The Cleveland Lady Raiders didn’t score a great number of style points Thursday against Soddy-Daisy, but as head coach Mindy Kiser said afterward they will take the 54-43 win and get ready for the next game.
The Blue Raiders were on top of their game defensively in the nightcap and had little trouble staying undefeated in District 5-AAA with a 70-50 thrashing of the Trojans.
The Lady Raiders and Lady Trojans put on a “how not to” clinic from the free-throw line, squandering numerous opportunities to add points to the board. Cleveland made good on 11-of-19 from the line while Soddy fared little better in hitting 14-of-29.
“It was definitely not a thing of beauty. But, a win is a win and we will take it any way we can get it,” Kiser said. “We fouled a lot again tonight and we weren’t very good from the free-throw line.”
Junior guard Sydnie Anderson held court on offense for the Lady Raiders scoring 21 points to lead all scoring. Freshman Jenna Scoggins reached double figures for Cleveland with 10.
Anderson’s 3-pointer put Cleveland on top 6-3 midway through the first quarter. Defensively, the Lady Raiders held the Lady Trojans to three field goals and two free throws to lead 14-8 at the end of the period.
Anderson’s second 3 of the night put Cleveland up 21-11. The Lady Trojans split their 14 second-quarter points right down the middle with seven coming from the floor and the rest coming from the stripe. The Lady Raiders missed 7-of-8 from the line down the stretch, but still held a slim 24-22 lead at halftime.
After playing the third quarter dead even, Cleveland scored the first five points of the fourth quarter to take a 41-34 lead. The Lady Raiders led by 11 with 3:43 to go and closed out the night from the free-throw line to close out the win.
“Once again we fought. We stayed in the game with one of those different lineups we have seen quite frequently. We did a good job against their zone and pulled them out of it a couple of times. We will just keep learning and keep moving forward.”
The Lady Raiders travel to Baylor Saturday and will take on Sequatchie County at 7:30 p.m.
BLUE RAIDERS 70,
TROJANS 50
The Cleveland Blue Raiders came out with a defensive attitude in the closer against the Trojans. The Raiders held Soddy to only four first-quarter points and cruised to a 70-50 win.
Cleveland jumped to a 9-1 lead and held the Trojans scoreless the last four minutes of the first quarter while building a 21-4 cushion.
A 9-0 run early in the second put the Raiders on top 30-6. Cleveland led by 26 with just under four minutes left in the half and went into the break with a 40-18 lead.
“Tonight we got off to a really good start. Our defensive intensity was really good. We held them to four points in the first quarter. We got a little lazy with our footwork, but we got off to such a good start and that was key for us,” said Cleveland coach Jason McCowan.
The Blue Raiders kept the heat on defensively in the second half. Cleveland held the Trojans to only two field goal in the third quarter. Soddy added eight more from the free-throw line and trailed 54-30 heading into the final eight minutes.
McCowan emptied his bench in the final period and the Raiders’ second line closed out the win with 14 fourth-quarter points.
“We continued to play with good effort coming out in the second half as well, put it away early and got to play a lot of kids. When we don’t play with our hands and play with our feet I think we can be really good defensively. We’ve got some length and athleticism I don’t think people thought we were going to have. What we’ve been preaching is when you’ve got weapons like DJ Bowles, Jarod Rhodes and CJ Bryant, we have the ability to score. It’s how hard we work on defense to prevent them from scoring. That’s where the games are going to be won and lost. You’ve got to be able to get after it defensively,” said McCowan.
“We are getting better and I think our kids are starting to figure out some of our rotations better defensively. We just have to keep hammering away. Four points in the first quarter, you can’t ask for anything better than that.”
LADY RAIDERS 54, LADY TROJANS 43
Soddy-Daisy 8 14 12 9 — 43
Cleveland 14 10 12 18 — 54
Soddy-Daisy (43) — Kelsey Nunley 11, Harris 2, Hale 6, Orr 4, Mitchell 2, Ward 6, Shaughnessy 8, Wade 4, Holden, Smith.
Cleveland (54) — Sydnie Anderson 21, Jenna Scoggins 10, Berry 8, Abdullah-Muhammad 2, Perkins 4, Capron 3, McClendon 6, Crump.
3-point goals: Soddy-Daisy 3 (Ward 2, Hale); Cleveland 3 (Anderson 2, Berry).
Records: Soddy-Daisy 1-3, 0-3 District 5-AAA; Cleveland 4-4, 2-1.
RAIDERS 70, TROJANS 50
Soddy-Daisy 4 14 12 20 — 50
Cleveland 21 19 14 16 — 70
Soddy-Daisy (50) — Rogers 7, Landreth 3, Roberts 7, Amos 3, Floyd 9, York 5, Smith 3, A. Floyd 9, Harris 4, Wright, Price.
Cleveland (70) — CJ Bryant 15, DJ Bowles 13, Jarod Rhodes 12, Jones 7, Morgan 9. Little 2, Thompson 8, Beaty 2, Herink, Brown, T. Rhodes, Gibson, Bunion.
3-point goals: Soddy-Daisy 3 (Floyd ); Cleveland 6 ((Bryant 2, Thompson 2, Bowles, Morgan).
Records: Soddy-Daisy 1-5, 0-3 District 5-AAA; Cleveland 6-2, 3-0.
