they will move on to the state 2B tournament in the Spokane Arena for the second time in three years.

Coming in to the District tournament Tuesday, the Lady Raiders faced the Riverside Christian Crusaders who had easily dispatched LR in their regular-season matchup.

At Wenatchee High School the Lady Raiders challenged the Crusaders at every turn in the first quarter. After falling behind to three consecutive three pointers, LR rallied to keep the score within one point and looked to take the lead toward the end of the first quarter, with the score 12-11. But Riverside Christian’s six-point scoring streak close out the quarter in their favor, 18-11.

The Lady Raiders continued to score in the second, but the Riverside Christian guards and forwards continued to be hot. At the half, it was still anyone’s game at 35-25, Riverside.

The Crusaders pulled away, expanding their lead to as much as 17 points in the second half. The Lady Raiders were not stymied on the offensive end, just could not stop the Crusader quadruple threat.

“When we would take out the guards, it just opened up the posts and vice versa,” Pleasants said. At 54-39 going into the fourth, the Crusaders continued in to hit the long shots, which frustrated the Lady Raiders’ defensive efforts even more.

In the end the Crusaders hit cruise control and ran out the clock defeating the Lady Raiders 69-49.

Katelynn Schilling racked up another double-double, scoring 11 points and grabbing 12 rebounds. Keya Fasthorse hit several threes and led the team in scoring with 13 points.

Even in the loss, Coach Pleasants said he was pleased with the team’s rebounding against the big forwards and the solid all-around effort the girls put out.

The Lady Raiders returned home and practiced Wednesday to get ready for Thursday night against the Oroville Hornets who had outlasted the Lady Raiders at home on the Feb. 5.

Coach Pleasants was confident. He said the LR girls were “not ready for the season to end, and I think we will get the same intensity we had Tuesday against the Crusaders.”

Schilling scored seven of LR’s 11 first-quarter points as the defense held the Hornets to only four points. As their deficit grew, the Hornets became frazzled over the course of the second quarter. Oroville did not make it easy for the Lady Raiders to score. Pleasants told his team to, “Fight through the physical play.”

At half the Lady Raiders led 22-12.

The game tightened early in the third as both offenses turned on the heat. With the LR defense throwing the Hornets out of their groove, the score stood at LR 35, Oroville 24 after three quarters.

But the Lady Raiders went cold in the fourth and allowed the Hornets back in the game. With only a minute left, the lead had been cut to four points and the Hornets were driving the ball when Ricknya Sam stole it. Sam passed it to Hailey Chaney who drove in for a shot and was hacked.

At the line, Chaney made her free throws, which put the LR lead back to six. Both actions proved critical as it burned precious seconds off the clock. The Hornets quickly made a lay in but could do nothing to change the outcome of the game. The final was LR 40, Oroville 36. Katelynn Schilling scored half LR’s total points and grabbed eight rebounds.

The Lady Raiders now look ahead to their next opponent, the Northwest Christian Crusaders. The Crusaders are 19-6 and placed second at the District 7-9 2B tournament after losing to defending state champion Reardan Indians 53-41.

This will be the first meeting of LR and NWC since the mid 2000s.

vs. Riverside Christian

Stanczak 0, Laramie 7, Schilling 11, Sam 11, Chaney 2, Fasthorse 13, McCraigie 3, R. Epperson 1

vs. Oroville

Stanczak 2, Laramie 4, Schilling 20, Sam 5, Chaney 4, McCraigie 2, Fasthorse 2 R. Epperson 0, A. Epperson 0