The L-N Raider boys' basketball team had the good fortune to host its District D2-2 sub-district tournament last week. The games seemed to be over before they started. Harvard defeated Dorchester for the 'play-in' game only to be matched up with L-N. Red Cloud defeated Meridian in its first game to be matched up with L-N in the championship game.

The initial games were not close and maybe added to a little excitement of the championship game between L-N and Red Cloud. The game summaries:

L-N – RED CLOUD: 27-25: OT:

No. 1 "Third times a charm . . ."

No. 2: Something old is something new . . ."

No. 3: "Slow, but Sure . . ."

Pick any adage ? ? ? or make up your own.

They can all be used to describe the L-N Raider boy's sub-district championship victory last Thursday night. In the friendly confines of the Nelson gym, the Raiders used old fashioned free throws to win the D2-2 sub-district championship game over Red Cloud with a score of 27-25.

The victory could be called an "ugly win" as the Raiders lost some of the sharp passing and the aggressive offense they had in the last few game. The passing game stood out as it gave Red Cloud an advantage in turnovers, forcing 14 Raider turnovers while giving up only six.

However, the games was as interesting as any of the year. The score was either tied or changed hands ten times during the game. The low scoring seemed to contribute to the excitement. The score by period:

L-N 5 6 7 6 3 - 27

RC 8 4 5 7 1 - 25

No. 1: "Third times a charm . . ." As happens so often in the basketball season, this L-N – RC matchup was the third of the season. The teams opened the season playing each other and met in the Conference tournament as well. Each time the victory margin got smaller, but the Raiders emerged from all three as winners.

No. 2: "Something old is something new . . ." You have to be old enough to realize the 3-pt. shot hasn't been around forever. It is relatively new in basketball history. Many teams rely on it for much of their offense. However, there were only four (two by each team) 3-pt. shots made in this game. Instead, the old fashioned 'lay-ups' and 'free throws' had more of an impact on the game than the 3-pt. offense.

Lay-ups: There were four that this reporter can remember as being very important. No. 1: Nolan Ostdiek began the game scoring the first points in the game; No. 2: Carter Griffis helped secure a RC turnover and raced the length of the court to score with two seconds left in the second period with a lay-up; No. 3: Connor Janda zipped around the right side of the RC defense to start the final period with a lay-up giving L-N a 20-17 lead; No. 4: The score was tied for most of the last three minutes of the fourth period. However RC scored with 49 seconds left in the game to take a 24-22 lead. RC even had a chance to secure the win with free throws with 10 seconds left in the game, but missed both attempts. With the clock running low, Clay Williams fought his way through a bevy of RC defenders with a lay-up with only a second or two left on the clock.

No. 3: "Slow, but Sure . . ." Both teams seemed to be looking for those "perfect" shots. However, there were few of them. The fourth period and the O. T. seemed to take forever as a total of nine 'time-outs' were taken by the teams. The Raiders held RC without a field goal throughout the second period and the O. T. period.

The part of the game that made it interesting to watch was how different Raiders stepped up at different times to contribute; • Carson Vaughn didn't play a lot, but in the second period when the Raiders didn't score in the first five minutes, Carson came in and sank a 3-pt. shot; • Bayln made the only other Raider 3-pt. shot in the third period to stop RC from widening a lead. Bayln also made 3 of 4 free throws in the OT that secured the win; • Sawyer Cox pulled down six rebounds; • Nolan Ostdiek had a double-double with 10 pts. and 15 rebounds; • Griffis and Janda came through with those lay-ups mentioned above.

It was a 'team' victory.

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

Carter Griffis 1-3, 0-0, 1, 2

Bayln Bargen 1-6, 3-4, 3, 6

Jack Williams 0-0, 0-0, 1, 0

Connor Janda 1-6, 0-2, 3, 2

Nolan Ostdiek 4-17, 2-8, 15, 10

Cody Funk 0-2, 0-0, 0, 0

Clay Williams 2-3, 0-0, 3, 4

Sawyer Cox0-0, 0-0, 6, 0

Carson Vaughn 1-1, 0-0, 0, 3

L-N total 10-38, 5-14, 35, 27

RC total 8-41, 7-12, 23, 25

L-N – HARVARD: 49-15: Score by quarter:

L-N 14 17 11 7 - 49

Harvard 4 4 2 5 - 15

Harvard came into the tournament with a 5-17 record. They won their first game, but were unable to compete for long with the Raiders. As can be seen by the box score, the Raiders controlled the game from the beginning period throughout the game.

From the statistics this reporter has seen, one of the more interesting aspects of this game was the fact that only two Raiders played more than 16 minutes of the game. Considering each quarter is 8 minutes, only two players had more than two quarters of play and their time was just a minute or two over that 16 minute mark.

In all, 12 players had a part in the victory and ten players added points to the scoreboard.

Another interest aspect was that no player scored in double figures and L-N had only three free throw attempts in the whole game. The Raiders forced 19 turnovers and had a 37-19 edge in rebounds.

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

Aidan Zikmund 2-4, 0-0, 4, 4

Carter Griffis 2-5, 0-0, 5, 4

Hayden Mazour 0-3, 0-0, 3, 0

Bayln Bargen 2-3, 0-0, 1, 4

Jack Williams 1-4, 0-0, 1, 2

Connor Janda 2-4, 0-0, 1, 6

Nolan Ostdiek 3-6, 0-0, 2, 6

Cody Funk 3-6, 0-0, 5, 8

Riley Cannaday 0-1, 0-0, 1, 0

Clay Williams 2-5, 0-0, 5, 4

Sawyer Cox 2-4, 2-3, 2, 6

Carson Vaughn 2-6, 0-0, 4, 5

L/N total 21-51, 2-3, 37, 49

Harvard total 5-31, 4-6, 19, 15