Lady Raiders win first game of season

The Lady Raiders took down the Manson Trojans on Saturday to kick off the 2018-19 basketball season.

Lake Roosevelt scored 21 points in the first half, holding Manson to only six.

LR scored another 21 points in the second half, this time only allowing five from Manson, for a final score of 42-11.

"Getting off to a good start is huge," said Head Coach Peewee Pleasants about winning the first game of the year. "It's something that we talked about back in the summer, not playing behind the eight ball, not letting whatever else is going on in the league affecting how we play. Instead of us trying to chase down the league leaders, we want them to be chasing us. It's gonna be a tough league, so we'll figure it out."

The Lady Raiders were relentless in their defense, stealing the ball 22 times from the frustrated Trojans.

"Our defense is what's really going to carry us during the season," Pleasants said.

LR had 15 defensive rebounds in addition to 20 offensive rebounds.

Shantana Pakootas led the team with 12 points, Kyona Edmo scored 10, Kelsie Olbright scored 6, Addison and Jozelyn Hansen each scored five, Hannah Wapato scored two, and Ellie Hanson scored two.

"It was a total team effort out there," Pleasants said.

The Lady Raiders played last night in Bridgeport, results of which will be reported in next week's Star.

They play on Friday, Dec. 7 in Soap Lake at 7:30 p.m. and at home in Coulee Dam on Tuesday, Dec. 11 against Oroville, also at 7:30 p.m.