NS Captures First Round Win, Drops Next Two Games

By Marlana Smith

  

  Monday, February 3 

  NS vs. Cairo

 North Shelby Lady Raiders (No. 4 seed) took on Cairo (No. 5) at the first-round of the La Plata Tournament on Monday, February 3. NS won 51-41.

  North Shelby (12-6) scored 12 points in the first quarter for a 12-6 lead.

  The second quarter ended in Cairo’s favor as the Lady Bearcats Taegan Bartolacci scored three 3-pointers. Cairo took its first lead, 24-21, to end the first half.

  With the Lady Raiders down by four, Ava Williams and Caroline Linberger went to the line and were two-for-two tying the game 25-25.

  The game was tied two more times in the third quarter, but NS was able to capture the lead after Williams scored a bucket giving NS a 31-29 advantage. Cairo came back to trail by one after Rileigh Eberhardt was one-for-two from the line. The Lady Raiders led 31-30.

  The fourth quarter was all North Shelby as it added 20 points.

  Lilly Cook, Presley Stoneburner and Williams each had 12 points against the Lady Bearcats.

  Thursday, February 6

  NS vs. Green City

  The Lady Raiders played No. 1 seed Green City in the second-round of the La Plata Tournament on Thursday, February 6. The games were postponed from Wednesday due to weather. Green City defeated NS 73-53.

  Caroline Linberger led North Shelby with 28 points. Ava Williams captured 15 and Lalaine Treasure 10.

  North Shelby head coach Landon Daniel said, “A really slow start killed us against a team that really just has one really good girl and then a couple of role players that do their job on a consistent basis. 

  “After the first quarter we only got outscored by three points the rest of the game and I felt like that was something we need to hang our hat on, for sure.”

  Green City came out with a hot start giving them a 23-6 advantage.

  NS scored 14 points in the second quarter versus GC’s 12. 

  The Lady Raiders scored 33 points in the second half. 

  Daniel said, “Our girls did a good job of finding the mis-matches and feeding Caroline in the post where their role players couldn’t stop her from scoring.

  “This is a game we definitely need to build on going forward if we want to accomplish our goals for the season.”

  Saturday, February 8

  NS vs. Schulyer County

  NS took on Schuyler County on Saturday, February 8 in the third-place game. The Lady Raiders lost 71-50.

  Treasure led NS (12-8) with 14 points. Linberger and Williams each had 11.

  “Just got pushed around by a more physical team and too many turnovers really hurt us. I didn’t think we had the right kind of mindset coming into the game but we never quit and I’m proud of the girls for that. 

  “We have got to work on getting better starts to games, especially against bigger and more physical teams,” said Daniel.

  North Shelby had a slow start only putting six points on the board in the first quarter. SC led 17-6.

  The Lady Raiders matched Schuyler County in the second period with each scoring 16 points. 

  Schuyler County continued to hold the lead scoring 38 points in the second half.