Photo by Larry Bale - South Bend's Karley Reidinger swarms to the ball as Raymond's Hannah Miller attempts to shoot. Alise Rohr (15) moves in during last Wednesday's game at SBHS.
SOUTH BEND - Neither team could seem to get much of a rhythm before South Bend got into the swing of things, enabling the Lady Indians to finally beat Raymond. It was senior Karley Reidinger, who was in-tune all night long while conducting a mini-clinic on hitting 3-pointers from downtown (thrice) and how to score three points the hard way (twice) during the hard fought 40-27 win over the Lady Seagulls in a game that determined fourth place in the Pacific League, and thus a higher seed and a first round bye in the Southwest District IV Girls Basketball Tournament. An attendance of about 275 witnessed the rivalry last Wednesday at Koplitz Field House.
"We knew we had to prepare harder this game," Reidinger told the Herald after the game. "We pushed ourselves and started out strong. This was a huge win for us. We wanted to secure fourth place and it was big for us on Senior Night."
"Give credit to South Bend for playing with a sense of urgency and toughness - two characteristics we lacked tonight," Raymond head coach Jason Koski said.
Reidinger made her presence felt in a number of ways - whether it was drilling in long-range treys, driving and scoring and getting fouled, rebounding or handing off assists. She scored 11 of South Bend's first 13 points for a nine-point lead, including a 3-pointer on a drive and made foul shot, two straight 3-pointers and a couple of free throws. Reidinger, who led all scorers with 22 points, provided another old-fashioned 3-point play right before halftime.
"Once again, lack of rebounding and untimely turnovers put us in a hole from the onset," Koski said. "Being down 23-9 at half was a testament to South Bend's aggressive defense and our inability to adjust to the physicality of a playoff-type game."
Raymond just couldn't buy a bucket in the first half as the ball would roll around the rim and drop off, or dangle on it and slip off, or be on target, but just miss by being a tad long.
"I thought we played well enough in the second half," Koski said. "We cut it to eight multiple times, but our lack of offensive output negated any chances of trimming the lead any further."
Kyra Gardner, Raymond's super-frosh, bullseyed a couple of 3-pointers to open the second half - first from the key area, then from the left wing - making the score 23-15. Reidinger nailed a left corner trey before RHS's Hannah Miller connected in the paint - bringing the score to 28-17. Gardner's bomb from the top-of-the-key-extended at the third quarter buzzer made it a ballgame at 30-22.
South Bend's Alise Rohr grinded out a 3-pointer for a 36-22 edge, followed by three points by Miller; Raymond trailed 36-25 with 2:58 to go. Gardner drove for a score to draw the Gulls to within nine, but Reidinger swished two free throws before Rohr closed out the scoring.
Raymond defeated South Bend 63-61 January 3 in a game Gardner scored 36 points and the winning basket at the horn. "We didn't expect her to do that the first time because we had never seen her," Reidinger said. "We had one new play (The Stack) and we came out with more energy."
Gardner led Raymond in scoring with 13 points, but for the most part, her shots were narrowly missing, as she went 5 of 22 from the field. Gardner also had 7 steals, 7 rebounds and 3 blocked shots.
Miller scored 7 points, yanked down 7 rebounds, and swiped 3 steals. Miller, who has shot really well for several games in a row, could only make good on 3 of 10 against South Bend's sticky defense.
"Our shots weren't falling at all," Miller told the Herald before heading out of the gym. "We had too many turnovers. We just need to communicate a little better."
Often Raymond shot the ball quickly and was at 19 percent on 10 of 54, including 3 of 22 from downtown (14%). Plus the Gulls took only 9 free throws all night, making 4. Raymond committed 19 turnovers.
For South Bend, Hannah Byington and Rohr ended up with 7 points each.
Also for Raymond, freshman Sidney Swogger had 4 points and 4 rebounds and Sadie Warnstadt grabbed 4 rebounds and 1 steal.
Raymond won the junior varsity game 25-21 behind 8 points from ninth grader Callie McVey and 6 from eighth grader Lisa Finne. Freshmen Brittney Jones and Brooklynne Johnson netted 6 points apiece for South Bend.
Raymond (12-8) hosted Napavine (6-14) in an elimination game yesterday at the district tournament. The Lady Gulls whipped the Tigers 59-40 (Dec. 22) at home. The winner takes on Toledo (14-6) tonight at 7:30 at Rochester HS.
South Bend (12-8) received a first round bye and plays tonight (6 pm) versus the winner of last night's loser-out matchup between Mossyrock (7-12) and Toutle Lake (3-16). The winner then plays Saturday versus Wahkiakum (19-1) at a site and time to be determined. That winner would then play Tuesday in the winners bracket and the loser would play an elimination game Monday.