| 02/25/2013 |
| Lady Raiders three-peat, capture district crown |
| By LARRY LEEDS, Sports Editor |
The Oldham-Ramona-Rutland Lady Raiders downed the Chester Lady Flyers 44-37 to capture the District 4B championship on Saturday night at the Swiftel Center in Brookings.
Chester grabbed the early advantage at the end of the first quarter. Trailing 4-3 with 3:35 left in the opening period, the Lady Flyers went on a 7-1 run and held a 10-5 lead with under a minute in the first quarter. BreeAna Olson hit for two with just 14 ticks left on the clock to pull the Lady Raiders to within three, 10-7, after one period. The Lady Flyers held a 17-14 advantage with just under two minutes left in the second quarter. A field goal by Olson and a three-point play by Taylor Stratton with 23 seconds left in the half put the Lady Raiders on top 19-17. Brionna DeVries hit two free throws for Chester before the close of the half to deadlock the score at 19-19 at intermission. "Coach Sara Holmberg stressed to use defense and get rebounds would be the key to winning the game," said Stratton. The Lady Raiders' defense rose to the occasion in the third period. The Lady Raiders outscored Chester 12-2 and held a 31-21 lead heading into the final eight minutes. O-R-R stretched its lead to 12 points on two different occasions early in the fourth period. The Lady Flyers whittled the lead down to four points, 41-37, when Erin Benson drained a three-pointer with 54 seconds remaining in the game. That was as close as the Lady Flyers came. O-R-R hit 3-of-4 free throws in the last seconds to seal the win. "We were more creative on offense in the second half," said Holmberg. "We had to box out and rebound and take care of the ball better." O-R-R made 16 of 41 field goals, 39 percent, and cashed in on 10 of 18 free throws, 55 percent. Chester made 13 of 50 field goals, 26 percent, and hit 10 of 16 free throws, 62 percent. Chester held the advantage on the boards 41-32. Olson finished the game with 20 points and nine rebounds. Stratton had eight points and nine rebounds while Macy Hagemann had seven assists. "Marissa Malisch did a lot of little things for us," said Holmberg. She had two assists and four steals. Sara Heyn had 11 points to pace the Lady Flyers. Elena Borah added nine points and grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds. Benson had three assists for Chester, who finished the season with a 10-12 record. O-R-R (16-6) will head to the Region 2B championship game against the DeSmet Bulldogs in the Hamlin High School Gym at Hayti on Thursday at 7 p.m. DeSmet beat the Lady Raiders earlier this season. "They are a good shooting team. They execute and rebound well," Holmberg said.
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