RAIDERS CLASH WITH TITAN’S IN THE SODAK 16

The Lady Raiders traveled to the Corn Palace last Thursday night to clash with the Tea Titan’s. It wasn’t your usual #2 vs #15 match-up. Tea brought in a 12-9 record where they have played 7 AA schools, beat the #1 AA school and played over half the first half of the year without one of the best players in the state. The Raiders drew the task of not letting the Titan’s take down 2 top five teams with in the same week. Wagner would claim a commanding 11-1 lead in the first only to hold a 1710 lead after one. Wagner again would push the lead up to 12 only to see Tea cut it back to 6. The Raiders would really get their inside game going in the 3rd and take a 16 point lead with about 3:45 left only to see Tea close the quarter on a 14-2 run cutting the Raiders lead to 50-44. Wagner would continue to execute their game plan by pounding the ball inside and push the lead to 14 with in the first three minutes of the 4th. Wagner would continue to build it’s lead and win the game 72-52. Wagner would hit on all cylinders tonight shooting 76% from the field from 2’s and 66% overall for the game 27-41. They would hit 14-15 from the charity stripe. The Titan’s on the other hand would struggle shooting 17-55 for 31 percent. The Titan’s would go 12-17 from the line. Wagner would commit 11 turnover compared to only 8 from Tea. The Raiders would nearly double up the Titan’s on the glass 32-18. Of the 27 made baskets, 23 would come by an assist from the Raiders. Leading the way and having a huge game was Emma Yost with 30 points, 11 boards, 7 assists, and 3 blocks. Shalayne Nagel would add 15 points, 6 boards, 2 steals, and 2 blocks. Macy Koupal would be the 3rd Raider in double figures with 12 points, a team high 8 assists, and 3 boards. Ashlyn Koupal would net 8 points, 9 boards, 4 assists, 3 blocks, and 2 steals. Lydia Yost would add 5 points and 2 boards, while Eve Zephier would round out the scoring with 2 points and 3 assists. “What can I say! They young ladies are remarkable. We had a much different game plan this game. Take our leading scorer, drag out their best defender, put our off guards into the post with Emma and run our offense that we have run all year, not hear one complaint and not miss a beat! We had lots of people play in different places on the offensive end and still got 72 points, shot a blistering percentage, and managed to take care of the ball. Just another testament to these girls, that it only matters what the outcome is, not whose name is in the score box. Defensively, we knew we would have our hands full with their 2 studs who scored a combined 62 points in their up-set win over Vermillion. We held them to 25 points combined. We only let them get 18 rebounds and that is about what Grant their post was averaging per game for the year. This one is in the books and now we get to have our final extension of the season. It’s one game at a time and Rapid City Christian is next on the docket! We appreciate all who came out and supported us during Region play and at the Sodak 16 in the Palace! It looked pretty RED in there! There’s no other way we would want it!”