In a game full of second-half runs, the Rapid City Stevens girls' basketball team had a couple more than cross town rival Rapid City Central, and stopped the Cobblers 44-31 Thursday night at Carold Heier Gymnasium.
Before those runs, the Raiders built a double-digit lead for much of the first half into the third period to win the first of two rivalry games with Central. The two teams will meet again on the Cobblers' home court Feb. 19.
Stevens led 14-7 at the end of the first period and 23-16 at halftime, and by as much as 12 midway through the third.
But the Cobblers scored the final seven points of the quarter, before Stevens opened the fourth with eight straight. Each team then went on 6-0 runs to close things out.
The game's final 27 points were scored on two runs by each team.
"I love how we continue to persevere. Even when they made a run, we just stuck to our guns and continued to attack," Stevens coach Michael Brooks said.
Central coach Kraig Blomme said that anytime the Cobblers were able to get close, they made critical errors.
"We turned the ball over and weren't able to finish around the basket multiple times to just get that extra step closer to them," Blomme said.
Junior Kyah Watson hit a pair of 3-pointers early to get Stevens going, and the Raiders were able to cause problems with various presses as they were able to score the first period's final six points on a basket by Laura Petik and two straight buckets by freshman Bailee Sobczak.
"We turned the ball over early against that press," Blomme said. "When you fall behind it is always tough to come back against a good team."
Brooks said the Raiders, 12-3, switched up their presses, from man to a zone, to a three-quarter and then to a half-court.
"We really created some issues for their guards, them deciding what we were doing and getting tips on the ball," he said. "They didn't always lead to scores, but it made them be on their heels instead of being on the attack mode."
A layup by Watson and a 3-pointer by Grace Martin put the Raiders up by 10, but Central senior Juneau Jones scored five straight to close the gap.
Again, it was another six-point run by Stevens to close the second.
"Kyah hit some huge 3s to begin the game. I think they (Central) got a little confused at their assignment, so we were able to take advantage of a play real quick and she hit two 3s, which set the tone," Brooks said. "When she is aggressive offensively, our whole team gets aggressive. It sets us up for success when that happens."
The Raiders built a 30-18 lead early in the third before Central's 7-0 run cut the lead to five with eight minutes to play.
But consecutive 3-pointers by Watson and Martin made it a 13-point game and two teams traded 6-0 runs to close things off.
Sobczak, along with fellow Stevens freshmen Jayda McNabb and Jaden Matkins, got her first taste of the Central-Stevens rivalry in basketball. It was a good first taste.
"It was really fun to play against our rivals," she said. "We really worked well in the game; it was a team effort."
Watson led the way for the Raiders with 13 points, followed by Sobczak's 12 points and 11 from Martin.
Going into the game, Sobczak said they decided they needed more communication as a team.
"We all were talking, we all worked together, there was no selfishness," she said. "We were all helping each other out. It really went well."
Jones led the Cobblers, 7-8, with 14 points.
"Honestly, we have to have somebody other than Juneau step up and score some points for us," Blomme said. "The opportunity is there for us, and somebody has to take the step up and get it done for us."
Blomme said the Cobblers are struggling at this point of the season.
"We're not able to put enough points on the board to beat a lot of AA teams," he said. "We have to have some players step up and help us out offensively."
Brooks said the Raiders' effort was strong Thursday night, something that hasn't been as consistent as he prefers. He challenged the team in practice Wednesday and before the game to make sure the effort was where he wanted it to be.
"If our effort is high, then our outcome will be good," he said. "If our effort is low, then we can beat by anybody, any day. It is all about effort in AA, for sure."
The Raiders are at Sturgis Tuesday and both teams are at Sioux Falls Washington and Lincoln Feb. 8-9.
0 comentários:
Postar um comentário