WAGNER HOSTS BERESFORD IN GIRLS BASKETBALL ACTION

On a cold and frigid night last Tuesday the Lady Raiders hosted the Beresford Watchdogs. The temperature wasn’t the only thing that was cold. The Raiders shooting would start out the same way only mustarding 4 points in the first quarter and trail 4-8. The second quarter would be a different story as the Raiders would heat up in a hurry out scoring Beresford 26-9 in the second quarter and taking a 30-17 lead into the half. Wagner would extend the lead to as many as 18 points and the Watchdogs would then cut that lead to 6 late in the 4th. Wagner would seal the win knocking down 6 free throws to come away with a 55-43 win. Abby Brunsing led all scorers with 23 points while grabbing 4 boards. Macy Koupal would add 13 points, 6 boards, and 2 assists. Shalayne Nagel would be the third Raider in double figures with 11 points, 8 boards, 3 assists, 2 blocks, and 2 steals. Ashlyn Koupal would be the last Raider to score as she would net 8 points off the bench and dish out 2 assists. Eve Zephier would grab 3 boards and dish out a team high 6 assists, and come away with 2 steals. Caydynce Olson would also dish out 3 assists and grab 2 boards. The Raiders would go 19-37 from the field for 51%. The Watchdogs would be 13-53 for 25%. Wagner would go 8-10 from the line while Beresford would be 11-13. Wagner would out rebound Beresford 25-21. Wagner would commit 21 turnovers compared to Beresford’s 10. “Another great win for us when it comes to seeding points to help us stay at the 4 seed. We started off at a slow pace, not getting post touches and attacking the basket. Once we did that it made their defense sink in and then out shooters were able to take open 3’s compared to contested ones early. We started the game missing our first five threepoint attempts and then ended the game making 9 out of our next 13 shots from beyond the arc. We have great shooters, and the post players do a great job of finding them, but we need to continue to put pressure on defenses by scoring inside. That is what happened in the second quarter tonight. The first quarter was the total opposite. Defensively we did a decent job on their shooters. We didn’t rebound as well as we could have. We would have gotten more transition but a lot of balls were being pushed out of bounds as dead balls. Overall a great win for our team as we wind down the season with 2 more games and then post-season.