The Superior Express -

January 2024 has not been kind to the L-N Lady Raiders concerning the basketball program. After a good victory at the beginning of the month, L-N has had a number of tough games. They have all been against Class D-1 schools and most with winning records. The game summaries:

L-N GIRLS – ROCK HILLS: 30-51: Rock Hills played as well as any school in this game. They made almost 50 percent of all their shots that allowed them to forge a strong beginning of the game, out-scoring L-N 27-13 in the first half of play.

Score by Quarter:

L-N 6 7 9 8 - 30

RH 12 15 14 10 - 51

RH’s shooting percentage doubled that of L-N and provided the victory. However, the Lady Raiders did well in other parts of the game. Rebounding, led by Vali Koehler with six and Hanna Skinner with five was equal to Rock Hills. L-N had a 10-8 edge in steals, led by Josie Hajny with four and Sydney Biltoft with three.

Kara Menke led the team in scoring with 12 points hitting 5-9 from the field and 2-2 from the charity stripe.

Game stats: (FG, FT, RB., Pts.)

Addi McCloskey 0-6, 0-0, 0 0

Sydney Biltoft 1-6, 0-0, 2, 3

Jessica Sole 2-9, 0-0, 3, 5

Vali Koehler 0-2, 0-0, 6, 0

Hadley Ostdiek 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0

Hanna Skinner 2-6, 1-4, 5, 5

Kara Menke 5-9, 2-2, 2, 12

Josie Hajny 2-9, 1-4, 1, 5

L-N team total: 12-47, 4-10, 26, 30

RH team total: 21-43, 4-9, 28, 51

L-N GIRLS – BLUE HILL: 30-52: On the following night, the L-N girls traveled to Blue Hill. They made a game of it in the first period, but fell behind, just a little, in each of the following period that led to the loss of the game. Score by quarters:

L-N 10 7 7 6 - 30

BH 14 13 12 13 - 52

Even though the Lady Raiders fought hard under the basket with rebounds again being about even, BH scored a ton of points right under the basket putting back rebounds off of missed shots.

Three girls, each bringing down five rebounds apiece led the Lady Raiders rebounding. They were Jessica Sole, Vali Koehler and Hanna Skinner.

Vali and Hanna also led the team in assists with four each.

Kara Menke led the team in scoring with 13 points, four rebounds and three pass deflections. Jessica Sole had nine points all on 3-pt. shots.

Game stats: (FG, FT, RB., Pts.)

Addi McCloskey 0-2, 0-0, 1, 0

Sydney Biltoft 1-4, 0-0, 0, 2

Jessica Sole 3-15, 0-0, 5, 9

Vali Koehler 0-1, 1-2, 5, 1

Hadley Ostdiek 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0

Hanna Skinner 0-5, 2-2, 5, 2

Kara Menke 6-16, 1-2, 4, 13

Josie Hajny 1-3, 1-2, 3, 3

Kynnedy Beale 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0

Natalia Wehrman 0-2, 0-1, 0, 0

L/N team total: 11-48, 5-9, 27, 30

B-H team total: 20-44, 6-8, 29, 52

L-N GIRLS – SILVER LAKE: 29-40: The last game of the series involved traveling to Roseland to play Silver Lake who are carrying a 13-4 record at this time.

Yup, SL jumped out to a good lead in the first period. However, the Lady Raiders played Silver Lake pretty well even up in the last three periods. Score by quarters:

L-N 4 10 5 10 - 29

SL 13 10 10 7 - 40

The Lady Raiders should mark this game as something of a hallmark game. Not because they lost the game, but because of their shooting at the charity strip. Very few game ever see a team making every Free Throw they attempt. Kara Menke made 7-7 and Jessica Sole made 4-4 during the game.

Silver Lake had a 31-19 edge in rebounds which gave them 13 second chance points and the victory margin.

Hanna had four assists and Jessica and Kara each had three steals. Kara Menke led in scoring for the Raiders hitting for 15 points.

Game stats: (FG, FT, RB., Pts.)

Addi McCloskey 2-6, 0-0, 1, 5

Sydney Biltoft

Jessica Sole 1-8, 4-4, 0, 7

Vali Koehler 0-0, 0-0, 2, 0

Hadley Ostdiek

Hanna Skinner 0-3, 0-0, 6, 0

Kara Menke 4-10, 7-7, 4, 15

Josie Hajny 1-6, 0-0, 3, 2

Natalia Wehrman 0-0, 0-0, 1, 0

L-N team total: 8-33, 11-11, 19, 29

SL team total: 11-37, 14-21, 31, 40

TWIN VALLEY TOURNAMENT: The Lady Raiders were seeded number six for the annual tournament and played Silver Lake on Monday night. They lost the game by a score of 26-37 to Silver Lake, those same 11 points from a few night ago.