Raider boys ring in a victory at Liberty Bell

The Raider boys chalked up their first mark in the win column for the season after defeating the Liberty Bell Mountain Lions 52-43 Thursday.

"It's hard to go out to Liberty Bell and play well, and we did that," remarked Head Coach Levi Seekins. "We were able to really fight and get our first win of the season, which was good to get off our backs."

The Raiders held the lead the entire game. "It's always good to have the lead, you play with a bit more confidence," said Seekins.

Sophomore Trevor McCraigie was the leading scorer against Liberty Bell with 21 points.

The win came sandwiched between a couple of home losses. The Brewster Bears mauled the Raiders 66-37 on Dec. 6, and on Saturday the boys lost 47-38 to the Soap Lake Eagles.

"We just couldn't quite finish the game," Seekins said about the Soap Lake game. "We got ourselves in a big hole and fought back, but we just couldn't do enough things toward the end of the game to finish it."

Seekins remains optimistic. "We're still learning and we improved and we've got a lot of things to work on," he said. "We're still encouraged so far, and we have a big week this week."

Seekins noted the Raiders' 6-2 sophomore Sonny Boyd and senior Quincy Williams have been unable to play due to injuries.

"When we get our full team back it will be really good because right now we're having to play some guys more minutes than I'd like to," said Seekins, who expects Boyd and Williams to be playing again in a week or two.

The Raiders traveled to Manson last night to take on the Trojans. Results will be in next week's Star.

Thursday night they'll host the Tonasket Tigers in Gailord Nelson gym in Coulee Dam. The varsity boys are scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m. Then the boys travel to Okanogan on Saturday for a non-league game against the Bulldogs.

Eagles 47, Raiders 38

Lake Roosevelt Points

McCragie 10, Picard 7, Trotter 2, Kiser 16, Whiteman 2