Seven Sophomores played their final home game and the Central Lakes College Raiders came back from a five-point first-half deficit to defeat Rainy River 83-78 in their final Northern Division game Saturday, Feb. 23 in Brainerd.
With the win, the Raiders clinched the No. 3 seed in next week's Region 13B Tournament where they will travel to either Hibbing or Northland for Friday's opening round. The Sophomores also were the first class in some time to earn back-to-back trips to the tournament.
"It is huge to be able to make the tournament two years in a row and the other big thing was that they moved up a seed, and that's always a goal of mine is that you want to do a little more than you did last year," Raiders head coach Brian Voigt said. "Unless you win the national championship, which doesn't happen very often, there is always something to strive for."
The Raiders struggled through cold shooting and turnovers to trail 20-14 after the first quarter. Naomi Lane kept things close as she finished with 19 points and 11 rebounds.
CLC outscored the Voyageurs by one point in the second quarter, but fell behind by double digits in the third quarter.
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Lillee Hardee created a spark CLC needed off the bench on her way to 19 points. Her 3-pointer ended the third quarter with the Raiders trailing by one point and her next 3 in the fourth quarter gave CLC the lead at 62-61. Hardee hit five 3's on eight shots.
The lead grew for the Raiders, but turnovers brought Rainy River back to trail 80-78 with 30 seconds left in the game. Liz Anderson made what may have been the play-of-the-day, stealing the ball away in the frontcourt and taking precious seconds away before finally being fouled by Rainy River to secure the five-point win.
"They have been leaders and they have had a variety of different roles," Voigt said. "When you have 11 or 12 players who can play and stay healthy and eligible and do those things. We have talked about certain players stepping up in certain games and today it was Liz getting that steal to seal the game and not going for a layup, but pulling it back out wasting those precious seconds. Our sophomores have set the foundation."
"I think it was pretty important and we are going to be carrying that momentum through to our next few games," Lane said. "I have really enjoyed being able to play with everyone and they have been great. I wasn't able to go to the regionals last year due to a trip so I am excited to go this year."
Anderson, who came back from being out for a couple of games with a concussion midway through the season, has given the team valuable minutes off the bench down the stretch.
"For our confidence, it was good because we hadn't beaten a team with a winning record," Anderson said. "Going into the tournament we know we can step up. It will be nice to go there and hopefully prove some people wrong. We don't want to go on our spring vacations. We want to go there and win and it would be a good boost for the other players coming up."
The Raiders will go into the tournament with momentum as they won their fourth straight game and six of their last seven. They also split the season series with Rainy River, who will finish with the No. 4 seed, as they avenged a 75-68 loss at Rainy River Jan. 19.
"We have been right there with some teams, but haven't come out on the plus side of things in the division," Voigt said. "To come in and get a big win against a team that was nationally ranked at one point with a winning record, it was a big win at home."
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Rainy River 20 18 22 18-78
Central Lakes 14 19 26 24-83
RAINY RIVER
Meoshia Peterson 18, Davane Gross 4, Faitress Shaw 21, Teah Goulet 1, Perisha Cox 21, Jaiyanna Thomas 10, Taquiana Gant 3. FG 25-62 (40percent), FT20-37 (54 percent). 3-point 8-22 (36 percent).
CENTRAL LAKES
Lillee Hardee 19, Kelsie Weite 12, Maggi Fellerman 10, Sam Schimpp 2, Lindsay Hendrickson 4, Paige Wallevand 14, Naomi Lane 19, Kali Mammenga 3. FG 29-62 (47 percent), FT 19-27 (70 percent). 3-point 6-17 (35 percent). Division: 11-5. Overall: 18-9. Next: Region 13B Tournament, Friday, Mar 1.
