The Lady Raiders traveled to Parkston last Thursday in girls basketball action to take on their SESD conference foe! What a battle it would be from start to finish. Parkston would jump out to an early 15-10 lead. Wagner would come back and take a 21-18 point lead but then find themselves trailing 28-23 at the half. Parkston would start the second half with a bucket to take a 30-23 lead and then the Raiders would go to work and out score the Trojans 20-9 the rest of the quarter and hold a 43-39 lead. Parkston wouldn’t go away as they would regain a 4 point lead with :48 remaining in the game only to find the Raiders crank up the pressure and tie the game at 49-49. Parkston would have one last shot in regulation to score but would have the ball knocked out of bounds as the buzzer would sound. Parkston would score the first bucket of overtime but the Raiders would score the next 6 toc take a 4 point lead. Parkston would time the game with 34 seconds left and after a Wagner turnover would get another shot at the win. Ashlyn Koupal would block the Trojans attempt grab it and the Raiders would sprint to the offensive end where 4 Trojans would swarm Koupal who then found a wide open Hayden Knudsen un the bucket and take the 57-55 lead with 4.5 seconds remaining. Parkston would heave up one last 3 only to fall short as the Raiders would claim the victory. Wagner would convert 23-54 from the field for 42% while holding Parkston to 21-55 for 38%. Wagner would dominate the glass with a 32-20 advantage. Wagner would convert 8-11 from the line while Parkston would go 7-15. Ashlyn Koupal would lead all scorers with 25 points, 13 boards, 6 assists and 3 blocks. Braxton Nedved would reach double figures with 10 points 2 boards, and 3 blocks. Lydia Yost would stuff the stat sheet with 9 points, 8 boards, 8 assists and 7 steals. Ravyn Medricky would finish with 7 points and 7 boards and 2 assists. Hayden Knudsen would round out the scoring with 6 points and 4 boards.

“From start to finish the energy we played with was exceptional. After a poor outing only 2 days prior we flipped a 180 and played a very great game. Defensively we only allowed one basket to them in transition which is a staple of how they are beating everyone by 18 a game. Offensively we were patient attacked the paint and finished at the rim. We still need to take better care of the ball as we committed 19 turnovers. This was our 5th game in 9 days and now we get a little break with just one game this next week.”