The Lady Raiders traveled to Ethan to take on the Rustlers last Tuesday night in girls basketball action. The temperature outside would be very, very cold and so would the shooting from both teams. Wagner would jump out to an early 9-2 lead but then squander a few possessions turning it over in the back court which led to easy transition points for the Rustlers. Wagner would hold a 12-9 lead after the first quarter. Wagner would increase their lead to 28-20 into the second half. The third quarter would be the gloom and doom for the Raiders as they would score 3 points and get out scored by 14, trailing 31-37 going into the final quarter. Wagner would cut the lead to 43-45 with 8 seconds left with a controversial call from the officials which went in favor of Ethan which would then hit 2 free throws to finish the game. Wagner would shoot 19-54 from the field for a season low 35 percent while holding the Rustlers to 31% where they hit 17-55. Wagner would win the battle of the boards with 30 compared to 27 from Ethan. Wagner committed 17 turnovers, compared to 14 from Ethan. Wagner would only shoot 2-3 from the free throw line compared to 7-10 for Ethan.

Ashlyn Koupal would lead all scorers with 19 points, 9 boards, 5 blocks, 4 steals, and 2 assists. Lydia Yost would follow that with 15 points, 3 boards, 3 assists, and 2 steals. Ravyn Medricky would finish with 4 points, 10 boards, and 4 assists. Braxton Nedved would finish with 3 points and 4 boards, while Hayden Knudsen would round out the scoring with 2 points and 3 boards.

“This was a tale of two halves for us! We attacked the rim and their gaps on defense, which led us to easy opportunities. Defensively we did an okay job in the half court. When they had to work for it they struggled in the half court. In the second half we got stagnant on offense. We weren’t the aggressors on offense in the third quarter like we were the first half. We settled for threes which we only converted on 3-19 in the game. In the fourth, we started attacking and got great looks and had a half dozen to ten chances to score going to the rim and they just wouldn’t fall. We picked up the defensive pressure and got some turnovers to get us back and give us a chance to win the game. We had one final chance but we can control only what we can control. We had great pressure and thought we did an excellent job on the trap and had the steal and they call a foul. We move forward and learn from this in a lot of aspects of the game!”

The JV was defeated 34-17. Mateya Bruguier and Braelyn Scott each had 4 points. Brooklin Nielsen ended with 3. Olivia Podzimek, Peytyn Wiechmann, and Camry Link all had 2 points.

WAGNER HOSTS LMVC AND SESD CONFERENCE FOE BON HOMME

The Lady Raiders returned home for basketball action last Thursday night as they hosted the Bon Homme Cavaliers from Tyndall. Wagner would score early and often in route to a 45-14 lead at the half. Wagner would outscore the Cavs 22-12 in the second and come away with the win 6726. Ashlyn Koupal would lead the way with 26 points, 7 boards, 3 assists, 3 steals, and 2 blocks. Braxton Nedved would also record double figures with 17 points, 3, boards, 3 steals, and 2 assists. Lydia Yost would add another 9 points, 7 boards, dish out a team high 7 assists, 3 steals, and a block. Ravyn Medricky would finish with 4 points, 4 boards, 3 assists, and 2 blocks. Hayden Knudsen would also tally 4 points and 3 boards. Brooklin Nielsen would finish with 3 points while Genesis Patterson and Mateya Bruguier would each finish with 2 points. Wagner would shoot 28-48 for 58% from the field while Bon Homme would convert on only 21% of their shots 9-42. Wagner would dominate the glass with a 30-21 margin. “It was a great game to get back on track shooting after our struggles on Tuesday. We converted 9-18 from beyond the arc. We took much better care of the basketball and we adapted offensively as they changed up a lot of defenses the first half. On the defensive end we tried some new defensive looks that were effective.”

RAIDERS TRAVEL TO THE BORDER CLASH AT THE PENTAGON

The Lady Raiders took on the Horrace Hawks of West Fargo, North Dakota. Horrace was a force to be reckoned with from the jump as they took a commanding lead 14-0 to start the game and a 9-22 first quarter lead. The Hawks would extend their lead by 2 to a 35-20 lead at the half. Horrace would win the game 60-38. Wagner would shoot 15-38 for 40% while Hawks would shoot 25-64 for 39%. Wagner would out rebound Horrace by 1 with a 30-29 advantage. 21 turnovers in the half court would plague the Raiders as Horrace would only have 6 turnovers in the game. Ashlyn Koupal would lead the Raiders with 17 points, 11 rebounds, 4 blocks, 2 assists, and 2 steals. Lydia Yost would be the only other Raider in double figures with 10 points, 5 boards, and 2 assists. Genesis Patterson would add 4 points, while Braxton Nedved and Hayden Knudsen would each add 3 points. Nedved would grab 3 boards and dish out 4 assists. Knudsen would grab 4 boards. Brooklin Niesen would round out the scoring with a point while dishing out 2 assists. “This might have been the most balanced team I have ever coached against. They were big, long, and athletic and all could shoot. We just struggled on the glass even though we out rebounded them by 1. All their points in the second quarter were second chance points. They really dictated what we could and couldn’t do offensively. They doubled hard on the inside and we got sloppy with the ball in the half court. They had 3 very good players and for the most part kept them in check allowing 37 points between the three of them. It was all their role players that really hurt us. I like the fight that we gave and this was a big school in comparison to a AA school in South Dakota. We physically held our own on the defensive end and we did shoot okay on the offensive end. We had a few opportunities that just didn’t fall down but we got great looks. Keep on fighting ladies!”