By JOSH BURRIS
The Southern Wells Raiders were left in the dust by the visiting South Adams Starfires in Friday’s game at The Raiderdome.
The Raiders trailed by just 25-23 points with 1:11 to go in the first half, but went on to lose to their ACAC foe 73-41.
Both sides started slow, with South Adams getting on the board first with 4:35 to go in the first quarter. It was tied up 8-8 going into the second quarter.
The Raiders (4-11, 0-5) got two free throws from Avah Miner to kick the quarter off and take their first lead of the game. The Starfires (8-5, 2-2) then took it back with a layup from Macy Pries with three minutes left in the half that put them up 18-16.
After ties at 18-18 and 20-20, the Starfires added a bit of separation with two free throws from Pries and a three from Carlie Sealscott to take a 25-20 lead. The Raiders answered back with their final points of the half, which came on a layup and-1 from Hannah Leas that made it a 25-23 game with 1:11 left.
Pries answered back with 6 straight points, which all came on layups, in that remaining time to put South Adams up 31-23 at the half.
The Starfires maintained the 8-point lead at 35-27 at the 5:50 mark in the third quarter. Then they really pulled away with a 17-5 run to end the quarter. That put them up 52-32.
A big reason for that surge was turnovers. The Raiders turned the ball over 30 times in the game, including 14 times in those middle two quarters. The Starfires had 17 turnovers, but only five in those middle two.
Many of those turnovers turned into fastbreak points for South Adams.
“We didn’t handle their pressure. They started to double-team us,” Raiders coach Jessica Killingbeck said after the game. “We just didn’t handle it. We kind of stood and watched and panicked. We just have to be able to handle pressure. We came out in the second half and turned it over in areas that allowed them to get easy, uncontested layups.”
The Starfires opened the fourth quarter with a 9-2 run to go up 61-34. They pushed the lead past 30 with 1:50 to go when a Cora Baker layup made it 70-39.
Pries led all players in scoring with 20. Peyton Pries followed her on South Adams with 15.
Riley Tappy was the Raiders’ top scorer with 9 points, and Leas followed with 7.
South Adams won the JV game as well, but by a closer 39-35 margin.
The Raiders will need to make a quick turnaround as they return to action Saturday for a home game against North Side.
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SOUTH ADAMS 73,
SOUTHERN WELLS 41
At Southern Wells High School
SOUTH ADAMS (8-5, 2-2): Lexie McKibben 4-8 0-2 8, Macy Pries 8-13 4-5 20, P. Pries 5-8 4-4 15, Delaney Dunnuck 1-1 2-2 4, Kristen Wynn 2-4 1-3 5, Cora Baker 2-2 0-0 4, Carlie Sealscott 3-10 2-4 9, Emmerson Smith 1-1 0-0 2, Alison Smith 0-2 3-4 3, Liz Gerber 0-1 1-2 1. TOTALS: 26-50 17-26 73.
SOUTHERN WELLS (4-11, 0-5): Hailey Duncan 1-2 0-0 2, Jadyn Yencer 1-1 0-0 3, Avah Miner 1-1 4-4 6, Zoe Needler 1-5 0-0 2, Olivia Durham 1-1 0-0 2, Riley Tappy 3-8 2-2 9, Kamryn Leas 2-5 0-2 4, Hannah Leas 3-5 1-1 7, Faith Blair 1-2 0-0 2, Ashlie Needler 2-7 0-2 4, Raigyn Leas 0-4 0-0 0. TOTALS: 16-41 7-11 41.
South Adams 8 23 21 21 – 73
Southern Wells 8 15 9 9 – 41
Three-point Goals: South Adams 2-8 (P. Pries 1-2, Sealscott 1-2, M. Pries 0-1, Wynn 0-1, McKibben 0-2), Southern Wells 2-10 (Yencer 1-1, Tappy 1-2, Blair 0-1, R. Leas 0-2, K. Leas 0-2, H. Leas 0-2). Rebounds: South Adams 30 (Sealscott 8, Baker 5, P. Pries 4, M. Pries 3, McKibben 2, Wynn 2, E. Smith 1, A. Smith 1), Southern Wells 29 (Z. Needler 5, A. Needler 5, H. Leas 4, Blair 3, Miner 3, Tappy 3, Durham 1, K. Leas 1). Turnovers: South Adams 17, Southern Wells 30. Fouls: South Adams 13, Southern Wells 21. Fouled Out: None. Technicals: None.
JV: South Adams 39, Southern Wells 35
