Raiders take wind out of Cyclones’ offense throughout first half in earning road victory

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Possession by possession and minute by minute, the Quincy Notre Dame girls basketball team’s lead grew and the goose egg on Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin’s side of the scoreboard loomed larger.

It was that way for the first 14 minutes of Thursday night’s game.

The Raiders, ranked fifth in the Class 3A state poll, held the Cyclones without a point until Addy McElroy knocked down a 15-foot jumper with a little less than two minutes remaining in the first half, ending what had been a 25-0 game-opening run by QND.

That lead was never threatened in what turned out to be a 47-27 victory at Jim Belz Gymnasium as the Raiders improved to 7-0. The road game kickstarted a stretch in which QND plays six consecutive games either on an opponent’s home floor or a neutral site.

It also marked four consecutive quarters in which the Raiders allowed six points or less.

In fact, the 15-0 lead at the end of the first quarter and 30-6 edge at halftime meant QND allowed just 10 points over a 32-minute span that included the final half of Tuesday’s game against Pleasant Plains.

Offensively, QND shared the wealth as Tristan Pieper, Ari Buehler and Jenna Durst scored nine points apiece, while Sage Stratton had eight and Marie Eversman seven. Senior forward Lauren Hummel finished with five, all of which have in the opening 9-0 spurt that set the tone for the attack.

Sophie Murphy led SHG with 10 points, eight coming in the second half.

The Raiders visit Palmyra (5-1) at 6 p.m. Tuesday before playing three times in the Rumble on the River at John Wood Community College.