The Central Lakes College Raiders needed a bounce-back game.
Strong inside play from Naomi Lane and Paige Wallevand and a trapping defense created that as the Raiders got back on track with an 83-63 win over Mesabi Saturday, Jan. 12 in Brainerd.
Wallevand's 16 points led the Raiders. Lane collected 12 points and Lillee Hardee added 13 off the bench as CLC shot 44 percent from the field, an improvement over the 31-percent shooting Wednesday, Jan. 9 at Northland.
CLC improved to 2-1 in Northern Division play and are tied with Itasca for the third spot behind Northland and Hibbing, who are both undefeated.
The Lady Norse did lead 6-0 early, but that changed after Wallevand and Lane got rolling and the Raiders' defensive helped flip the score to 28-19 in CLC's favor at the end of the first quarter.
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"We usually have that slower start so it is good that we had it go the other way today," said Raiders' Kelsie Weite, who scored nine points and grabbed five rebounds. "We came out right away playing good defense and I think that was really important."
The second quarter was a carbon copy of the first and the Raiders took a 51-31 lead to the locker room. Wallevand tallied 11 points and Lane added 10. Hardee provided the outside scoring with 10 points.
"We came off the trip to Northland where we didn't shoot the 3 and that has been a re-emphasis for us to make sure that we can get the ball inside and we came out with a lot of energy," CLC head coach Brian Voigt said. "We had good trips that were getting interceptions and that was leading to fast breaks and if the break wasn't there we were getting it into Naomi and she was looking to score, which is what we need from her. If it wasn't there both she and Paige made nice passes out which led to 3s."
Mesabi's halftime adjustments led to a more difficult time in the paint for CLC, but the Raiders responded by ramping up their defensive pressure which led to transition buckets, and a 66-44 lead at the end of the third quarter.
"They did adjust to us and keep us out of the middle, but we responded with patience and we didn't get up and down and stayed persistent on getting the ball back inside," Voigt said. "I don't like running the shot clock down very often, but as a defense when you have to play for 30 seconds, you wear down, and we wound up getting a high-percentage shot."
Said Weite: "We knew that we still needed to get the ball inside and as a result of that we got some kick out passes and we had better looks from the perimeter.
Weite, a point guard, led the team in rebounding against Ridgewater and Northland in games last week. Against Mesabi, she was one of four players who tallied five rebounds to lead the team.
"I have always had an eye for the way that the ball hits the rim and I have always been good at rebounding and seeing where the ball is going to go," she said.
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The team now has games at Vermilion, at home against Fond du Lac and Saturday at Rainy River.
"We did cave to some pressure on Wednesday and today we put more emphasis on taking care of and being strong with the ball," Voigt said. "It comes down to them making confident moves in the low block and when you know what you are going to do before you get the ball it is a lot easier to complete your move and to control the ball. It is all about reaction."
For more photos go to https://bit.ly/2RnCcK5 .
Mesabi Range 19 12 13 19-63
Central Lakes 28 23 15 17-83
MESABI RANGE
Kaitlin Knutson 3, Patty Overbye 14, Haley Hansen 13, Shawna Wiese 4, Makenzey Goerdt 3, Hailey Aho 25, Callie Sellman 1. FG 23-64 (36 percent), FT 9-16 (56 percent). 3-point 8-22 (36 percent).
CENTRAL LAKES
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Kezia Rahier 4, Kelsie Weite 9, Liz Anderson 9, Maggie Fellerman 8, Sam Schimpp 3, Lindsay Hendrickson 4, Paige Wallevand 16, Naomi Lane 12, Kali Mammenga 5, Lillee Hardee 13. FG 34-76 (45 percent), FT 11-14 (79 percent). 3-point 4-23 (17 percent). Division: 2-1. Overall: 9-5. Next: at Vermillion Community College 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 16.
