Raiders finish regular season strong

The Raiders had a busy week of raids, defeating Liberty Bell, Waterville, and, most importantly, the top-ranked Brewster Bears in a nail-biting, last-second victory.

The Raiders hosted the Brewster Bears, winning 61-60 Jan. 22 in Coulee Dam.

The Raiders jumped out to an early lead in the game, and from there it was a one- or two-point game for either team.

But by the end of the game, the Raiders were down by four points with 27 seconds left.

"We called a play and Cameron St. Pierre hit a huge three; it was an absolute huge shot," said Head Coach Jeremy Crollard. "We doubled their guy on the inbound, their guy lost it and it went straight to Trevor [McCraigie]. Then Trevor lost it, and it went straight to Cam St. Pierre, and Hunter Whitelaw was right under the hoop. Cam hit him, and Hunter jumped and caught it, and layed it up."

The layup put the Raiders up by one point, and the clock ran out.

"It was an amazing win," Crollard said. "It was the win we needed to get these kids' confidence to where it should be.

"From what I've heard, it's the first time we beat them since 2013. It felt really good. More than anything it gives these guys confidence, and going into districts this Friday will definitely help."

The Raiders hosted the Liberty Bell Mountain Lions, winning 93-36 on the Raiders' senior night, Friday, after Terrie Yazzie, Sonny Boyd, and McCraigie were honored as seniors.

"Terrie played JV for the season, but I brought him up and he played really well," Crollard said. "It was just a fun night. The kids played well, shot the ball amazing. And that was with the starters sitting for most of the second half. It was just one of those nights where anyone we put in ... shot well."

The 93 Raider points were the most scored since Crollard has been at the school, he said.

The next day, the Raiders went on the road to play the Waterville/Mansfield Shockers, defeating them 66-26 in the last game of the regular season.

The Raiders were up by 40 points at the half, and so had a running clock for the second half. One of the Shocker seniors has been going through bone cancer, Crollard noted, and so the coaches organized it so he could shoot a basket in the second half.

"He made a basket, and the place went wild," Crollard said. "It was just one of those moments, I think, for our kids, it inspired them, when you look at it like life is so short. It put things into perspective. It was a cool night and the boys played well."

The three victories brought the Raiders' regular season win-loss record to 13-3 in the Central Washington 2B league, 14-4 overall.

The Raiders are ranked third in tight standings of the league, behind Brewster and Oroville, both of which have win-loss records of 13-2 in the league, 15-4 overall.

The Raiders are moving onto district postseason play on Friday at Hanford Middle School in Richland, where they will play Liberty Christian at 6 p.m.

Brewster @ LR

Raiders 61 Bears 60

Raider points: Wapato - 15; McCraigie - 13; Marchand - 9; St. Pierre - 8; Jordan - 8; George - 6; Whitelaw - 2.

Liberty Bell @ LR

Raiders 93 Mountain Lions 36

Raider points: Wapato - 15; McCraigie - 14; Marchand - 10; George - 10; St. Pierre - 8; Jordan - 8; Boyd - 6; Cante - 5; Edmo - 5; Nicholson - 4; Yazzie - 4; Whitelaw - 2.

LR @ Waterville

Raiders 66 Shockers 26

Raider points: Marchand - 18; Wapato - 17; Jordan - 11; George - 6; McCraigie - 4; Edmo - 3; St. Pierre - 2; C.J S - 2; Nicholson - 1