By: Joe Shouse, Sportswriter
HAVILAND – Following a disappointing loss last Saturday to the hands of Miller City, the Wayne Trace Lady Raiders bounced back in convincing fashion to crush Continental 59-31 on Tuesday evening.
The Raiders never trailed, taking an early 5-0 lead over the Pirates. The red, white, and blue closed out the first quarter with Claire Sinn draining a three-point buzzer beater to put the home team in control 19-12.
“We’ve been running that play several times and never seemed to get the shot we wanted. Tonight we ran it and it wasn’t done exactly the way it was designed but the girls figured it out and Claire got the bucket,” said Head Coach Bethany DeJarnett.
Both teams struggled in the second quarter with the Raiders scoring just six points, all from the foul line. The Pirates were no better, scoring just four points including a three-pointer from Alex Hoeffel. At the break the Raiders enjoyed a 25-16 margin. However, with the lead, Coach DeJarnett was not overly satisfied with her team’s performance.
“Too many silly, unforced mistakes. It was almost like a carry over from the Miller City game. Our communication was not at all sharp in the first half but we made some necessary halftime adjustments,” said DeJarnett.
A Sadie Sinn bucket followed by a Miriam Sinn field goal ignited the Raider offense and helped jump start the second half play for the Raiders. With 3:56 remaining in the third period the Raiders were on top by 20 at 38-18. The quarter closed out with Raider sophomore Katrina Stoller and Continental’s Addyson Armey trading three-point baskets and the Raiders leading 43-24 heading into the final eight minutes of play.
Midway through the fourth quarter, Raider senior Kaylee Shepherd, Sadie Sinn, and Mirian Sinn each scored to put the Raiders in control 53-27. In the closing couple of minutes of play the Raiders had several of their second-team squad on the floor, gaining valuable experience with the upcoming tournament just around the corner. The final six points for Wayne Trace came from Kenadie Daeger who connected on a traditional three-point play followed by a triple from Katie Stoller.
For the Raiders, who improve their overall mark to 15-3, were led by Claire Sinn who scorched the nets for 18 points, 12 in the first quarter. Sinn, who finished with a double-double added 11 rebounds while connected on all six of her two-point field goal attempts.
Sadie Sinn was also in double figures with 10 points including 4-8 shooting from two-point range. Kaylee Shepherd added nine points along with six rebounds with team mate Katrina Stoller chipping in five. Rounding out the Raider’s scoring included Miriam Sinn with four and with three points a piece were Tiffany Sinn, Katie Stoller and Daeger and team mate Rachel Stoller with two.
The Raiders shot 47 percent from the floor on 22-47 and a perfect 10-10 from the charity stripe. The Raiders won the rebound battle 33-19 with the Pirates committing 26 turnovers to 23 for the Raiders.
With the loss, Continental falls to 4-14 on the season. The Pirates shot just 28 percent from the floor on 9-32 while hitting 58 percent of their free throw 11-19.
