Lady Raiders finish strong in short season

The Lady Raiders won their final basketball game of a brief season on Friday when they defeated Manson in a home game, 63-22.

The strong finish to the season resulted in an overall 5-1 win-loss record for the Lady Raiders. 

The Raider boys missed their Friday night game, which had to be canceled after a player tested positive for the coronavirus. 

Games scheduled for Saturday for both the boys' and girls' basketball teams had to be canceled anyway due to a lack of referees. Two from the Yakima area who had been scheduled to work the games were injured, Athletic Director Tim Rasmussen said.

An official at the girls' game Friday told him their numbers are now reduced from their normal hundreds into the mid-20s after a season in which he'd worked as many games in a few weeks as he normally does in a whole year.

The high school "winter" sports season resumed this year in the last week in May after the pandemic emergency had shut it down after LR teams got one game in Jan. 21. Of 20 games scheduled for the Lady Raiders, nine were canceled, according to their schedule posted online. Of the boys' 16 games planned, 10 were canceled.

Both varsity teams finished the season with an in-conference win-loss record of 3-2.